Eating out has never been more expensive. Food prices away from home rose by more than four percent in 2025 alone. In 2024, U.S. consumers reported spending an average of $191 per person per month on dining out, a significant rise from about $166 per month in 2023. With that kind of money on the table, every dish you order really does matter.
Here’s the thing most diners don’t think about: the people who know best which menu items fall flat are the chefs themselves. No one knows what dishes to avoid better than seasoned chefs, and it may be because the food usually isn’t fresh, or even what it claims to be, or it may just be that certain dishes are never as exciting as you think they’re going to be. What follows are thirteen dishes that culinary professionals consistently steer clear of when dining out. Some of these will genuinely surprise you. Let’s dive in.
1. The Daily Special
That handwritten chalkboard might look charming, but there’s often a reason something became a “special” today. Restaurant servers push the special of the day for reasons that may be more economic than culinary. There are a few reasons why something might end up as a special. It could be because the chef is simply experimenting with a new dish, or because they wanted to make something seasonal. In many cases, though, there is a pretty boring reason why something ends up as a special: the ingredients were approaching their use-by date.
Chefs also have a clever trick for spotting this pattern. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay never orders the soup du jour at a restaurant and recommends asking your waiter what the soup du jour was yesterday, as their answer can clue you into how fresh and daily that soup special really is. Additionally, asking what the general specials were over the previous days can give you an idea of the freshness of the ingredients. If the specials were items like roast chicken and vegetables, and now the soup of the day is chicken vegetable soup, that’s a big red flag that the kitchen is using older, leftover ingredients.
2. Risotto
Risotto is one of those dishes that sounds luxurious on a menu but routinely disappoints in practice. A prime example is something as classic as a risotto. Executive chef Brian Motyka of Longman and Eagle in Chicago says the number one main dish he never orders at a restaurant is any sort of risotto. Proper risotto demands constant attention and precise timing. A kitchen juggling dozens of orders at once rarely has the bandwidth for that.
Fragrant ingredients like bacon and cream can be all-too-easy ways for restaurants to mask flavors and cut corners. Risotto is particularly vulnerable to this kind of camouflage. When a dish relies on technique this much, a busy Friday night kitchen is its worst enemy. Honestly, the version a passionate home cook makes on a quiet Sunday will almost always beat the restaurant version.
3. Salmon
With salmon, it’s all about the quality of the fish. As chefs point out, it’s a very forgiving fish and needs very little seasoning. However, chefs claim that when you order it in a restaurant it is either over or under-cooked and over or under-seasoned. Think of it this way: salmon is so forgiving that getting it wrong actually takes effort. Yet somehow, restaurants manage it regularly.
Over-seasoning is an equal problem. Many kitchens drown the fish in teriyaki glaze or heavy sauces, which defeats the entire purpose of using a quality piece of salmon in the first place. Prices for meat, poultry, fish and eggs surged more than five percent in the past year, meaning you are now paying significantly more for a piece of salmon that may well be overcooked and buried under sauce. That’s a tough deal.
4. Scallops
Scallops may be a dish you seek out when you want to celebrate a special moment, but they are often overcooked at restaurants. It is also rare to find quality scallops, meaning restaurants are often using ones that are just so-so. The gap between a perfectly seared, dry-packed scallop and a wet, rubbery one is enormous. Most of the time, unfortunately, restaurants land closer to the latter.
Scallops are pricey, often about $25 to $45 a pound. That premium price rarely guarantees quality on the plate. When a restaurant is purchasing mediocre product and then overcooking it in a rush, you’re paying top dollar for a disappointment. It’s hard to say for sure when you’ll get a good one, but the odds are not in your favor unless you’re at a seafood-focused establishment.
5. Anything with “Truffle” in the Name
Another menu buzzword that’s usually subpar in its quality is truffles, and some say it’s usually a red flag. Unless you’re at a high-class fine-dining restaurant, “truffle” on a menu usually means truffle oil, which is very rarely made with actual truffles. It tends to be used aggressively and will immediately increase the price of any dish you’re eating, regardless of its actual quality.
Truffle oil is often touted as a luxury ingredient, but its reputation can be misleading. Many chefs avoid it because the oil is typically synthetic, lacking the depth and richness of real truffles. Slapping the word “truffle” on fries or pasta is one of the oldest tricks in the menu pricing book. You’re essentially paying a luxury surcharge for a lab-made aromatic compound. Let’s be real: that’s not what you signed up for.
6. Fettuccine Alfredo
Whether it’s chicken Alfredo or just straight-up fettuccine Alfredo, you might want to avoid this Italian-American staple. According to Chef Susan Yurish, there are so many other ways to elevate pasta, and Alfredo sauce isn’t going to do it for you. It is, at its core, butter and parmesan. A simple preparation that most restaurants manage to make worse than you could at home in fifteen minutes.
Fettuccine Alfredo’s rich, heavy sauce can be overdone, making the dish more about cream than flavor. Chefs often find this dish lacks complexity. Pasta dishes are often overpriced at restaurants, especially if you calculate the cost of ingredients. Marcus Mooney, executive chef of Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating, has high standards for pasta and rarely orders it at restaurants. The markup on pasta is eye-watering when you actually think about it.
7. Lasagna
Lasagna feels like the ultimate comfort order. Warm, hearty, deeply satisfying. The problem is that what arrives on your table has often not been made that day. One chef said that diners should skip restaurant lasagna, which is often frozen and reheated. Picture your perfectly crafted evening out and then imagine the centerpiece was pulled from a freezer that morning. That thought should give you pause.
At some restaurants, the lasagna is premade and frozen. If you order lasagna, it may not be as fresh as you’d hope. Lasagna is a dish that genuinely rewards patience and craft when made properly at home. In a busy commercial kitchen, it is almost always a prep-ahead batch item. You deserve better than reheated convenience food at full restaurant prices.
8. Plain Grilled Chicken
Plain grilled chicken is, honestly, the beige cardigan of restaurant menus. Reliable, inoffensive, and almost always underwhelming. Executive chef Ryan Ososky of The Church Key in West Hollywood says he will order almost anything when he goes out, but never chicken because it tends to be overcooked at most restaurants. Chicken cooked past temperature is a texture nightmare, and in a hot commercial kitchen under pressure, it happens constantly.
Ososky is not alone in his no-to-chicken stance. According to the Food Network’s website, chefs avoid ordering chicken in restaurants for many reasons, including overinflated price and lack of originality. Think about it: you are dining out to experience something you cannot easily do at home. A plain grilled chicken breast is not that experience. Order something interesting instead. Your future self will thank you.
9. Fish on a Monday
This is one of the most well-known pieces of kitchen insider knowledge, and it holds up. If you see fish on the menu early in the week, it might be best to avoid it. On Reddit, many chefs and servers recommend not ordering seafood early in the week at all, because it’s usually left over from the weekend. Most seafood deliveries happen Thursday through Friday.
When thinking about ordering seafood, timing is everything. If you’re dining out on a Monday, you might want to reconsider choosing fish. The freshness might not be guaranteed after the weekend, as deliveries usually occur on Thursday or Friday. Restaurants often don’t receive new stock until Tuesday, leaving Monday’s fish not as fresh. Chefs recommend steering clear of fish on Mondays for the freshest experience. Save it for midweek when fresh stock has just arrived.
10. Raw Oysters (Unless It’s Their Specialty)
Raw oysters are a high-risk, high-reward situation at the best of times. Many people who have worked in the restaurant business don’t order oysters when they dine out, unless it is the restaurant’s specialty. Experienced oyster shuckers and chefs note that oyster expertise is not to be underestimated, as people who work with the shellfish every day will know the tell-tale signs of a bad one.
While oysters are full of vitamins and minerals, they can also be dangerous, especially if they’re not prepared properly. When oysters are served raw, there is a risk of contracting a Vibrio infection. The most serious type, Vibrio vulnificus, can result in limb amputations and even death. That is not hyperbole. If the restaurant you’re at doesn’t serve oysters as a core part of its identity, it’s probably not worth the gamble.
11. The Chicken Caesar Salad
The classic Chicken Caesar Salad might seem like a safe option, but appearances can be deceiving. Many chefs reveal that this dish often doesn’t get the attention it deserves in busy kitchens. The dressing, sometimes bottled and not homemade, can be overpowering, masking the salad’s intended flavors. Additionally, the chicken might be pre-cooked and reheated, compromising its quality.
Think of the Caesar salad as the restaurant equivalent of the middle lane on the highway. Totally unremarkable, just taking up space. Food safety experts also warn that salads, sprouts and deli meats pose foodborne illness risks despite their healthy reputation. Leafy greens now cause more outbreaks than hamburgers. That last fact genuinely shocked me the first time I read it. A salad you think is “safe” is statistically riskier than a burger.
12. The House Bread Basket
Few things feel as welcoming as a warm bread basket landing on the table. The trouble is you cannot always know how fresh it truly is. The bread basket that graces your restaurant table may be fresh from the oven, or reheated after gracing another’s table. Short of fingerprinting each scone, you will never know for sure unless you catch your server in the act.
According to Jesus Alvarado, the executive chef of Aspen-based restaurant Duemani, bread while dining should be avoided because this item is often free or very cheap, so many restaurants tend not to store it correctly. Additionally, guests can be given bread from the night before if the restaurant was slow. The only exception is if the restaurant has a notable bread program or makes its bread in-house. If you’re at a place famous for its bread, absolutely enjoy it. Otherwise, skip it and save space for something actually worth eating.
13. Mac and Cheese as a Side
Mac and cheese as a side dish might sound comforting, but it is almost universally a disappointment when ordered at a restaurant. Celebrity chef Kai Chase says she never orders mac and cheese when dining out. She says it’s her favorite when it’s done right and homemade, with crispy edges, several ooey-gooey melted cheeses, and a parmesan bread crumb buttered topping. However, macaroni and cheese at restaurants, even from soul food restaurants, tend to overcook the noodles, and they typically never have enough seasoning.
Chef Sean Ferraro, chef-owner of Madison Avenue Pizza in Florida, says he avoids mashed potatoes as a side because they are rarely made in-house unless you are dining at a nice restaurant. Food blogger Jessica Randhawa avoids ordering dishes in this category because going out to eat at a restaurant should be about trying new and unique recipes, not a recipe that can be easily made well at home. That principle applies perfectly to mac and cheese. It’s a dish that thrives with love, attention, and a good oven at home. It rarely gets any of those things in a commercial kitchen.
The Bigger Picture: Value Matters More Than Ever
With dining out costs continuing to climb, the stakes of every single order have genuinely risen. Consumers expect to spend seven percent less each month on restaurants this summer, according to KPMG’s Consumer Pulse 2025 report. Meanwhile, 37 percent of Americans say they’re eating out less often this year. People are becoming far more selective about where their money goes.
What chefs tend to avoid are menu items that they know are more likely to be substandard, or else won’t give you bang for your buck. That’s the core lesson here. On average, restaurants waste between four and ten percent of all food they purchase due to spoilage, leftovers, and other reasons. Over 84 percent of unused food in U.S. restaurants is simply thrown away. Some of that waste inevitably ends up on your plate disguised as an overpriced daily special.
The next time you sit down to order, think about what a chef would do. Ask your server what’s freshest, look for dishes that require real kitchen craft, and skip the comfort-food staples you could honestly make better yourself. Every meal out is an opportunity – don’t waste it on a reheated lasagna. What dish on this list surprised you the most? Tell us in the comments.
