Why Gordon Ramsay Thinks This Is A Major Restaurant Menu Red Flag

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Dining out can be a lot like poker — especially if you don't know how to read the table. For most people, the menu is the first tell. But for celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, one red flag jumps out long before the first course even hits the table: The specials board. The British media powerhouse has seen more kitchens than most of us see birthday cakes. Between hit shows "Hell's Kitchen," "Kitchen Nightmares," and a personal business empire that includes more than 80 restaurants that Ramsay owns across the globe, the TV personality knows exactly how the sausage is made — not to mention how it's priced, plated, and quietly pushed onto unsuspecting diners. 

Hence why Ramsay's ostensibly harsh dining advice is less about etiquette and more about what to avoid entirely. According to the chef, specials aren't always what they seem. Too many of them, and the whole concept starts to unravel. It's the kind of warning that might sound cynical until you realize how often that "limited-time" dish is just there to use up leftovers. In Ramsay's world, a cluttered specials list isn't a flex. It's a real-life "Kitchen Nightmares" episode waiting to happen.

For Gordon Ramsay, nothing spoils his appetite faster than a server rattling off 10 different "daily specials." As the opinionated chef explained in an interview with the Daily Mail, "That's not special." But it's not snobbery — it's survival instinct. As someone who trained under Joël Robuchon, one of the most Michelin-lauded chefs in history, Ramsay's standards were forged in kitchens where every ingredient was scrutinized and every dish had a purpose. Specials, in his view, are often where intent goes out the window.

The TV personality warned that restaurants tend to use specials as a way to move inventory that's on its way out. Especially when they're offered en masse, these dishes are more about trimming waste than delighting diners. The red flag gets even louder when it comes to seafood. Ramsay isn't the only chef to warn against ordering fish on a Monday, a sentiment echoed by Anthony Bourdain in "Kitchen Confidential." Why? Because most markets don't deliver on weekends, and as such, that halibut might be stretching its limits.

Naturally, not everyone agrees with Ramsay's stance. Specials can be an outlet for creativity or testing exciting potential future menu additions. They can also serve a strategic purpose, drawing traffic on slow nights or showcasing limited seasonal ingredients. Done right, they're a soft launch rather than a scam. Still, if a place is offering more specials than regular entrées, stick with something that actually earned a permanent spot.