How LATE is too LATE?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by wreckingcrew

This is just me, but the latest I will go into a "sit-down" restaurant, is an hour before they close. If they close at 11, I'm not walking in past 10pm. This might not make sense, but I used to work retail and we couldn't close the store til the last person was out, and we couldn't make announcements. I used to HATE when it would be 9:15, we close at 9:30 and have some people walk in to "browse".

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.

[KSigkid]

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.