Whether you’re a fan of burgers, pizza or Vietnamese, the range of takeout and home delivery options has never been wider. And that means we’re spending more money too. One recent study showed that in an average lifetime Seattle residents spend $154,200 (£118k) on takeout, while those in Detroit fork out the least at $102,240 (£78k). Yet as tempting and tasty as they can be, there’s another price to pay for meals at the click of a button. Here we dish the dirt on the takeout industry.

Not all branches of popular chain restaurants were created equal. In fact, it’s really down to the management whether they uphold the same food safety standards, customer service, and efficiency. It’s entirely possible an order of crispy beef, spring rolls, prawn toasts and prawn crackers from one outlet can be cooked to perfection, while down the road another is getting orders mixed up and serving them cold and late.

When you order from a food delivery app such as GrubHub, DoorDash (both USA) or Deliveroo (UK), you may think because they market themselves as cool, sleek startups the restaurants they represent uphold certain food safety standards. However, this is not the case at all. To ensure you don’t order food from a kitchen with a subpar hygiene rating, be sure to check this independently.

You might think getting a takeout would be cheaper than eating in: after all, you’re not paying for service or taking up space in the restaurant. However, with restaurants paying commission to delivery apps and the time and cost involved in packaging your meal, they’ve got to compensate by cranking up the online menu prices. Then you pay delivery fees on top.

If you’re ordering a home delivery from one of your favourite restaurants and it gets there in record time, your food might not have actually come from the restaurant at all, but from a “dark kitchen”. Delivery services have a number of these kitchens around cities without any restaurants attached, designed for the sole purpose of fulfilling delivery orders.

Many online delivery services and apps have a tracking service which shows what stage your food is at, from being prepared to being nearly ready. Except you should take the progress of your food with a pinch of salt, as many of these systems are based on average delivery times and can be wildly inaccurate.

If you’re ordering takeout and the restaurant claims its food is free of MSG, don’t believe everything you hear. Even if the restaurant doesn’t add extra MSG, it’s already in plenty of bought-in sauces.

It’s well known that at certain fast food restaurants upgrading to a large portion of fries isn’t always worth the money. For the premium you pay you get hardly any extra. Instead, two regular fries would result in a much more generous portion.

Browsing a takeout menu and tempted by the lovely pictures of the food? Don’t take the images too literally. Not only do some restaurants actually use stock shots for their menus, but food-stylists have plenty of tricks up their sleeves to make the food in the adverts look far better than in real life.

Don’t use the ketchup pumps in the restaurant when picking up your takeout. Instead, use your own ketchup at home. Not only might the pumps not have been regularly cleaned, but you can be sure you're really getting your favourite brand.

We often assume when we order from a restaurant that the food will be fresher and more carefully made than something we cooked at home. Except according to a number of online forums, several takeout chains simply reheat frozen food that’s prepared elsewhere and sell it to us at a premium.

Despite often costing the same price as if you’d eaten in, takeout portions will sometimes be smaller, often due to the packaging or containers. Online forums are rife with customer complaints alleging a takeout they've been given is inferior food, such as the end cuts of meat and the worst vegetables. Some restaurants assume you won’t complain from home.

According to internet forums, there’s some truth to your worries about being judged for ordering too much or asking for strange additions. Restaurant staff do have opinions and talk between themselves like in any other business. But that shouldn’t stop you from ordering what you want of course.

According to insiders, it’s best to stick to pre-set pizza toppings rather than trying to be too original. The issue is there isn't enough turnover – quirky ingredients are purchased in bulk, just like pepperoni or black olives, but they aren't ordered frequently enough to be replaced once they're no longer ‘fresh’. That’s not to say all pizza restaurants run this way – here are our favourite in each state.

Those with allergies know the importance of informing waitstaff of intolerances when placing an order. But how many times have you called to enquire “Does the chicken chow mein contain nuts?” or “Does the bunless-burger contain gluten?” and the response was “I don’t know” – or worse –  they said it doesn’t but you don’t believe them. In some areas restaurants are required by law to correctly display ingredients known to trigger allergies, however they don’t always do this so take extra precautions.

Yelp and TripAdvisor are seriously cracking down on fake reviews, but it's something that's increasingly tricky to police online. Famously, "The Shed at Dulwich" in London – a fictional restaurant created by someone who previously had a job writing fake reviews – made it to number one on TripAdvisor purely from self-promotion. Of course, it works the other way as well, with unnecessarily negative reviews being posted and damaging a restaurant’s reputation. A good rule of thumb is to ignore the top and bottom 10% of reviews. 

If you have one local restaurant you always get takeout from, bear in mind they probably have notes on you. In addition to your allergies or special requests, they will also remember your individual needs or, indeed, if you were rude to staff, so always be on your best behaviour – there might be a reason they don’t pick up the phone to your next order or it takes a long time to arrive.

If you're collecting takeout from a fast-food restaurant, don't be tempted to fill your drink up with ice before leaving. Restaurant workers often admit to seeing dirty ice machines and that they usually aren’t cleaned very often. If you're eating at home, you're better off using ice you've made yourself.

Your delivery driver will be expecting a tip, and if you don’t give one, you’ll be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Drivers on an app confessed to saving a list of customers who didn’t tip and taking their time to deliver their food the next time they ordered, to the point where sometimes the order would get cold.

Those tasty grill marks on your burger from popular fast food chains – they’re not real. They’re artificially coloured on in the factory before the product is shipped to the restaurant. In fact, most burger chains grill on a flat top. If you want real chargrilled burgers, you’ve got to head to somewhere more authentic or high-end. These are the best burger and fries joints in every state.

According to restaurant employees on a number of online forums, plenty of takeout chains have a less than cautious approach to keeping food fresh. You don’t always know how long it's been sitting out for – or whether it’s been reheated.

Love a pizza on a Saturday night? Apparently you should only order a maximum of four toppings. One former worker reportedly confessed that once you go over four, the portion size of each will be reduced to fit them all on the pizza.

Ordered a delivery and noticed how friendly the driver is being? It might not be a totally bona fide friendship: some delivery drivers will do everything from befriending clients’ pets to pretending to like certain sports teams in order to build a rapport and increase their chances of getting bigger tips.

Those who aren’t seasoned cooks may believe takeout is a safer option than preparing a meal at home, but think again. It’s been revealed food industry workers continue to go to work when they’re sick, meaning your takeout order could very well have been handled by someone with a cold, or worse, a stomach bug. Luckily scrupulous restaurants and delivery firms have strict rules in place to prevent this from happening.

Read more: 29 celebrities that can’t get enough of McDonald’s

Whether it’s paying a little extra to get a 'free' bottle of cola or upgrading to a great deal that includes a dessert that you don’t really want, there’s always a tempting meal deal on offer to get you to buy more than you planned. Think: do you really want all the food you're about to order? Could you get it cheaper without the deal? A quick calculation could save you a few bucks every time – hopefully slashing your average spend on takeout.

Read more: Domino’s pizzas you won't believe from around the world