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Dining at closing time

Lutherf

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I'm just curious. Who among you feels like it's fine to head into a restaurant a 9:55 when they close at 10 with the intention of sitting there for 2 hours to have a leisurely dinner?

I'm not talking about hitting some fast food joint just under the wire where you'll probably only be there for 20 minutes. I'm talking about a table service restaurant where it's likely that you'll be there more than an hour.

I totally understand the argument that if they say they're open until 10 then they should honor any guest who shows up before that time but, personally, I'm uneasy being the last table in a restaurant unless there are exceptional circumstances (for example, my party has been there a couple of hours already and we're spending a good amount of money). Actually, it's kind of a pet peeve of mine and I get especially uncomfortable when someone I'm with insists that it's OK even though the staff is obviously unhappy.

Now, if I know the owner and the staff and they let me know it isn't a problem then I'm fine but walking in cold and expecting that service makes me cringe.
 
That doesn't sound like a good plan to me. I would imagine that the restaurant staff would expect (and deserve) a hefty tip for that expectation of 'just under the wire' service.

I have done a similar thing at a Chinese AYCE buffet place that switches (upgrades) their menu (and price) at 4 PM. By timing my arrival at 3:45 PM, I am charged the reduced (lunch) price and then soon enjoy the replacement of many of the buffet items with the nicer, fresher and more expensive (dinner) items. At some places it's better to be late for lunch (early for dinner?).
 
If I owned the restaurant and someone came in like that the only thing I would serve up is a knuckle sandwhich
 
I would never think about going into a restaurant with the intentions of eating it there if they close within 30 minutes.



You just never, ever, ever want to piss off the cooking and serving team. If there is someone in the kitchen who wants to get off on time that night and you put your order in close to quitting time you have a good chance of getting a little extra in your meal.

People who I have known who worked in restaurants when they were young have told me their stories of taking a plate out to a jerk customer and by accident the meat fell onto the floor and was just put back on the plate.
 
gulfman said:
If I owned the restaurant and someone came in like that the only thing I would serve up is a knuckle sandwhich
Click to expand...

Open 12 to 9:30

Free Knuckle Sandwiches 9:30 to 10
 

I would never intentionally do that, but some friends and I did once walk into a cafe to be told that they would be closing in 15 minutes. It was only 2pm, but they were just a little breakfast and lunch place. We thanked them and found another place to eat. To stay would have been pushing, obnoxious and rude, in my opinion.
 
Most of the full service restaurants I go to change their menu weekly to daily, so the closest I come to showing up minutes before closing is calling about 15 minutes before closing to place a takeout order at a restaurant that has a standing menu.

Chefs are well aware of their projected volumes and traffic and they purchase mains from their suppliers accordingly. Showing up at last minute, one is likely to find several dishes have sold out. I suppose if one doesn't care what one has to eat, that doesn't much matter, though if the restaurant is a "tasting menu" style place, one could get short shrifted. Seafood places also present that problem because chefs want to serve only the freshest seafood, so they tend to buy only what's freshest at the fish market (or that arrived that morning on the fish monger's truck) and conceive the dish that day based on whatever fish it is that's freshest. (If they have any leftover, they'll put yesterday's fish/shellfish in a stew or soup rather than as a main with sides.)
 
gulfman said:
If I owned the restaurant and someone came in like that the only thing I would serve up is a knuckle sandwhich
Click to expand...

Assault charges aren't conducive to owning a business.
 
Even though I never eat at a restaurant later that 30 min before close... just because I know people will be pissed.

But, I still think, if you say you are open.... you are open. The closing time that is posted should be the time where to start to pack everything up and clean.... not 30-45-1 hour before.

What I think is actually going on is the restaurants are cheating the staff out making them only have work hours timed for 30 min after closing... while it actually takes longer to clean everything than that. So workers get pissed if you go in 5-min before closing because they can't leave early and may not be payed fully for the cleanup job.


If that is the case... I think they should complain to the owner about that.... if it isn't, I think it's just lazy people wanting to leave work early...
 

Where I work when the lights go off that's it.

We're supposed to be open to 9:30 and 10 on the weekends but it's always over at 8:30.
 

I've been to places that close at 10 but don't seat after 9:30. That seems to be the best solution.

But to your question, if I arrive a few minutes before closing and the restaurant seats me, I assume they are fine with that. That would include not rushing my dinner.
 
I generally don’t go to non-fastfood restaurants within 30 minutes of closing. In the off-chance I did, I would probably get the food to-go.
 

Red:
What kinds of full service restaurants to you patronize? Places Gulfman runs?

That late in the restaurant's business day, you're likely to be the only one for whom the place is preparing a meal. They won't need the whole kitchen staff to do that, so if someone wanted/needed to leave on time, that one meal isn't going to matter. That person will go and the chef or sous chef or someone else will handle it. Similarly, the wait staff, bartender and maître d' will take care of their tidying up duties in the front of the house while you eat.

There's plenty the restaurant staff have to do after closing and they can do much of it while just one table is there, provided it's a "normal" sized (2-4 people) party. Were a last minute party to cop an attitude about the tidying up going on around them, well, that'd probably engender some pissed off staff, but I doubt most folks showing up at the last minute would complain in that way. The staff would also get a little plucked if a last minute party were to sit there chewing the fat, so to speak, for hours on end rather than moving along after finishing their meal.

For the most part, however, if one shows up at the last minute, the maître d' will inform one of the constraints one faces -- we're out of "this or that;" the pastry chef has left so we can't prepare "such and such" dessert, it'll be a bit noisy as we'll have to clean up the rest of the restaurant while you're dining, etc. -- and if one is okay with what one is told, one can have a meal.
 


Nope. Wouldn't do that. I know better than to piss off a waiter/waitress, bartender and chef.
 
Exquisitor said:
Where I work when the lights go off that's it.

We're supposed to be open to 9:30 and 10 on the weekends but it's always over at 8:30.
Click to expand...

Good Lord! I know it's not Spain where you are, but my there're a lot of early diners there.

Even assuming there's not a pre and post theater crowd, whatever happened to the notion of "dinner at eight" if one is going out for dinner?

  • Mon-Thu:
    • Between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m. -- Leave the office
    • ~7:00 - ~7:45 -- Change for dinner or meet with friends for cocktails
    • 8:00 -- Arrive for dinner
    • ~10:00 - ~10:30 -- Return home
  • Friday and Saturday
    • ~7:00 - ~7:45 -- Change for dinner and head out for cocktails or have friends over for cocktails
    • 8:00 -- Arrive for dinner
    • ~10:00 - ~10:30 -- Head to a party, a club, the late showing of a film or return home
I don't know. Maybe it's just me. I order out a lot -- just as a matter of being too lazy to cook -- but now that I've retired, I less often go out to eat. Going out to eat is, for me, more of a social thing than it is an eating thing.
 


Its been awhile since I was in the restaurant business, but usually the way it worked at were I worked was if you arrived about 30 minutes before closing they would let you know you order to go but the dining room was closed. It depends on the establishment obviously but usually the closing time on the door is usually not the actual closing time for the restaurant, remember they have clean up to do. Clean up when I worked was usually about 2 hours or so. So long as you out before they are done cleaning up so they can finish on time, they shouldn't mind especially if you are generous tipping. Again depends on the establishment. When in doubt just ask.
 

The dinner crowd up in these small towns is an earlier crew.
 
Most restaurants won't seat you after a certain time. You might be able to get some items as takeout but not just anything. We have from time to time gone for a late dinner around 9:00 and typically the restaurants close at 11:00. When we arrive the dining room is pretty full but as people leave, there comes a time when they stop seating them in the dining room but rather the bar or counter. As they empty out of the dining room their tables are completely stripped, wiped down, salt/ pepper shakers and any other condiments on the table are replenished and the tables are set up for the next day. Then they bring out the sweepers and start vacuuming the floors in empty sections. And while this is all happening you can see them breaking down the salad bar. All this hustle and bustle going on while you are trying to enjoy your meal you realize it is close to closing time. These people work hard for their money and most likely have families or a college student that has an 8:00 class. So don't be an ass expecting to get service in any restaurant 5 minutes till closing. Find a Denny's or Waffle House or any number of franchises that are open 24/7.
 
Very simply, I don't and wouldn't walk into a restaurant just minutes b4 closing time, with the intent on staying an extended time, forcing the employees to stay and wait for me to finish so they can finally go home. Never done it, never will. Common courtesy! I've made a few take out orders that I picked up just b4 closing time, but not after.

Here's a 14 second Family Guy clip that is related to wasting other folks' time by ordering late: https://youtu.be/9WEn-Glik2w
 
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At the ski hill we'd have to wait and wait for the customers to file out before we ate breakfast and they would sit there and sit there, I wonder if they even went skiing.

How bout I go see my friend playing at the bar and have a drink and wait until the kitchen closes to order?

If they're open to ten, but if it's slow and they're breaking down you shouldn't expect to be served and if they're busy, it's more money for everybody.
 

I worked in fine dining for close to 15 years... Was never a problem that people came in late. Most don't stay too long but once in a blue moon some asshole comes in that wants to make a thing about purposely staying late as if it makes them cool. Those guys are ****ing losers but as the head waiter/captain I generally took all the last tables because it was a great way to make another hundred or so bucks on top of the rest of the night.
 
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