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Dozens of websites are littered with complaints from fast food and casual restaurant staffers who say that customers show little regard for them when it comes to closing time. Should a restaurant that stays open until 10 p.m. take all comers until they lock the front door? If customers come in at 9:55, should the staff be compelled to stay until those customers devour their last morsel?
Some restaurants try to accommodate their clientele even if it's right at closing time or slightly after. Seating customers after closing time is "possibly the worst policy... that I have seen at a restaurant" according to the Insane Waiter, one of the many blogs that chronicles the travails of the food service industry. The "waiter" told a demanding couple that expected to be seated at 9:55, when the restaurant was closing at 10 p.m, "I'm sorry, but we have people that need to get home to their families, that's why we have posted hours." Typically, most customers argue that a restaurant is there to serve their needs and that as long as the door is open, they should be treated with as much courtesy, respect and good service as they would get at any hour. Corporate management agrees. For some big fast-food chains, like McDonald's, which operate many 24-hour franchises, closing time doesn't even exist.
"It is our standard operating procedure to serve every item on the regular menu until the last minute of the business day," says Ashlee Yingling, a spokeswoman for McDonald's. "More than 95 percent of our 14,000 U.S. restaurants are operating on some form of extended hours."
But that isn't the case for most fast-food and casual-dining operations. Megan Hadden, a former restaurant employee who until this winter worked five years at an Arby's franchise in Bradford, Pa., believes that every customer is entitled to order food as long as "the lights are on and the door is unlocked." That doesn't mean she and her former co-workers have to like it -- and we don't blame her.
"Of course every employee dreads that one customer that comes in five minutes before closing," she says. "It's usually the time you've already taken everything down, thrown away the food that needed to be discarded or wrapped up the food that is to be used for the next day and put it back in the cooler."
Crew members who work overtime are generally not paid overtime. Donald Baillargeon, a 24-year old crew member at a Wendy's restaurant in Durham, N.C., says that customers who order food near closing time need to realize that they may have to wait longer to get their meals. Fresh food has to be cooked from scratch and culled from what's already been stored for the next day.
To make sure customers get the message, the Wendy's lights are automatically timed to go off shortly after the doors are locked. "If anyone still happens to be in the store when it's almost time for them to go off, I go out and let them know that dining room lights... will be turned off shortly," says Baillargeon.
Lindi Cox, 25, a former server who worked at Ivar's, a casual seafood chain in Seattle, says she never shows up at a restaurant right before closing because of her own experience with inconsiderate stragglers. Late dining carousers repeatedly caused her to take cab rides home, because mass transit had already shut down. There was even a night she spent sleeping in a co-worker's car so she could be on time for the 6 a.m. shift, after working until 1 a.m. to accommodate customers who didn't want to leave.
"I no longer wait tables and probably never will," she says. "But it taught me to respect those working in the industry. They are not just meaningless people serving you food. They have a life and usually a very busy one at that. If I ever happen to stay a few minutes past closing time, I always tip 25 percent."
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4-06-2010 @12:29PM Frank said... "The "waiter" told a demanding couple that expected to be seated at 9:55, when the restaurant was closing at 10 p.m, "I'm sorry, but we have people that need to get home to their families, that's why we have posted hours."
I'm not sure what the problem is... "Last seating is at 9:00" is a perfectly legitimate and acceptable answer that I think 99% of people would accept. The problem is really with restaurant managers and owners who want to squeeze in one more check, no?
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4-06-2010 @5:40PM Voice O' Reason said... A little common sense goes a LONG way! If the restaurant is EMPTY and it is 5 till closing time, keep moving to the next restaurant. If a restaurant is busy at 5 till, chances are serving you will not be any problem. Regardless, if you go to a restaurant at closing time, eat quickly, and do not linger. Everyone should have the right to go home on time, restaurant employees included! Put yourself in their shoes.
4-06-2010 @8:23PM Frank said... Or it's a struggling restaurant that will greatly appreciate your business.
(I'm not sure there's real "reason" to your "common sense"...)
No one is out there actively searching for places that are about to close, but if you're wandering around for something to eat, sometimes you will enter an interesting looking place that happens to close to closing time.
My point is that these places need to step up and say that they can't serve you, instead of digging for one last cover for the night to add to sales.
How hard is it for them to politely turn someone away because they are done serving for the night?
4-06-2010 @11:52PM susan said... Frank, dear.....Common sense seems to be lacking in your household! (How many comments have you posted tonight?) Can't pick up a phone? Most folks know to call a store of any kind if they will be going after about eight o'clock to make sure they are open. I have never seen an establishment of any kind that did not post hours of operation. Just as we are all different, businesses have differing policies. I would hazard a guess that most restaurants will seat you until the posted closing time. However, you need to realize that restaurants DO SELL OUT of items as the day ends. It is not profitable to have a ton of stuff left at the end of the night. I also will guess that you work in a place that allows you to leave at a set time.
4-07-2010 @9:49AM Rosebriar2 said... I agree! I went into a restaurant a few months ago with three other adults. There were no hours posted and we were arriving around 9 p.m. after having seen a movie. When we asked if they were still serving and whether or not they were closing soon all the servers said they'd be happy to serve us and that they weren't closing. However, throughout our entire meal, servers were vacuuming around our table, putting chairs up on tables, unplugging lights and doing all sorts of unprofessional things (and at the same time couldn't be bothered to bring us water refills or check on us). We would have been happy to go elsewhere if we knew that they were closing, and since we asked outright, I think it would have been more professional to tell us they were closing than to pretend that they weren't and then act rudely while we were there. I definitely agree with Frank: management shouldn't have instructed its staff to take our party if they weren't really going to be able to serve us.
4-06-2010 @12:31PM Frank said... What IS upsetting is being seated and then being told that they are serving a limited menu because it's close to closing time...
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4-06-2010 @12:52PM ESC said... Why is this upsetting? If you rush in right before closing, you're going to have to expect that not everything is going to be as if you were there hours earlier. They will be out of something. They may have already dumped the frying oil. If you're upset about this, maybe you should plan better, instead of whining when the world doesn't revolve around you.
4-06-2010 @2:46PM Frank said... That's my whole point, they shouldn't let me in that close to closing if they KNOW they can't provide proper services for their guest.
It's pretty disingenuous of restaurants to seat me (and charge me) for a full experience when they're not going to offer me that full experience. They're looking at me like a few extra bucks they can pick up when while they're closing down.
They should either close at the earlier time and stop seating people or provide a full experience.
4-06-2010 @4:32PM Lita said... That's his point....you should do better planning and not go in the restaurant right before closing time
4-06-2010 @5:44PM JST said... Frank, as ESC said, "Why is this upsetting?" If you walk into a movie theatre an hour after the film started do expect to see the whole film? If you get to a baseball game after the seventh inning strech do expect to see the whole game or get the total experience? I've been in the food service industry for 31 years and can understand where your comming from but, until you've been in the trenches like the rest of us, you're never going to get it.
4-06-2010 @7:32PM RFJ said... I'm so sorry Frank. Just because you have absolutely no concern for anybody else, just yourself, I'll cry for you. Seriously, you can't read the posted times? Also, it is very common practice that if it is close to closing time, restaurants serve a limited menu. Even fast food chains like Wendy's in my area serve a limited menu. Please have some consideration. Other people have lives too, and you probably don't even tip when these people are missing precious time with their families. I have only worked in the food industry for 4 months because I only wanted to work part-time and the job best fit my needs in regards to hours. However, I made that choice to spend time with my son. But when someone orders at 10:30, I think that's a little ridiculous. I now spend less time with my son because my part-time work sometimes ends up being 9 hours a day.
4-06-2010 @6:21PM Frank said... Are you people serious?
They don't let you in to a movie if it's already an hour in.
They'll let you sneak into a game if it's already in the seventh inning (or at least you can scalp a super cheap seat). These are policies of these places, and if restaurants had similar rules we'd all be fine.
And quite frankly, I don't know when I'm heading into a place 10 minutes to closing.
It's not like nice restaurants splash their closing times on their doors or anything.
If I see people inside, I'll pop in. If I'm told that it's too late, that's fine (I can go to the next place). BUT STEP UP AND TELL ME SO.
Basically, the business wants it both ways, they don't want to "lose my business", but they know they can't serve up a full dining experience. Disingenuously offering me up a half-assed dining experience is BS.
4-06-2010 @6:38PM redconvoy said... Frank, use common sense. See the posted hours on the door before you enter the establishment!
4-06-2010 @6:56PM Frank said... RedConvoy, think about your favorite restaurant, the one you go to most often.
Do you know what their closing time is for every night of the week?
Do you know where they physically post their hours?
(unless you were thinking about McDonald's you probably don't. I have no idea when my favorite places to eat close or even where to physically look for that info, besides online. I'll often call to make sure a place is open on Mondays or whatever)
I don't see how it's that hard for the hostess to apologize and say the restaurant isn't seating any more and that I should come back tomorrow or next week. No one's going to throw a tantrum over that (fine, 99% of people aren't going to throw a tantrum over that). They'll accept that they arrived at 9:50 or 10:45 and that they should go to another place.
Again, this seem like the restaurant wanting things both ways, yeah another cover for the night would be nice, but if you can't offer the full service, just don't offer it.
To be clear, I don't "blame" waiters or hosts for this, but they need to address this with their managers and owners.
4-06-2010 @10:18PM SA said... Read the hours on the door. It is obvious that you have never worked in a restaurant before...
4-06-2010 @8:17PM Frank said... RFJ, then complain to your manager.
Tell him that seating customers 10 minutes to close robs them of the full dining experience and your establishment shouldn't be doing it.
Seriously, maybe we're talking about entirely different things here. I'm not talking about McDonald's and TGIFriday's here.
I'm talking about places that SHOULD care that all customers get the best experience.
(Places that are classy enough that they don't splash their hours on their door...)
The managers and hosts at these places need to recognize that they shouldn't be seating people at these late times, when they KNOW people won't get a full service.
It's greed. I get it. They want one more check to bump sales for the night.
But clearly everyone suffers here.
4-06-2010 @9:20PM Rob said... @ Frank, oh i get it, your one of those people that have more money than they know what to do with If you have such a problem with how your local Fine Dining establishment is serving you , then maybe you should buy the buisness and change the rules to suit yourself. The rest of us will do just fine using our common sense, either calling ahead or looking for the posted hours of operation....... Theres so much more i can say, but thats probably the frustration of being in the hospitality industry and having to deal with the 2% of people that have unrealistic expectations.
4-06-2010 @10:59PM rett said... Frank you are absolutely wrong on this whole issue. If you don't like a restaurants policy about a limited menu late night, then do not go there late night. How hard is that? No one asked you to get out of your car or told you not to look at the posted times... and they are ALL posted or they are open 24/7. Maybe you should pay attention to your surroundings before you make your rants. I know when all the restaurants close in my area because I pay attention.
An analogy could be a Pharmacy. If I go to a 24 hour walk-in clinic at 11pm... I probably will have to find a 24 hour Walgreens or CVS to fill my prescription because I know that Target Rx is probably closed. Do I know for sure... no, but I will check... I have a cell phone and I know how to dial 411. Would it be inconsiderate of Target to not be able to fill my prescription until the next business day? Absolutely not. I chose to go there. Bummer.
Just because YOU don't like something doesn't mean that it's wrong, it just means that the policy sucks for YOU.
4-06-2010 @11:45PM ServerGirl said... Ok... If I read Frank's comment correctly, his complaint wasn't about restaurants that have limited late-night menus, so much as not being told this before being seated. I'm sorry, but this is completely legitimate complaint. I'm a server myself (and used to be a Host) and would never think of seating someone before telling them that we had a limited menu. It's common sense and common courtesy. I'll be the first person to admit that having a table walk in 5 minutes before the kitchen closes sucks, but I always tell them what the deal is. I let them know what we're still serving and how long they have to order. What's the point in upsetting the people that are going to keep you there late if it means you'll end up with a 10% tip? Worst case scenario, they don't like it and leave... and you get to home. If I have to be stuck there past closing, I'm sure as hell going to try and make it worth my time.
4-06-2010 @2:25PM Lisa H. said... If a restaurant posts its closing hours, I expect that it will be open and seating customers until that time. If they don't want to seat someone after 9:00, then 9:00 should be their posted close time. I certainly expect to be seated up until the restaurant's closing time.
And if the restaurant is open, I would not expect the food to already be put away or the frying oil to be dumped.
Getting to a restaurant before its posted closing time isn't rude or inconsiderate. Asking customers to accept substandard service or a limited menu to make things more convenient for staff is just bad policy and will likely not result in repeat business.
I realize that staffers work hard and work long hours - but an unrealistic closing time is not a customer problem, it's a management problem. If the sign says you're open, you should be open.
And Frank, yes, maybe a manager or owner DOES want to squeeze in one more check. Who can blame them?
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