I thought it might be a good idea to have any comments, advice, funny/horror stories etc in one thread. Anyone been to a really grotty place or famous restaurant?
I go to one place in the Dudley area where you’d be advised to wash your hands before using the toilets. No hot water, mould on the walls etc…It’s also not uncommon to see rat traps in some upmarket bakeries either.
Went to one of our suppliers around Park Royal way and the grease in the yard was so bad you could feel your boots clinging to the ground. You then had to very careful getting back into the truck afterwards and have plenty of cardboard to keep the crud off the pedals, steps etc. I hated that place with a vengeance.
Lancashire Dairies in Manchester. The yard on Derby Street had puddles of milk everywhere that turned to yoghurt in the summer and ice cream in the winter and the rats were as big as cats.
I’ve noticed a different attitude from the public since changing from tippers to flour delivery. Apart from TFL querying why we’re in parts of London, I’m not aware of any NIMBY complaints regarding being in town centres. I find that the public will say “morning” etc a lot more than before. The freebies are a bonus too; This week it’s been fancy coffees (served by some very fit friendly females), cakes, biscuits and several large loaves of bread. The boss gave all the drivers who worked yesterday a tin of biscuits each plus a good overtime rate.
…I wouldn’tve got the snot from their noses where I used to work.
I know a bloke who is a pest controller and has done work in a lot of top London hotels and restraunts.
He said the kitchens in some of these are shocking.
Jamie Olivers in Bath, they do not want the pallet, so you have to wait until they have broken it down, as you know what the traffic wardens are like, i am ok if the tail lift is down, as you have to be seen to be in the act of unloading, i dropped the pallet off, and went in to one of the “Greedy Italians” restaurant, from the TV series about cooking in Italy and had a crafty coffee in Carlucio`s.Got to be done.
you can’t beat handball to small bakeries nathan , i used to do a lot of them . they are usually nice and clean and i always got loads of bread and cakes as thankyou’s .quite the opposite were the warehouses of our turban wearing brethren , mostly pallet jobs , but when you got the pod signed you wiped your feet on the way out . another dodge of theirs was returning damaged bags , they often tried to send two damaged bags back (to be refunded ) which was one bag half emptied into an empty bag they had saved , one free bag for them . i could go on , but you would get bored with the old stories . cheers , dave
Doing the night shift for super market multi drops for milk bottles in steel cages, the last driver that tipped there left hundreds of empty cages for me to collect, it was a knack to line them up, then use the scissor lift.
One driver had upset them once, as has a punishment they banned the use of it to all visting drivers.
Used to do fish deliviries to hotels and restaurants before I got my HGV, some top places we went to, but after seeing what it was like in the and around the kitchens you would never ever want to eat there.
Delivered some full pallets of yoghurt’s to a yard for a dairy in Luton, as we were late and everyone was out on deliveries it was recommended we leave it in their yard, in the open, next to their warehouse.
Other deliveries had to be checked as often would be signed ‘unchecked’ followed by complaints of shortages.
Some years back watched cages of frozen goods being left outside in summer having been dropped off from the back of the truck because the staff of the famous fast food place was too busy serving to take it indoors. The finally shifted it an hour later…
Put me off eating there for a while. These days I might only go there for a hot drink but most other foods I miss…
Seen a lot over the years and even more to encourage me to at least practice some better hygiene before eating, or at the very least after delivering to some of those places!!!
There used to be a dodgy chinky restaurant in Witney called House Wong. Well known for drunken fights on Friday and Saturday nights, in recent years they’d employed illegals (which was proven in court by the way) and one chef was caught at a local car boot selling counterfeit ■■■■ dvds. Anyway, to top it off a guy who I’ve worked with delivered there once to find frozen chicken being defrosted on trays out the back in the summer sunshine.
Belive me or believe me not but once caught a dose of crabs in the “drivers toilets” at a Sainsburys depot at Buntingford!
Dont mind a dose if you get the “pleasure” know what I mean
But not when I just need a crap!
Dirty bloody hole.
Bking:
Belive me or believe me not but once caught a dose of crabs in the “drivers toilets” at a Sainsburys depot at Buntingford!Dont mind a dose if you get the “pleasure” know what I mean
But not when I just need a crap!
Dirty bloody hole.
^One for the RDC waiting room I think.
Back on thread, one of my freebie loaves tasted lovely at tea time.
Bking:
Belive me or believe me not but once caught a dose of crabs in the “drivers toilets” at a Sainsburys depot at Buntingford!Dont mind a dose if you get the “pleasure” know what I mean
But not when I just need a crap!
Dirty bloody hole.
Maybe your wife was silly enough to believe this we’re not lol you were stuck in a dirty hole that’s how you got them.
Used to do a lot of agency work in Taylor Barnards (remember them?) which involved delivering to Chinese restaurants across london and the south east.
Some genuinely hideous kitchens, and I still won’t eat Chinese to this day.
hays distribution out of bardon delivered to the KFC chain. some of the stuff I saw there has given me nightmares to this day. not least of which was a tray of frozen chicken legs that fell of the back onto the yard floor. the spotty 16 year olds scooped em back into the tray. faster than you could say “ain’t you at least gonna run em under the tap?” they were in the fryer, gravel mud and all. if you ever wondered what goes into the spicy southern coating… I’ve never since eaten anything from KFC, I can’t even stomach chicken anymore 
rigsby:
you can’t beat handball to small bakeries nathan , i used to do a lot of them . they are usually nice and clean and i always got loads of bread and cakes as thankyou’s .quite the opposite were the warehouses of our turban wearing brethren , mostly pallet jobs , but when you got the pod signed you wiped your feet on the way out . another dodge of theirs was returning damaged bags , they often tried to send two damaged bags back (to be refunded ) which was one bag half emptied into an empty bag they had saved , one free bag for them . i could go on , but you would get bored with the old stories . cheers , dave
Done two years as drivers mate in the early 80’s out of Spillers on Newcastle Quayside, best job I ever had. Nothing tastes better than a free pie or 2 fresh from the oven. 
Loading bay at the Langham is always pretty minging. Lots of stuff sat around.
Hungry Horse pub/restaurants can be quite grim too. I’m not a H&S freak, but I have worried for my safety walking on some of the kitchen floors (as above, have to clean the soles of my boots before getting in the cab)
Credit where it’s due, I’ve never delivered to a Hilton or a DeVere place that hasn’t been spotless.
Never delivered to a Radisson that hasn’t kept me waiting.
One think that really gets on my breasts is the amount of foreigners that aren’t allowed to sign for deliveries. Fair enough if I’m delivering a sizeable amount, but come on, a pack of rubber gloves or a mop handle…
No, no, let’s wait for some manager to finish his breakfast and trying to get into the receptionists knickers before he has time for that “mere driver” sat at the loading bay.
If I had a pound for every time I said “you do know I can only work so many hours a day, and I’ve got 30 drops on, if everyone kept me waiting as long as you etc etc etc, moan, groan, whinge etc”
And have you noticed hotels deep fry their fried eggs. Just looks wrong, I only eat poached now, lol
Wagomama were always spotless, and never messed you around. It could be a pain to get a large order into their fridges sometimes though. Has anyone delivered to the restaurant section at Southamptons’ West Quay centre? Load into the cargo lift, all the way to the top floor. Then, strip pallet, put stock onto dollies and put into the small lift that’s more like a dumb waiter. Send up again, wheel out and then wheel stock to the customers’ premises.
West Quay is a lovely place to shop and the food area is nice but I think the architects forgot how to get food to the kitchens.
One thing I noticed is many restaurants just serve up pre portioned microwave meals and charge £15 for it and the customer assumes it’s been crafted in the kitchen. Some of the independents and pub trade have fresh ingredients and create their food from scratch. Another thing is because they don’t have to list their ingredients like a super market does, the food is chock full of flavour enhancers, colouring, and preservatives.
And those sausages and burgers you get from a roadside burger van? You seriously don’t want to know.