Please reassure me!

[EvilCookie]

Haven't posted here in a while, but I'm freaking out a bit.

Me and my son had a busy day today and had to eat lunch out somewhere. I decided to try a Sweet Tomatoes restaurant that was on our way,
which is like a buffet with salads, soups, pastas, and desserts. It sounded good and seemed like a good choice for my picky three year old.
I'm normally leery of buffets, but this one seemed clean enough, and we went at on off time, 3 pm, when there was almost no one there, of course
washed hands and took all the precautions. Then, already after we ate, just out of curiousity I looked the place up on Yelp - it's a chain, and while the reviews
for other locations were good, the ones for this one specifically weren't great - most just said it's got less variety and the salads aren't as fresh, but
quite a few also said it's very messy and/or dishes were dirty (wasn't the case from what I saw, but we weren't in at a busy time), and then one review was the one that gave me the panic attack - a guy saying he ate there six months ago, and came down with a terrible D and high fever that same night that lasted a few days.
Of course, the second I read it, my stomach immediately flipped and felt off - never mind that I have IBS and it feels 'off' 90% of the time anyway. Right now I feel kinda bloated and uncomfortable, and panicking, regretting eating there in the first place. I'm mainly worried about the salad bar and the prepared salads, although I only had a few bites anyway. I know it's only one review out of 88, and that 99% of the people who go there probably don't write reviews in the first place (and it gets very busy at lunch and dinner), but I still can't relax. We have so many plans in the next few days, including tickets to a show and all the Halloween stuff, I'm terrified of getting sick. Please tell me I'm just crazy?!

[daffodil]

Try not to worry. You have no idea if that reviewer had d had it from the restaurant or something else. Most of the time restaurants are ok.

[Syrup]

You're just crazy!

Seriously, you are FINE! 1 review in 88 is close to 1%. First of all, restaurants are checked CONSTANTLY to maintain their license. If there was anything there that was causing people to get ill, it would have been found in the last 6 months. Second of all, it was 6 months ago!!!! That's a long time. Whatever the 'issue' was is taken care of. Third and most importantly, who is to say it was the food? Fever and d*? He most likely had a bug that he went ahead and blamed on the food. I am 100% sure it had NOTHING to do with the restaurant! Fourth, it was d* not v* so there's a VERY good chance that he ate something that just didn't agree with him! There are certain foods that do that to me. Lastly, he could TOTALLY be making it up! Maybe he works for a different chain and wants to throw in a bad review so that people like you freak and out and avoid the place. Maybe he's a weirdo that just writes poor reviews on different restaurant sites for the kick of it. NO MATTER WHAT the issue is, there's NOTHING WRONG and I am 100% sure that you are FINE! 87 people reviewed the place with praise, they didn't have a problem, if there were an issue the place would have been shut down.

What are you doing reading 88 reviews anyway? There has to be something better to be done. Stop looking for ways to scare yourself! Relax!!!! Everything is FINE!

[Syrup]

P.S. Imagine if you had read the reviews and 87 people had come away sick from that place and 1 reviewer declared everything to be great. Which would you have believed then? Something tells me that wouldn't have reassured you. So stop focusing on the 1 random reviewer. HUGS

[Mamafear]

Oh sweetie, you're understandibly worried. Just remember that it is easier for us to be rational about this because we're not there experiencing the panic. You're most definitely not crazy for being emet and afraid then checking reviews. I am also certain that the chances of illness are nearly nil. Remember, you read 88 reviews, and only one was dire, and very possibly caused by something else. We're here for you! *hugs*

[rexymeteorite]

One good way to know that a restaurant is dirty is check their health department scores and the breakdown of the restaurants violations. Many, many counties have this information available online. Just look up "Health Inspection Scores, (____) County, (State)" They will generally have a way for you to look up the restaurant's scores.

When looking at the restaurant's score card, pay special attention to CRITICAL VIOLATIONS. These are violations that are likely to affect the health and wellness of the customers in the restaurant. These violations will come with point deductions, while smaller infractions will not translate to points being lost on the overall inspection score.

Also, the health inspector will often times check the temperature of a random selection of perishable foods. Ensure that these reading are within safe range. If the health score is relatively recent (within the past 3 months) and is above 80 or so, you are fine! No need to worry! It can also put your mind at ease when trying a new restaurant.

Another tip, try to see if your local news channel does dirty dining segments. They can be very informative!