I think transparancy in restaurant hygiene is where it's at. I always like the takeaways with the window between the front desk and the kitchen that lets you see in. Still, I have to say that IMHO BIR takeaways are a little behind most other western establishments. I'm forever seeing my popadums being passed from the chef to the guy at front of house into my bag, just after he's taken my money and given me change etc. I get the impression they just don't know better. I don't think it's that they're intentionally doing bad things - I just think they would benifit from a basic food hygiene course.
That said, this is a massive generalisation and there are many BIRs that no doubt have adequate food hygiene procedures. However from what I have seen, I think that Chinese takeaways are generally far cleaner.