Short answer: no. Never. Hamburgers should not be ordered medium-rare. Whereas steaks are fine to enjoy cooked rare, ground beef is totally different. Bacteria or germs can lurk anywhere inside ground meat, but on a steak, pathogens only exist on the surface, which is then seared at temperatures high enough to kill them.
Hamburger meat has come in contact with many surfaces on its way to the bun on your plate, so failing to cook the inside of the burger to an internal heat of 155 degrees F, which is considered medium, can lead to an unpleasant bout of food poisoning. Order your burger medium or medium-well.
Sweet Tea is Sweeter Than You Think
Southern sweet tea is a summer staple, a down-south tradition. Made with black tea, vats of sugar, and served with plenty of ice, it’s easy to drink yourself into a diabetic seizure. Sweet tea delivers 25 grams of sugar per glass. A 23-ounce can of Arizona Tea packs 69 grams of sugar. Tea, itself, can be good for you.
Black tea contains natural antioxidants. But the high sugar content makes it a health risk. Some people order sweet tea as an alternative to soda. The reality is, iced-tea can contain more sugar than a Coke.
Think Twice About Ordering the Daily Special
Here’s a little-known fact most people have never heard of. Restaurants repurpose leftovers to enhance their daily menu. The ‘special du jour’ may incorporate the bad sellers of the previous day to cut down on waste. Extra bread might become croutons or bread pudding the next day.
Alternatively, surplus pasta from the night before can become pasta salad on the daily menu. Not all food is used for specials, to be sure. Eat This, Not That! estimates that U.S. restaurants waste 11.4 million tons of food each year. That’s a lot. Restaurants often donate excess food or simply dispose of it.
The Vegetarian Misnomer
How sure can you be that a vegan or vegetarian menu item is a fully plant-based meal? Unfortunately, there is no way to know. A random survey by Food Network found that 15 percent of chefs admitted that some animal products likely exist in vegetarian plates
To make sure you are eating a plant-based meal, try asking the server about the ingredients. Another option is to special order a menu item without certain ingredients that may have inadvertently snuck in. Also, it’s best to frequent restaurants that specialize in vegan and vegetarian foods.
Check Out the Restrooms Before Dining
One good rule of thumb suggests surveying the bathroom facility before deciding whether or not to get a table. If the restrooms are a mess, just imagine how the kitchen is.
If they don’t take care to keep the bathrooms clean, you can be sure they don’t prioritize other sanitary efforts.