How LATE is too LATE?
 

I'm just curious to see what other people would do in a situation like this one.

Well, I went to Bakers Square this past weekend. It was late and they were getting ready to close. I was with a friend and we got there a little after 10:30pm. They closed at 11:00pm so I felt since they were still open, we should be served. The person I was with didn't want to go in because it was too close to closing time.:confused::rolleyes:

I guess some people think it's wrong to eat at a restaurant if it's close to closing. I think it's perfectly o.k. They're open right? I could see if it was like 5 minutes before closing, but a whole half hour?

Do you go in as long as they're open, or do you have a set time before they close?

Exactly. So I felt that even if we were in there after they closed, it's not like they would kick us out or anything, ya know. As long as the doors aren't locked, I don't see the problem.

I am not familiar with this restaurant so I do not know what type it is.
I was taught that many restaurants have two closing times:
Last sitting and service.
And when the grill is shut down and lights go out.

A few weeks ago, my GR and I walked into a new place near by thinking that we would try it out. Well, it was open and there where people there eating. BUT grill was shut down and the chef had left the building:(

Watch the movie "Waiting".

You'll never have to ask this question ever again.

If it's nice or upscale in the slightest bit....no, I wouldn't go in close to closing time.

Something simple and easy, normal chain restaurants......don't really care.

I was actually at a restaurant with a few friends and one of them sent an order back because it was cold. We got it back and it was completely obvious that it had been "tampered" with...we'll just leave it at that. My buddy went back to the kitchen, threw the plate at the chef, and hit him in the face.

Not kidding. It was a surreal experience.

Both of the above are correct and very true.
Perhaps the best best thing to do if you have a question:
Very politely and with respect just ask if they are still open for service/dinning.

:eek::D:D
Brother, BON, I had just about the opposite happen a year or so ago.
Was having lunch with a group of my GF's family. And one of her cousins was being overly picky with what he ordered and was served. Sent it back three times. First time it made some sense. After that, it truly did not. At least not for the reasons he was giving.
The rest of us felt like throwing him into the kitchen.....;)

Yeah, nothing worse than ultra picky eaters that do that. It's embarrassing just sitting at the table with them. Now.....if something is really wrong with food quality, like the dish being cold...I don't have a problem politely sending it back.

Haha so true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bla0VDChdyM

About a minute in for those of you haven't seen it.

Well when do you take your public health courses? After that experience, you'd probably will not even EAT at restaurants anymore... LOL

So true, so true.

This makes me think of what happened to my sister (biological) and her friends last week. There were 8 of them and they walked into an ice cream shop at 9:15 p.m. and the place closes at 10:00 p.m. The guy behind the counter (described by my sister as "a nerdy kid with braces") looked at them as said, "Do you guys have to eat ice cream? I am trying to finish my dinner.":confused:

They just stare at him dumbfounded and eventually lose their taste for ice cream. They all go a few doors down to Starbucks instead. Before they left, my sister told him off. Haha. That is my sister. :) On their way out of the ice cream place, my sister catches a glimpse of another employee standing in the back eating!!! To make matters worse, when they left Starbucks, they saw some customers eating ice cream. So the kid did not mind serving a smaller group. He just did not want it to disturb his dinner. One of my sister's friends supposedly called the manager this week. I am not sure about what happened with that. I would be so ticked if that happened to me.

Tell your sister to call the Public Health Department and say that there was a Listeria monocytogenes infection in 90% of ice cream and the workers failed to wear gloves. An inspection might be due...

And the point of that would be? So you shut down a whole business over one person's lousy attitude?


Smiley, was the ice cream place by any chance, Coldstone?

Well, the business wouldn't get shut down unless something turned up in the investigation, right? If the place isn't clean and things aren't up to par, then that's one less place spreading germs.

I used to work in the service industry and I remember that feeling of thinking that we get to close down early only to get our hopes dashed when people would walk in right at the last minute. I wouldn't do that to restaurant workers because I know exactly how they feel.

If I'm really really really hungry, I'll go to some 24 hour joint.

That's true, but I don't understand why you would go to such lengths just because someone pissed you off.

I totally agree with you on the second part though. I used to work in the food service industry as well, and I know how it feels to think you are going to be able to close on time, and then some people come in right before closing and dash your dreams.

WOW that is b.s...i really hope she did called the manager and complain because that is bad business to keep an employee like that.

WOW!!! Did you (or someone you were with) see him spit in your drink? I am :eek:!

I'm sure I won't. I've heard of some disgusting things though.

My God this post made me laugh SO hard! :D

So its not a restaurant but i worked at the seafood counter of a grocery store for a few months. Every night for closing you have to take all the fish out of the display pack it in bins and store it in the big cooler. On more than one occasion customers would come by when there was packing up and there was almost no fish on display and be like oh are you closing is it to late for you to get me something. And as for the don't mess with the people who prepare your food quote soooo true!

No, it was Marble Slab Creamery.

We went to Max & Erma's a couple years ago and I think they closed at 10, we came in around 10 till 9. We got TERRIBLE service. It was clear that they'd been planning on closing up and sitting on their asses and we spoiled their fun. We had no intention of dallying, we just wanted to eat.

I worked at Subway and the only things we didn't serve near closing time (2 AM) were the hot subs because you have to turn off the heater. Anything else, it really isn't that much of a pain in the ass to do as some people make it out. If you are the ding dong who ran your cash out before you should have and a sale will throw it off, that isn't the customer's fault. The guy who had the "headache" - I can't imagine he wasn't fired the next day.

I tend not to go to places too close to closing time, out of fear that I'll get terrible service, or they'll do a rush job on making the food. I tend not to go to a sit down restaurant unless there's at least a couple of hours left until closing.

However, if I'm going to a restaurant just for a drink or dessert (like Finale in Boston, Publick House in Brookline for a beer etc.), I will sometimes cut it a little closer.

Same here. I had friends who worked in restaurants and they told me some of the stuff that gets done to food if you're an ass. I usually won't send something back unless there's truly something wrong with it. I ordered a burger medium well one time and it was still mooing when it was brought to my table. Completely inedible. I was really nice about it and the server was apologetic on behalf of the kitchen. Occasionally, I'll send the food back and just ask to have it taken off the bill instead of getting a new item if I notice that the server is in a foul mood.

the only time i ever send anything back is if i'm allergic to it and didn't know before hand
(i.e. i ask for no onions and they made it with onions, or put onions on anyway when not on the menu, i'm not trying to be mean, i'm just not trying to die)

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. Lately I've been getting a lot of dishes served to me with a red onion garnish, which is not stated on the menu. I'm not allergic to onions, but I HATE red onions. Onions are not the type of garnish you want to put across the top of an entree without notice - many people are allergic to them. One place that did this served it on top of a pasta dish, so the food pretty much absorbed the onion...I had to pick it out of the pasta, even though it was just casually laid on top to make it look pretty. I didn't send it back, but I made a suggestion to the server that they not put onions on top of entrees as a garnish, or else they're likely to have to remake some.

It's never too late
to admit that it's much too late

You must have really pissed him off.

lol

Someone came into the restaurant I worked at during college FIVE MINUTES before closing time. They ordered a grilled cheese and chili. The grill had been shut down and the chili was already put back in the fridge. So, the guys in the kitchen stuck the chili in the micro, toasted a couple of pieces of bread in the toaster, then put cheese on the toast and put that in the micro. The people were there for over 45 minutes and had the nerve to look offended because we were vacuuming while they were trying to talk on their cell phone while they were taking their sweet time eating.:mad::mad:

The worst thing, however, that any of the waitresses ever did to a crappy customer is switch people's drinks when they were refilling them. Say hello to your dining partner's saliva.:p The worst I personally ever did to crappy customers was just take an extra 5 minutes to bring them their food/refills/ticket.

Thats the major reason not to go so late, poor quality of food. The club I've worked at did their daily prep work between 2-3pm, so by the time closing time came the food, dressings, sauces, etc had been sitting out for 7+ hours.

When I was in undergrad, I used to be a grill cook. We closed at 10pm, and we had one of those night manager's that would close the doors exactly at 10pm. On several occasions he would let jokers in about 5 minutes before closing, way after I had my grill cleaned.:( To me I think it's just inconsiderate to go into a restaurant shortly before closing. What really used to kill me is when jokers would come in late and eat after the place was closed, and get mad if someone was using the vacuum cleaner around their table.

The sound of a vacuum cleaner around the table means it's time for a joker to go.

revenge is best served cold:D

I would have to agree with all....My soon-to-be wife and I went into a Pasta Place about 45 minutes before closing one night. We even asked if they were still serving (in which they said they were). We discovered once inside that we were the ONLY ones there and that they were more than ready to leave. Let's just say my pasta was a bit more spicy that it probably should have been.

I work at a restaurant, and I want to slap people who come in with less than 20 minutes left until close. Its even worse if people sneak at 10: 27 and we close at 10: 30. By that time, the kitchen staff is pretty much cleaned up and most stuff is packed away, and the servers are irritable.

I swear, every time I see the title of this thread, I think cheerfulgreek is asking whether she might be preggers...

And CHAOS,
I LOVE that salad!!! :D