We talked to local restaurateurs about the choice to close kitchens early to counteract late customers and explored the perspectives of servers and customers trying to find a balance.
There’s no clear-cut answer to this conundrum, so we ultimately left it for our readers to decide. Unsurprisingly, the story elicited strong reactions on social media, including some perspectives we hadn’t heard before. We’ve compiled some of the responses here.
Asked if it was OK to show up at a restaurant at the last minute, many readers considered it to be in poor form. But opinions varied as to what the correct cut-off time is.
Some believed it to be situational and dependent on what exactly you're ordering.
Larry on Facebook:
Depends on how long it takes to prepare your food.
Randy on Facebook:
An [hour] for a full meal. If [you’re] just getting deep fried food, something quick like chicken tenders, fries, cheese curds, then at min[imum] show up half an [hour] prior to close.
Others had more cut-and-dry guidance.
Nathaniel on Facebook:
Can you eat and pay by the exact time they close? This is the only answer.
Michelle on Twitter:
Personally, I don't show up less than an hour before closing time and NEVER 20-30 minutes before closing. It's just rude to the staff who have already worked their butts off.
And still others expressed their distaste with snark.
Georgia on Twitter:
Depends on how much of an entitled A-hole you are, I guess.
On the other end of the spectrum, some of our readers maintained that open is open, and the staff’s job is to respect that. This included not just frustrated customers, but service workers who accept it as part of their job.
Francisco on Facebook:
I have worked in the service industry and it sucked getting last minute orders. But your open hours are your hours. The kitchen should be open unless specified like bars do. If you don’t like that as an employee, find a service job where this isn’t an issue.
Cyrus on Facebook:
If you post a closing time, you’re going to be open until then. If you don’t like it, post a closing time an hour before you actually close to allow for last minute people and closing duties to be performed. It’s not rocket science.
Like Cyrus, readers seemed to generally be OK with kitchens closing slightly early to allow for a quicker shutdown. All they ask is that restaurants be transparent about it and post kitchen closing times alongside the regular hours.
William on Facebook:
Perfectly acceptable if the kitchen closing time is posted.
Marc on Twitter:
If you’re a restaurant that remains open until 10, seat your guests! If you want to close the doors by 10, state something to the tune of “last seating is at 9pm”.
If you think there’s something we’re still missing, don’t hesitate to let us know. As you can see, we are avid readers of our comments section.
