7 secrets that restaurants are most reluctant to reveal

Signature dishes are more expensive

Signature dishes are the best "business card" for a restaurant to attract customers, but some businesses take advantage of consumers' love for ordering signature dishes and often choose expensive and high-profit dishes as their signature dishes.

Discounted water content

Discounts are a common tactic used by merchants, but some discounts are just gimmicks. For example, when you see "XX discount during the holidays", first pay attention to whether there are any foods or drinks that are not discounted to avoid disputes at checkout.

Shredded potatoes are the most profitable

The most profitable dishes in restaurants are often not seafood, meat, etc., but cheap dishes such as stir-fried shredded potatoes, which have the largest profit margins. The raw material cost of the vinegar-fried potato shreds that sells for 10 yuan a plate is less than 1 yuan. In other words, mid-priced dishes actually offer the best value for money.

Ask for seasonal prices first

Generally speaking, seafood products, vegetables, fruit juice, etc. are often displayed at "seasonal prices" due to large market price fluctuations, time-consuming recipe preparation, and high prices, and there are no weight standards. Many consumers fall into price traps. Therefore, be sure to ask the price before ordering "seasonal" dishes, otherwise you may be shocked by the expensive bill when you check out.

Less nourishing soup

A considerable number of so-called nourishing soups are probably made by boiling the cheapest pork bones. Meat chunks and medicinal herbs are then added to the soup base. The smell of the medicinal herbs is used to cover up the fishy smell of the pork bone soup, and thus a variety of high-priced soups can be created. Therefore, when dining in a restaurant, you might as well order freshly made West Lake beef soup, tomato and egg soup and other home-cooked soups.

Monday's food is not fresh

Restaurant kitchens typically complete their last shipment of the week on Saturday morning, as suppliers are usually off on Sunday, which means that by the time the food is served on Monday, the ingredients have already been around for at least two days. Also, don't dine in a restaurant before closing time, as the chef will generally just do a perfunctory job at this time, and the kitchen has already entered the cleaning and disinfection stage, which greatly increases the chances of your food coming into contact with detergents.

Don't forget to check your bills

Many consumers have had this experience: restaurant waiters often make mistakes in calculating the bill, but they usually only overcharge and not undercharge. Especially when they see consumers who have treated others to a meal, they feel embarrassed to pay the bill in front of the guests, so they take advantage of this psychology of the customers. Therefore, when dining out, no matter how much you spend, you should check the bill and know what you are spending.