11 Magic Phrases That Might Get You Fresher Items At Restaurants

Whether you're eating at a fast food joint or a Michelin-starred steakhouse, it's not uncommon to want fresh food. But how can you ensure the food on your plate is actually fresh? There are often obvious signs that your dish isn't the freshest meal possible, such as the use of out-of-season produce or, worse, an unsavory odor. However, in plenty of cases, it is hard to confirm your restaurant items haven't been sitting out for an hour or more at first glance.

If fresh food is important to you, there are a few ways you might be able to get a more recently-made dish. As secret menus and ordering hacks, such as asking for extra herb-crusted seasoning at Texas Roadhouse, become more popular, people have become more intentional about their restaurant experience. When it comes to getting items that are hot, freshly made, or simply haven't been sitting on a warmer all day, all you have to do is say the right words. Here are 10 magic phrases that may just get you fresher (and, hopefully, tastier) dishes at restaurants.

Ordering an item with no salt is a simple trick for getting fries made fresh. A popular McDonald's hack, employees have confirmed that it will indeed get you a hot, fresh batch of fries. This is because McDonald's, and presumably most other fast food restaurants, add salt to all of the fries as a default. To specifically serve you unsalted fries, workers will have to prepare a new batch.

Some McDonald's employees, among other fast food workers, have complained on Reddit that the benefits of this hack do not outweigh the extra time it takes to make the batch of fries. Some have described the hack as annoying, especially when customers try it and go on to pick up a handful of salt packets. Instead, one former employee on TikTok suggested that customers ask for their fries "dropped fresh," which is essentially the same as just asking for a fresh batch nicely. However, as it is more reliable and better for those looking to control their sodium intake, asking for your fries without salt is still a handy trick to have up your sleeve.

Another simple way to signal you want fresh food is to ask for it cooked to order. While many restaurants, such as Culver's, claim to cook to order by default, what does this actually mean? Typically, cooked to order refers to times when a restaurant will prepare your food after you order it, to ensure it is fresh and to your liking. This is an alternative to heating up frozen food or leaving pre-prepared food sitting around, waiting for someone to request it.

Customers have specifically had success when ordering McDonald's Filet-O-Fish cooked to order, claiming it comes out piping hot with a fresh, steamed bun. However, you can get almost any item on the menu a little fresher by adding those three magic words to your order. It's worth a shot at other restaurants, too, with some claiming that once you start using this hack, you'll never want to order items that aren't cooked to order again.

This simple phrase, which may already be a part of your fast food ordering routine, might just get you the freshest items. Why? It signals to employees that you may be a secret shopper. A secret shopper — or a mystery diner, as they may be called — is a part-time gig in which customers visit businesses and report whether or not certain expectations are met. Within the fast food industry, these expectations may include hot, fast, and fresh food.

While it's not guaranteed, a U.K. McDonald's employee confirmed on Quora that the hack may work. They also mention that it is even more likely to work if the receipt request happens during the lunch hours between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., or during the dinner rush, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. You can become a secret shopper through many online companies, but simply asking for a receipt as a regular customer may very well reap you the same benefits.

Calling all KFC fans: This hack is for you. While you may not be able to get your chicken cooked to order at Kentucky Fried Chicken, there is a way you can make sure you receive the freshest batch. Adding the three simple words "from the back" to your KFC order just might be a game-changer. According to a former employee, the chain sells its oldest chicken first to keep processes streamlined while avoiding food waste. By asking for chicken from the back, you may receive chicken from the freshest batch, not the oldest.

If you're ordering your food to go, KFC fans also recommend reheating your chicken in the air fryer once home for a crispier, fresher taste. Getting your fries at the drive-thru window is a similarly effective hack – according to an employee, KFC hands out its freshest fries to drive-thru customers, which is a good compromise if you don't want to resort to salt-less fries.

Restaurant food often comes prepared with a variety of seasonings or garnishes. Asking for an item, or a full dish, without a certain seasoning (or any seasoning for that matter) prompts restaurant workers to make a fresh dish that complies with your request. This is easiest to achieve when ordering a simple item, such as an unseasoned hamburger patty.

While applicable at most restaurants, the opinions of McDonald's employees specifically have been conflicting on this hack and whether or not it works. They cite the company's Experience of the Future model as something that hinders the efficacy of restaurant hacks. The model, which was introduced in 2018, involves modernized decor and self-ordering kiosks. One McDonald's employee claimed on Reddit that any stores with the self-ordering kiosks may be less likely to comply with requests for unseasoned meat, but it ultimately depends on who is in the kitchen. Either way, if you are hoping for fresher food at restaurants, this hack is worth a try.

As this list goes on, you'll find that some meal modifications can lead to fresher fast food. While any kind of custom order can lead to a more recently made batch or dish, this magic phrase is especially helpful for those with specific preferences or allergies. Love a Wendy's sour cream and chive baked potato but equally despise chives and cold potatoes? Love a Burger King Whopper but hate lettuce and cold patties? This is the hack for you. 

Alongside being able to be used at most restaurants, this hack can be used with virtually any item. If you're ordering at a fast food restaurant with a self-service kiosk, such as McDonald's, this hack is easy to accomplish, as there will often be a customization button that allows you to remove certain elements from a dish. In some cases, you may be told that this hack is impossible, as certain elements of a dish will be pre-prepared and cannot be removed. However, you won't know if you don't ask.

There are a variety of ways to tell if your fast food isn't fresh, some of which are worse than others. You may be able to avoid such a fate by simply asking for more of certain components, such as extra onions or sauce. Similar to the last top tip, this phrase can be applied to most dishes at most restaurants. However, this one may be less reliable. In some cases, you can just pay more to add extra elements to your dish. If not, some food service workers may be more willing than others to make a burger with a bonus slice of cheese or another piece of bacon. Again, it's always worth asking, just in case.

Chick-fil-A and McDonald's are two places this hack might work, as employees from both have verified its effectiveness. Chick-fil-A especially takes customizations seriously, and if you ask for a customized item with extra bacon, pickles, lettuce, or whatever your heart desires, you are likely to be met with a "my pleasure."

When faced with asking for something on the side, you probably start thinking about salad. However, this hack may not actually work for salad, as many restaurants serve dressing on the side as a default. Regardless, this magical phrase is still another clever yet slightly sneaky way to ask for a modification at a restaurant (thus getting fresher food).

Restaurants such as McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, and Shake Shack generally allow for customizations and will likely make new, fresh items for customers if requested. This hack is for the foodies who both like items the way they come on the menu and want fresh food. If you'd rather not forgo your onions for the sake of an extra fresh burger, you can just ask for them on the side. This way, you get all of the components of your favorite sandwich and the benefit of it being made fresh.

When asking for eggs at McDonald's, it's fair to wonder how exactly its eggs are made. McDonald's serves multiple types of eggs, and some argue that the round egg is by far the best. Taste aside, asking for a round egg instead of other varieties — such as the folded egg or the scrambled eggs — is a signal to workers that you want your egg freshly cracked.

This distinction is a little bit bigger than most customers might think. Not only are round eggs cracked in the moment, but they're the only eggs used in breakfast sandwiches that are cracked onsite. While Egg McMuffins come with a fresh-cracked round egg by default, sandwiches such as the Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit come with something called a folded egg. McDonald's folded eggs are pre-cooked, folded, and flash-frozen offsite. Once in McDonald's kitchens, the folded eggs are reheated and re-prepared on the grill with butter.

This hack relies on a little bit of common sense and customer insight. When a restaurant is super busy, it is constantly making and serving food. This means that virtually nothing is left sitting around for too long. Whether it's a fast food joint or an upscale sit-down establishment, food will be going in and out faster as the number of orders increases. This is especially relevant to places such as sushi restaurants, where freshness is prioritized.

If you can't make it during the lunch rush itself, it's often better to go sooner rather than later. Employees tend to prepare a lot of food to keep up with the lunch rush, and sometimes that food can be left around if a rush doesn't exactly pan out. If you go before this happens, it's more likely that they will not have anything pre-made, and your order will be cooked on the spot. All of this to say, timing matters and might be something to consider when attempting to get the freshest food.

If you're a Burger King fan, you'll want to be aware of three little words. If you ask for your burger "off the broiler," it signals to employees that you want your Burger King burger fresh. According to a Reddit user, Burger King employees are typically allowed to keep Whopper patties in a warmer for up to 40 minutes. By using this magic phrase, you'll get your burger patty directly off the grill, rather than from a warming tray.

One Reddit user comments that using this hack is the only way they are able to get melted cheese, a sign that points to the request working. A Facebook user points out the same benefit, coming to the conclusion that burgers off the broiler are better. However, other comments in a Reddit thread point out that it may be location-dependent, as their location does not take "off the broiler" requests. Either way, if you're a fan of fresh burgers, this hack is worth a try.