POLL: Do Fruit Flies In Restaurants Disgust You?

The other day, I visited a prominent Philadelphia restaurant and sat at the bar for dinner. I noticed a few small insects flying about. And then one landed in my companion’s wine.

I guess a member of the staff overheard me saying “damn fruit flies!” because he interjected, “They’re not fruit flies — they’re flies.”

Then a senior staffer got wind of the fruit fly conversation quietly going on at the bar and spoke up: “We don’t have fruit flies in this restaurant, but the regular flies we can’t do anything about.” The door and windows were open.

Then the other guy felt the need to add, “They’re just really, really small flies.” Meanwhile, another tiny insect had landed in my friend’s wine.

Now, I’ve seen my share of fruit flies in my life, and I’ve seen my share of flies. And I know the difference. These were definitely fruit flies.

But this wasn’t some kind of ridiculous fruit fly presence, like the time that I counted at least 30 fruit flies on the wall behind me at a certain South Philadelphia restaurant.

And, frankly, I didn’t really care about the little buggers at this more recent restaurant until the staff’s adamant protests of their obvious existence.

I’m not naming the restaurant, because I don’t think they have a serious infestation, and I’ve eaten there many times before and have never been bothered by any insect of any kind.

But my friend was very put off by the bugs. And another friend (and local restaurant industry veteran) I mentioned it to said, “I think that when you get two fruit flies in your glass of wine, there’s a problem.”

Or are fruit flies in a restaurant just a fact of life? You tell us.

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PHOTO: Courtesy momgoesgreen.com