We’re a little scared to hear your answers, but have you ever gotten food poisoning from a restaurant? If so, has it happened to you more than once (we’re crossing our fingers that you say no!)?
Please tell us in the poll below, and once you’re done, leave a comment and tell us what made you sick (if you dare go down memory lane…) and if you ever went back. Were you hesitant to eat that food again for a while? We’d sure think so!
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No food poisoning from restaurants but I have experienced it several times from potluck dinners. People need to be more careful to keep food at proper temperatures. No more potlucks for us.
Yes, a couple years ago we went out with our daughter and SIL to the local CB restaurant having all the nostalgia decorations. They had something else, but DW and I had different chicken dinners, they were OK, not us. I got the “trots”, DW was so severe she had to go to the ER. Apparently someone had let the chicken sit out of the cooler to long before cooking it. It has taken this much time for us to dine in one of their restaurants again. We still don’t order chicken when we visit now.
I was eating at some pizza place on a bicycle trip and had a salad with it. The salad did me in and required that I stay two days in a motel to recover. Up to this point, I had only camped out every night.
Yes, twice. Several years ago I got food poisoning after eating a fish sandwich from a McDonalds in Washington state. Was sicker than a dog for 2-3 days and ruined our vacation trip to Vancouver, B. C. Other time was in San Jose Del Cabo in Mexico when we ate a salad in a restaurant that we should have known better. Have been to Mexico many times and never had a problem as long you were careful where you ate and drank. Of course now I would never go back to anywhere in Mexico because I would worry about losing my life not just getting food poisoning!!!
I once got food poisoning from a chicken sandwich on an airline flight. I should have known better.
one time at a hometown Asian buffet, have not been to another buffet since. It happened fast, not pleasant, better in 24hrs.
I am 74 and in excellent health. I got food poisoning from an undercooked hamburger. It was the worst health problem I have ever experienced. After the violent puking I had hallucinations and extreme dizziness for several days. We were 3000 miles from home and my wife does not drive with the trailer. I was finally able to get us home with extreme difficulty. It took six months to recover completely.
Lessons learned: Cook meat thoroughly. Hamburger is garbage. Send it back if something seems weird.
Yes. Back in the 1970s, picked up a hamburger at Hardee’s/Carls Jr. that must have been under a heat lamp for days. Started puking about 5 minutes after eating, and to make a long story short, one of the worst experiences of my life. To this day, if I drive by a Hardees or Carl’s Jr and get a whiff, I get very nauseous.
My bigger problem is having food allergies and the wait staff blowing it off as something they do not need to care about. I have spent many days with a VERY uncomfortable stomach because they (unbeknownst to me) did not bother to talk to the chefs.
Not a restaurant but I got it eating tacos from a food truck in Colorado. No more food trucks for me, they don’t have enough to lose if they do a bad job and cause illness.
Twice. Once at an Applebee’s and at a Mexican place in Phoenix. Not a great experience.
Hard to say if one experience was actually food poisoning, but I did have a episode after eating at an Asian restaurant. Not severe, but enough to keep me near the bathroom for the rest of the day, sitting and kneeling over the toilet.
After traveling thru Mexico for a week with no problems, stopped at a pizza place in San Diego for dinner. A few in the group opted for the salad buffet. Those that ate the hard boiled eggs, including me, got sick the next day. Bunch of bathroom stops on that trip.
salad while in St Lucia…I have been brave and tried the same type of salad again recently w/o issues
Never order a fish “special of the day.” They are just getting rid of old seafood. Had food poisoning on a vacation to San Francisco and it ruined the whole holiday weekend.
First time was from a chicken dish at TGI-you know what day of the week. Put me in the ER.
Second was on a camper delivery to the Boston area. “You HAVE to try the Ipswich (sp?) clams” they said. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it home (3hr drive) without dying.
I RARELY eat out any more. Mine and my wife’s cooking is far better anyway.
Once in Honolulu, HI. One of the most expensive restaurants. We were stationed at Pearl Harbor, and went there for our 2nd anniversary dinner. The oysters (cooked) did the poisoning, my wife got really sick. We had to go to the emergency room that night. La Rondé restaurant was put on the do not go to list and we got our money back with an apology.
It was takeout,but I assume that counts as well.
I must have a cast iron stomach…
Me too!! LOL
Not I but DW from an apple 🍎 Bees 🐝. Several days to recover
Yes, two or three times. Once from Red Snapper in Biloxi, MS and once from shrimp in Grafton, ND. Also, not really sure about this one -but on Amtrak in the diner from salad dressing which didn’t taste right. Regurgitated and I returned to normal in about :30 min. (Might have been from riding backwards at nite with possible vertigo – in any case I missed the steak dinner!)
Coming home from a moonlight photo shoot in Yosemite the restaurant attached to a motel in Sonora was open. I tried Chicken a la King. Big mistake. Wound up disposing of a nightgown & rug and missed a day or two of work. Worst food poisoning ever. Since then, also learned to be wary of McDonald’s near a freeway, especially during non rush times. Visalia CA & Winnemucca NV. That last one was really bad because we were in a small truck camper – 2 adults, kindergartner & big dog, several spaces from the restroom. No on board “facilities” beyond a coffee can. If you gotta get off peak fast food, ask for a special order so they have to make it, not take it out from the heating cabinet.
Twice over the years, both from fresh salads.
Waaay back when in college -small residential college of 500 students. School cafeteria. How much fun was that?? Ha! For the next week or two – two food lines – one with food for those not sick, another with toast and Jell-O for the rest of us. Toast and Jell-O line was open 24 hrs a day for a week or two. I don’t remember much about classes but do remember that. One of my later careers had me take State classes for a food handler’s license. Either 41 deg or lower or 140 deg or higher. Will never forget that now. .
Once on a cheese pizza and once from a garden salad. Brutal!!
At a restaurant many years ago ate clam chowder got deathly sick that night and worse I had to go to school , was a special ed teacher and the class had a field trip that day and if i wasn’t there the trip would be canceled. So I went and managed to survive the day and the kids got their field trip.
Teacher AND Special Ed????
From a Veteran – THANK YOU for your service!
Years ago, our unit “mess section” gave “food poisoning” to 2 companies (about 450 soldiers) after the noon meal. We had sick soldiers all over the battalion area. Med section, several medic units and 50 personnel from the post hospital. Sack lunches for two days while the engineers and other staff resanitized the facility. Investigation found the soap dispenser was leaking into the final rinse water. So all the trays and utensils had a slight film of soap on them. Our company avoided the disaster because we were on the firing range all day and had a meal provided by another unit that was training new cooks. The Army a “New Adventure every day”!
Yes, twice about 7-8 years apart. Different locations of the same national buffet chain. Needless to say, I’ve never gone back.
Never from a restaurant however I ate some Jiff peanut butter without knowing there was a recall for salmonella poisoning. Worst week of my life!
I suspect some of those polled have no concept of food poisoning, as most probably have never had food poisoning at a restaurant, but simply think they have.
Only had it once, from two week old linguine and clams that I’d thought my wife had made a fresh batch of, but, no…. Worst case of illness I’d ever had in my life, and that includes kidney stones!
I suspect most people claiming it have only had a bad case of indigestion or it was just to rich for them and ‘soured their stomach’. When you get food poisoning, believe me, you WILL know it.
I have traveled a lot in southeast Asia. Eating at a lot of small local places you get food poisoning every couple of weeks. It does not bother you that much since you are used to it. Their sanitation rules are very different from ours and it probably lingers under the surface all the time. In the US with our hyper cleanliness when you get it, it is much worse. Your body does not know how to handle it.
No restaurant disasters so far, but family members have gotten sick from frozen food. I imagine RV freezers could be especially prone to power loss, so beware! Also be sure the plastic tray on a frozen dinner is not damaged, and that includes the pull-away overwrap. My son got salmonella that way and was in the hospital for 3 days. Also, expiration dates matter. Don’t buy a frozen item that’s significantly (2+ weeks) out of date. Another tip: If you are at the store and pick out a frozen product, shake it. If it rattles, that’s good. It was flash-frozen and has not been exposed to warmer temperatures. But if the contents feel like a solid block, it could mean they were frozen, but then partially defrosted then froze again after who knows how long, so that everything is now encased in ice. Great potential for contamination. Toss it back and buy something safer.