to be put off going out to restaurants because of the smell?

[toonoisie]

I don’t know if this is just me being fussy, but I’m starting to feel really put off eating out. It’s not the food or the cost, it’s the smell that clings to everything.

Every time I go somewhere, especially places doing grilled or fried food, I come home and my clothes absolutely stink. My coat smells, my hair smells, even my bag sometimes. It’s that heavy, greasy food smell that just doesn’t shift unless everything goes straight in the wash. I don’t want to be washing coats and outfits after every meal out.

It’s got to the point where I think twice before going because I know I’ll come back feeling like I need a full shower and laundry reset. Bit of a mood killer when you’re meant to be enjoying yourself.

I get that it comes with the territory, it’s a restaurant not a perfume shop but surely better ventilation is a thing?

AIBU to be put off by this or is everyone else just accepting that this is part of eating out?

My OH has ASD and has always had such a sensitivity to food smells...he can't cope if food is cooked in the house without windows/back door open and internal doors closed to stop the smell spreading. Also puts all clothes in the washing on returning from meals out including jacket (he has no hair or handbag to worry about though).
I honestly never understood but during pregnancy I definitely got it! Now 2 years post partum I seem to be very sensitive to smells again and wondering if it's hormonal - definitely not pregnant!
I swear there was 3 people in toddler group last week honking of food (one greasy, one garlic and one cumin/curry). Can also relate to pp about perfumes lingering.
At the end of the day, if you can smell it and you no longer enjoy eating out, then you don't have to. So in that sense YANBU...but blaming the restaurants is probably a little bit unreasonable

I know exactly what you mean. I have to tell myself to be prepared to chuck everything in the wash when I get home and have a full shower. If I don't shower I will have to change the bedding the next day as the smell transfers.
I also find the same when visiting coffee shops.
I can also smell it on other people.

I get it. Can smell cooking on people’s coats/clothes especially if they’ve been cooking beige oven stuff or fried food
my home is open plan so I’m always washing throws etc so they don’t smell of cooking

I had this once recently, it wasn’t a fried food place but the kitchen “pass” was next to the tables so you could see right into the kitchen. I’ve also had it a few times going to one particular friend’s house with an open kitchen living room and no extractor fan. So I assume it’s rubbish ventilation or a particular type of oil. But normally I don’t notice it after going to a restaurant

I’ve never had this in a restaurant but can imagine it does happen. I will not go in the chippy unless my hair is dirty (as I’d need to wash it again) and I’m wearing old clothes. My coat stays in the car.

I’ve also had it at a friend’s house. I didn’t notice any smell when I arrived but my coat absolutely reeked of that fatty fried smell when I went to put it on at the end of the evening.

I think the answer is to try and minimise the impact by leaving your coat and bag at home and just taking things in a pocket.

I worked in a burger bar when at college and yeah, the smell clings but that was me standing for hours! I can't say I have ever smelled food smells when gone out for an hour or two for dinner on my clothes though.

Any chance pregnant? Smell sensitivity changes can be a medical condition.

I've never had an issue with smells lingering but wish pubs wouldn't do fish and chips. It stinks, leave it to the chippy

Same! I have to put clothing in wash and shower otherwise I have to change the bedding too!

Not pregnant by the way!

In all of my 40 odd years, I have never ever came out of a restaurant with my hair or clothes smelling of food.

I don't think I've ever smelled like food. Until and unless waiter throws the food on me, by mistake

I am sensitive to cooking smells. I’m going to be absolutely ridiculed now but when I’m cooking dinner I change into old clothes that I can just chuck in the wash after but I also don a shower cap as I can’t stand my hair smelling of cooking especially onions. It honestly keeps me awake at night if I can smell the dinner in my hair 😳😳. If I’m washing it anyway I wouldn’t bother with the cap. I can’t stand cooking smells in the house and have often put the air fryer in the garage while it’s on. The smells make me feel ill. It doesn’t seem to bother me as much in restaurants. Maybe it’s our cooking!

I've never smelt of food having eaten in a restaurant. You're only there for a couple of hours?
The cooking smells get ventilated out through the kitchen to outdoors so I don't see how the place can be so smokey or smelly?!

I think you must have a very acute sense of smell. Or the ventilation systems in your local restaurants was all installed by the same guy and he sucks?

You wash your bedding if you've been out to eat? I think I've actually read it all now. Nothing is ever going to top that - even on laundry obsessed Mumsnet.

Are you eating on the inside of a roadside truck stop on the hottest day of the year when fried fish and onions are special of the day?

You either have some kind of hypersensitivity and associated OCD, or you are going to absolutely rank restaurants who don't change their cooking oil and/or have poor ventilation.

Other people experience it too so not just me.

Yes! This is me too! I have a very sensitive sense of smell and there are loads of cafes and restaurants that I can’t go to anymore as I have to wash literally everything afterwards - hair, coat, bag. One coffee shop smells so strongly of coffee that the smell lingers for a week if I don’t wash everything. Greasy spoon cafes are the worse. Indian restaurants also bad. It doesn’t seem to bother anyone else in my family but I can’t cope with my stinky hair and coat if I go in any of those places.

I didn’t used to, although have always had a keen nose and there were plenty of places I couldn’t go to for meals because of the smell. However, perimenopause has heightened all my sensitivities to the point that I often have to take anti-nausea medication as certain smells leave me feeling so sick, I know it’s hormones am
praying it passes! You’ve said no chance of pregnancy, could it be peri / menopause?

I didn't realize how lucky I am too have a poor sense of smell!

I don't think I have a particularly acute sense of smell but food aromas in restaurants, takeaways and at home really bother me. I love all sorts of food just don't want to be able to smell it on my hair/clothes in my house after.

I get you OP. I’m really sensitive to smells and get annoyed when I come home from a restaurant smelling like a kitchen.

same when I’m cooking at home. I always close all the bedroom and bathroom doors before cooking anything aromatic

I worked in restaurants my entire career and I’ve never felt the need to decontaminate after a shift 😂.

It takes the enjoyment out of eating out coming home smelling of cooking. It is another job having to change out of everything/shower.

Are you around perimenopause age? Seems most logical that the change you have noticed has originated with you, rather than multiple restaurants simultaneously.

I am menopausal so perhaps that is the reason. DH and DC are not bothered by the smell.