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Bryan Shepherd

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To Touch a Straw?

by Bryan Shepherd » Thu Apr 25, 2019 10:00 pm

What is the proper etiquette in the restaurant world regarding straws and drinks? Is it ok for the server to place an unwrapped straw in customers drink and take to the table, or should the server keep his/her hands to herself? I look at it as if someone touching my straw is akin to a stranger grabbing my piece of chicken or pizza or shrimp and putting it in my mouth......not really a sanitary thing to do, although I usually like my servers. (although I guess it's no different than employees putting their hands on silverware when they pre-wrap and place in napkins)

I rarely use straws anyway, but my wife and I along with another couple went out for a slice of pizza a few weeks back and this is exactly what happened. The waitress brought our drinks to the table and the straws were already in the glasses of soda. I simply removed my straw, but then went on a short rant and asked what my party thought about it.

I am sure there are plenty of other things that are not sanitary that occur in restaurants, but this just struck me as a little odd.

So, is this an overreaction and no big deal or is it something that should be mentioned to the restaurant. This place is a very popular pizza joint with multiple locations that has been around for over 25 yeas, I think.
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Robin Garr

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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Robin Garr » Thu Apr 25, 2019 10:19 pm

I never really noticed this, because I didn't like straws even before they went non-PC. I don't like to shoot the flavors of the drink past my taste buds and straight to my throat.

But to answer your question, I often get drinks with straws already in - they often, not always, leave a short piece of the paper cover over the mouth end to show that it hasn't been contaminated.

I always take the straw out and set it aside anyway. :)
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Iggy C

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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Iggy C » Thu Apr 25, 2019 11:09 pm

In central/east Africa they never open the straw wrapper for you, and they always open the bottle in front of you so you can feel secure you haven’t been poisoned. The only other option is for the person serving you to drink from it first, again, as a demonstration that they haven’t poisoned it.

Maybe they should do that.
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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Jerry C » Fri Apr 26, 2019 10:29 am

A topic that "gets under my skin". I always use a straw because I don't want my lips touching the glass where an employee has placed their fingers (either in putting it in the rack after cleaning, or removing from the rack to bring to me).

I am deft enough with a straw not to miss my taste buds (just suck into the front of my mouth).

Now to the OP question...I want my straw given to me fully wrapped (same reason as the glass analogy above). It really bugs me that most of today's servers don't understand this and/or they are not trained at proper handling.
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Andrew Mellman

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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Andrew Mellman » Sat Apr 27, 2019 4:19 pm

In Chicago around half of the restaurants don't give you straws (not even if you ask), and a percentage of those that do give you a wrapped paper bio-degradable straw.
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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Andrew Mellman » Sat Apr 27, 2019 4:24 pm

About ten years ago I was at a business meeting at a local Asian restaurant (still here) . . . there were three of us with Diet Cokes to drink . . . one guy had a lemon in his, and he and one other had straws (I wasn't using one) . . . waitress came, took the glasses, and said she'd bring them right back with refills. . . . she came back, and not one of us got his original glass.

Ate at same restaurant around a month ago (two couples, with a mix of straws and lemons), and same thing happened. It wasn't even, we all asked for new glasses, and waitress looked at us like we were nuts.

Love the restaurant, but they've had service issues since they opened!
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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Robin Garr » Sat Apr 27, 2019 5:15 pm

Andrew Mellman wrote:About ten years ago I was at a business meeting at a local Asian restaurant (still here) . . . there were three of us with Diet Cokes to drink . . . one guy had a lemon in his, and he and one other had straws (I wasn't using one) . . . waitress came, took the glasses, and said she'd bring them right back with refills. . . . she came back, and not one of us got his original glass.

That sounds like an instant "C" rating, Andrew! :shock:

Would you mind naming the place? Now I'm worried about every Asian place I can think of that has table service. :P
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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Mark R. » Sat Apr 27, 2019 9:03 pm

Andrew Mellman wrote:In Chicago around half of the restaurants don't give you straws (not even if you ask), and a percentage of those that do give you a wrapped paper bio-degradable straw.

Not giving a straw when requested is actually a ADA violation and they could be subject to fines because of it. I personally have to use a straw to drink anything because of my disability so I obviously would need them to provide 1.
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Gary Z

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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Gary Z » Sun Apr 28, 2019 12:51 am

So here’s the deal. If you receive a drink with an unwrapped straw in it, your server has put it in there with their bare hands. I mean... how do you think it gets there? Servers aren’t putting on and taking off gloves every time they have to put a straw in a drink. It’s the same with any fruit you receive on a cocktail in 90% of restaurants. Just trust that the staff is maintaining proper hand washing standards. If you start worrying about all the potential ways your food or utensils could be contaminated you’ll just drive yourself insane.
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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Robin Garr » Sun Apr 28, 2019 7:34 am

Gary Z wrote: If you start worrying about all the potential ways your food or utensils could be contaminated you’ll just drive yourself insane.

Yep. Berating your server about the straw might be one good path to a ... contaminated ... plate. :twisted:
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Carla G

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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Carla G » Sun Apr 28, 2019 7:46 am

I’m with Gary Z on this. Straw issues I can easily shrug off but I do get concerned about temps that dairy products are kept, baskets of bread or crackers that may have already been sitting at other tables and let’s not talk about salad bars.
To help me overcome these little details I watch videos of Street food vendors in far away countries . :lol:
Gary’s right...if you think about all the ways contamination can occur you’ll drive yourself nuts.
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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Robin Garr » Sun Apr 28, 2019 9:40 pm

Carla G wrote:To help me overcome these little details I watch videos of Street food vendors in far away countries . :lol:

The new Netflix series? I've been seeing the trailers and have it on my to-watch list. Did you watch Samin Nosrat's Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat? How did this compare? We loved Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.
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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Carla G » Mon Apr 29, 2019 6:01 am

Robin Garr wrote:
Carla G wrote:To help me overcome these little details I watch videos of Street food vendors in far away countries . :lol:

The new Netflix series? I've been seeing the trailers and have it on my to-watch list. Did you watch Samin Nosrat's Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat? How did this compare? We loved Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.


I have not watched SFAH yet but my daughter in London loves it and says it’s crazy popular in the U.K. I’ve put it on my list.
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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by Robin Garr » Mon Apr 29, 2019 8:01 am

Carla G wrote:I have not watched SFAH yet but my daughter in London loves it and says it’s crazy popular in the U.K. I’ve put it on my list.

It's wonderful. The polar opposite of competition shows. Only four one-hour segments, so it's easy to binge-watch. :)
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Re: To Touch a Straw?

by TP Lowe » Tue Apr 30, 2019 12:28 pm

Robin Garr wrote:I never really noticed this, because I didn't like straws even before they went non-PC. I don't like to shoot the flavors of the drink past my taste buds and straight to my throat.

But to answer your question, I often get drinks with straws already in - they often, not always, leave a short piece of the paper cover over the mouth end to show that it hasn't been contaminated.

I always take the straw out and set it aside anyway. :)


Amen. Hate straws. Didn't know anyone else felt that way!
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