How LATE is too LATE?

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by TexasWSP

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.

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

And be a good tipper, anyway, but ESPECIALLY if you're coming in late.

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.

[PeppyGPhiB]

[1908Revelations]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

I had a waiter spit (or something else...gross) in my mixed drink about 10 years ago. I was a complete asswipe to him. Like, complete...I dunno what I was going through that evening...lol.

But that's not really an excuse to do what he clearly did. His shift ended so I couldn't confront him and I didn't ask for the manager. I just learned a valuable lesson and chalked it up to experience.

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

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Ewww...no...but it was frostier and bubblier than it should be. It had a film on the top of it. It was clearly not the regular drink that I had ordered millions of times before at that restaurant.

Just thinking about it makes me want to vomit.

You must have really pissed him off.

lol

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

I got into it with a dude at Subway 9 years ago because he was the only one working and had a headache. They close at 10:00 but he wanted to close at 9:20 because he had a headache.

I said "I just want a seafood sub."
He said "Too bad...I'm tired...have a headache...closing."

I said I wasn't leaving without a sub. He starting cussing.

So after we cussed each other out he threatened to call the cops. And I had some more choice words until my linesister said "okay...that was fun...get in the damn car." LOL.

We called the Better Business Bureau on that Subway the next day.

(Quizno's has NEVER mistreated me. )

My God this post made me laugh SO hard!

[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.

[ZTAngel]

Originally Posted by wreckingcrew

And I've seen "Waiting", and not that I was rude before, but I have definitely taken the "don't fuck with teh people that serve your food" line to heart. I understand that sometimes you're busy and just having a bad night, and if I ever send something back, I try to be as apologetic and polite as possible.

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.

[RU OX Alum]

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)

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by RU OX Alum

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.

[DeltAlum]

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

[AlphaFrog]

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.

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. The worst I personally ever did to crappy customers was just take an extra 5 minutes to bring them their food/refills/ticket.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

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.

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.

[PrettyBoy]

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.

[aideclaire]

revenge is best served cold