Restaurant insiders' reveal their dirty secrets

Restaurant insiders have revealed what really goes on behind customers' backs.

Tricks such as adding extra sugar to kids' meals so children enjoy them more, and that a daily 'special' is often leftover ingredients that need to be used up, were revealed in the list of industry secrets compiled for Good Morning America by Reader's Digest.

The mostly-anonymous group of wait staff also admitted some common lies told to customers.

One revealed that they would tell a vegetarian that a dish contained no meat stock, regardless of whether it did or not, just to sell the dish.

And a Kansas City waitress said that she will just serve decaf coffee after 8pm so she only has to clean one pot at the end of the night - but will confidently tell a customer that their coffee is caffeinated regardless.

'I'll bring out a tray with 12 coffees on it and give some to the customers who ordered regular, others to the ones who ordered decaf. But they're all decaf,' she admitted.

'We put sugar in our kids' meals so kids will like them more. We even put extra sugar in the dough for the kids' pizzas'

As for milk, they reveal very few outlets beyond Starbucks carry skimmed milk, and your skinny latte has most likely been made with two per cent or whole milk instead because 'it's just not practical' to stock so many varieties.

Even the most upscale breakfast buffets are not immune from shortcuts, with another revealing that '99 times out of 100' scrambled eggs are made with a powder instead of fresh eggs.

Kids' meals are a shady area too: a waitress at a well-known pizza chain admitted: 'We put sugar in our kids' meals so kids will like them more. Seriously. We even put extra sugar in the dough for the kids' pizzas.'

Some trade secrets are so offputting, it affects how wait staff order when they dine out themselves.

'The single greatest way to get your waiter to hate you? Ask for hot tea'

One waitress told Reader's Digest that she would never have a lemon slice in her drink, having seen that the fruit are rarely washed before being sliced and handled by many different staff before they make it into a customer's drink.

Another revealed that they would never order fish if dining on a Sunday or a Monday because a restaurant's seafood deliveries usually come just twice a week so the freshest fish is most likely served between Tuesday and Friday. The list also delves into the type of customer behaviour that servers respond to best - and in that, provide the best quality service.

First dates, especially blind dates, one Michigan waiter said, are great for tips because a guy will typically show off by ordering wine, and leave a generous 2025per cent tip.