From dirty restaurants to unwanted pests, viral rankings highlight where Restaurant cleanliness complaints The piles are piling up, and customers say these states have the biggest problems.

According to reports, the list comes from Chicago-based restaurant furniture company Affordable Seating, which analyzed more than 2.8 million TripAdvisor reviews for about 40,000 restaurants in 2024.

The company focuses on low-rated restaurants in major cities with ratings of 2.4 stars or less, flagging reviews that mention terms like “dirty restaurant,” “Hair in food” “Rat” and “Cockroach”.

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The rankings are based on crowdsourced online reviews rather than official restaurant inspection data tracked by local and state health departments.

A viral ranking has revealed where complaints about filthy dining conditions and pests occur most often. (iStock)

Here’s a breakdown of the top 10, and why each state makes the list.

1.New Jersey

new jersey The company topped the list by a wide margin due to an unusually high number of complaints about dirty dining environments. The Garden State had 320,520 mentions of “dirty restaurants,” 1,883 mentions of “hair in food,” and 810 mentions of rats and cockroaches.

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According to statistics, “dirty restaurants” were mentioned more than eight times more than the top 10 average, putting the state well ahead of other states. Food Safety News.

2. Florida

The restaurant cleanliness complaints analyzed in the rankings came from low-rated restaurants in major U.S. cities. (iStock)

Florida’s ranking was driven by thousands of cleaning complaints in major tourist centers. The analysis focuses on Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and St. Petersburg and does not include Broward and Palm Beach counties. south florida sun sentinel the report said.

The results reportedly showed 4,560 mentions of “dirty restaurants,” 1,691 mentions of “hair in food,” and 636 mentions of bed bugs and rodents.

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3. California

California ranks high The main reason was pest related complaints rather than general cleaning issues. While diners raised “dirty restaurant” issues 3,332 times and mentioned hair in food in 1,731 reviews, the state topped the top 10 for rat and cockroach reports, with 960 complaints, the most on the list.

Food safety officials note that health department inspections remain the primary measure of restaurant compliance. (iStock)

4. Arizona

Arizona ranks among the top five due to continued complaints across all tracking categories, especially in its most densely populated metropolitan areas. Commenters cited the “dirty restaurant” issue 1,759 times, including 639 mentions of hair in food and 443 complaints involving organisms.

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5. Texas

Texas’ ranking reflects consistent (albeit lower) complaint totals in its large urban markets. lone star state There were 1,068 mentions of “dirty restaurants”, 471 mentions of hair in food and 232 pest-related complaints, a number that may be influenced by the size and number of restaurants.

Pest-related complaints played a large role in pushing some states higher in the rankings. (iStock)

6. Louisiana

Louisiana’s ranking is driven by a relatively high number of pest-related complaints compared to overall cleanliness. Reviews included 951 mentions of dirty restaurants, 412 mentions of hair in food and 399 complaints involving rats and cockroaches.

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7.Alabama

Alabama has notable complaints about cleaning and food handling, but fewer pest reports than many other states on the list. Diners mentioned the dirty restaurant 918 times, 404 reviews mentioned hair in the food, and 141 reviews mentioned the sighting of pests.

8. Maryland

The list is reportedly based on millions of TripAdvisor reviews. (iStock)

Maryland’s ranking reflects a balanced level of complaints across all tracking categories, rather than a spike in any single issue. The state recorded 884 mentions of dirty restaurants, 436 mentions of hair in food and 201 pest-related complaints.

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9. Nevada

Nevada’s ranking is affected by the high number of pest complaints relative to its total comment count, Especially in areas with developed tourism. Reviews included 881 mentions of dirty restaurants, 579 mentions of hair in food and 414 complaints involving rats and cockroaches.

Several major tourist states topped the list, driven by numerous diner reviews. (iStock)

10. Georgia

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Georgia rounded out the top 10 with a moderate but consistent number of cleaning and pest-related complaints. Reviewers flagged dirty restaurants 856 times, mentioned hair in food in 375 reviews, and mentioned rats or cockroaches in 216 reviews.