Why do the servers handle a customers pizza slices with their bare hands, this is wrong for several reasons don't you think?!?

The legal restrictions on handling food with bare hands aren't as strict as most people would think.Food that is to be cooked can be freely handled with bare hands. That would also encompass pizza slices that are to be put back into the oven to be heated. I can also assure you the slices they grab from the oven to slide on plate to serve will be quite safe. The temperature of the slice will be high enough to kill any bacteria that could be transferred. One good thing I can say about having to sit through numerous lectures from the Department of Health back in my food service days is that it actually makes you feel a lot better about eating in restaurants, even if those places have kitchen horror stories.

Not sure what the food handling guidelines are in NY but I'd think using bare hands during preparation is common. Bare hands used to separate or serve a pizza slice would be a no no. However I'm not a germaphobe and a small mistake like that wouldn't bother me. Their pizza is great and I can't wait to go there again.

Being a professional cook and kitchen manager I know that the guidelines are food that will be cooked to the correct temperature before serving can be touched without gloves and should be taken out of the oven with gloves or tongs or some type of utensils NOT BARE HANDS. Cold food prep MUST be with gloved hands or tongs. Strict hand washing is not the answer to touching food... YET IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT !

Higher end restaurants and pizza places usually do not wear gloves. I have been to many health department certification classes and this is a question I also asked. They get a special certification stating that they can go gloveless but they have to have a much stricter hand washing regimen as well as they can’t just touch food thats ready to be served. But in the end this is completely legal and safe.

I'm sure that they wash their hands constantly if that puts your mind at ease, from a legal aspect I have no idea how its possible for them to get away with that. Last I knew it was New York State law for all employees to wear gloves while handling food. If were to take a guess (which I am) it would be because while spinning dough its easier to complete the task gloveless and then they forgot to put on gloves after. Beyond that i feel like this incident may have been caused by in inexperienced, careless, or rebellious employee. I doubt that the pizzeria itself condones this sort of behavior. I hope this helps and I hope the pizza was good enough to compensate for your discomfort, I know that when I visited last the food was incredible.