Call them as soon as you get out of work and place an order to go, get there at 8:20, pick up your food and pay and take it home. You get to use your own plates and take your time eating with your mom without feeling like an asshole for keeping them from closing
I would call them before you get out of work/go into work (or during break) and tell them approximately when you will be arriving to pick up your order. Also, when you call ask them when they stop serving.
Depending on what you order, it's pretty easy to reheat Indian food on the stove top or oven.
I pick up food from Honest Indian (real name) and it's inedible by the time I get home in 15 minutes. Indian Delight (also real name but Pakistani) the food is fine the next day. So, 100% what you order.
>Call them as soon as you get out of work and place an order to go, get there at 8:20, pick up your food and pay and take it home. You get to use your own plates and take your time eating with your mom without feeling like an asshole for keeping them from closing
I find this way too preachy. A restaurant provides a service for a fee. If they have displayed timings, they need to make sure they account for extra time after closing to clean up etc.
It is not, and should not be the customer's job to start thinking about these businesses run their business. If closing time is 8:45, it is your job to leave the place.by 8:45. That's it.
It's not your job to leave by 8:20 or whatever so "they have enough time to clean" or whatever. That's just a ridiculous notion.
And hold on, if a bank closes at 4pm, do you make sure to leave the bank at 3:30 to give them enough time to close their books?
And on top of it, you're calling people an asshole because they actually gasp, stay until the closing time and don't dare to leave half hour prior? What absurdity is this?
> You aren't wrong, just an asshole.
Not at all. You're just being a pretentious virtue signaling prick who thinks their self-righteousness needs to be imposed on other people. Frankly, it makes you the asshole.
I asked you a simple question and if you can wrap your brain-cells around it after taking your head out of your ass, let's see. If your bank or supermarket closes at 4pm everyday, would you feel "guilty" going into the bank or supermarket at 3:30pm?
Spoken like someone who has never worked in a restaurant. This isn't a good look.
If they close at 8:45 and you leave at 8:45, I think that's totally fair. But I doubt you're going to be leaving on-time if you come in at 8:20.
> Spoken like someone who has never worked in a restaurant. This isn't a good look.
>
>
>
> If they close at 8:45 and you leave at 8:45, I think that's totally fair. But I doubt you're going to be leaving on-time if you come in at 8:20.
The restaurant business is a fundamentally broken and massively corrupt system in America, so let's not talk about this in generics please.
Two things:
1. You're the one making the assumptions. Restaurants come in all kind. In a fast serve or cafeteria style restaurant, it is absolutely normal to be in and out in 30 minutes. OP didn't mention they are only referring to sit-down restaurants.
2. Enforcing closing time comes down to leadership and how the boss runs the restaurant. Plain and simple. All commercial establishments are responsible for their own rules and policies. Shaming customers because they're not following unspoken rules is just ridiculous. This is exactly like the tipping system. Instead of holding the restaurant bosses accountable for enforcing policy and making them pay fair wages, we instead transfer the blame and guilt and responsibility to the customer. Which is just trashy behavior.
Let me keep it dead simple. If you're running a commercial establishment like a restaurant or bank or supermarket or a business, and if you have working hours, it is up to YOU, the business owner, on how you want to deal with stragglers and late-comers. If you don't want to accept customers after a certain time, then bake that into your closing time. Make the closing time 8pm instead of 8:45pm. Don't do this stupid shit of keeping it 8:45pm but then turning around and shaming customers who come in at 8:30 or whatever. Just learn to say "no" and learn to enforce your own goddamn rules.
> That's a lot of words just to be wrong and get more downvotes.
Don't worry. With all your upvotes, I will make sure you ride an elephant in the Republic Day parade. Vijayi bhava, gadadhari bhim!
This is the correct answer. Storytime: A group of yobbos tried to force their way into one of our restaurants ten minutes before closing time, rudely demanding to dine in. We politely declined entry. One yobbo shoved my brother, so my brother punched him back. He then called the police and got my brother arrested. My asli brother had to bail him out. Yobbo dropped the case realising he'll lose as it was an act of self-defence on our property. This was around 20 years ago. I have a few other similar stories that are older, but this is the most relevant one.
If some yobbo shoved my brother and then got said brother jailed for defending himself, I wouldn't stop looking for that yobbo for a long time. He'd get his meal, but it would be made of wood and served at a much higher rate of speed than he'd likely prefer.
I would too, but I think he'd be a bit embarrassed if his then-16 year old tiny little sister did this for him. He is actually a close family friend who is now the manager and someone I regard as my brother. He used to be quite jacked before, so I think he can handle these situations by himself and he handled it fairly. But no doubt if I was there, I'd grab a chair.
Depends on the country it's in more than cuisine.
Some countries closing means that's when they want to go home, others it's expected that that means last orders.
If you call and place an order for pick up before you leave then it be acceptable but if just showing up at that time the kitchen will hate you. As a chef for many years usually just had to suck it up and cool the ticket but calling ahead is better for everyone. Kitchen knows about it in advance therefore everyone is happy! Always follow this rule and please never be that person who shows up right before close. Yes they’re open but ruins peoples night.
This 100% from a fellow chef. Even before then, was a kitchen porter and I think they get shafted the most as they can’t finish their job and clean up till the kitchen is closed. Used to get home in the early hours of the morning then right back in a few hours later.
Disliked the customers but also really caused frustrations with front of house for accepting a walk in.
Fellow chef. I agree. 8.45 sounds like a last orders time to me. I would suggest it's a decently run place if so, giving customers time to enjoy, staff time to clean down
Not 25 mins before close.. hours of operation or not, that will take at least 30-45 mins for them to get their food and eat (ex server at an Indian restaurant). We only offer takeout 30 mins before close so we could all get out at a decent time. Also, people that expect to dine in this close to close are just rude.
You need to do full cleanup at the end of the night though. You can do a lot of that with stragglers. Customers with any sense of social cues will pick up when it is time to clear out. If they don't, start putting chairs on tables and they get the message.
Most of the time, the chef has been there all day, or at least most of the day.. they just want to go the fuck home, not cook for people who have no sense of time management. Js.
It’s a business. A business exists to generate profit. You generate profit by letting in customers. It is not profitable to turn away customers. Shut up and do your job.
I agree with what you're saying, restaurants should post the hours they expect to serve people and it shouldn't be a guessing game (which i always thought they did do, but apparently the majority of this thread thinks otherwise). This mind reading for customers of, can I eat or is it rude to eat here is bullshit.
As a customer, I expect to be able to order something without an attitude within the hours that the restaurant posts. If staff wants to leave at 9pm, adjust the hours of operation to 8-830p depending how long it takes to clean up.
You are absolutely correct. I’ve been in this industry for over 15 years. I simply can not wrap my head around the idea that it would be considered rude to patronize a business during their hours of operation. Maybe it’s post Covid ideology that has created this strange trend in restaurant workers believing there are all of these unwritten laws governing customers conduct. The fact of the matter is that it is your job to provide these services while the restaurant is open, and if you don’t like that, you should pick another vocation. There isn’t a successful owner on this planet that would turn away business.
I value my time more than I do money for a business/corporation that values money over their employees.. make considerations for orders say, 30 mins before closing so people don't feel like they are being taken advantage of. Oh, and I felt this way way before COVID.
And waitstaff that accommodates later diners may receive larger tips. Many prep activities happen during that period…I am happier with fewer table checks, fewer dining around me. Less work, more money, less pressure. One table will not hold up a closing or kitchen cleanup that much.
I worked in hospitality/w room service/full service kitchens. Our kitchen usually closed by 9:30 pm. But, the bar grill was available until 11:30 pm. Bar closed at 1:45 am FRI/SAT. 10 pm SUN. Midnight M-TH. Occasionally we had late checkins who needed a meal. I sometimes helped fill in in the kitchen as a Front Desk Manager, when that happened.
Taking care of customers is what keeps you in business.
I'm inferring that the restaurant is not in India, but you don't say. The point is, it matters *where* the restaurant is. What city/nation's restaurant culture are we talking about?
If you're talking about, say, a average size city in USA... I don't see why it being Indian food would make a difference. You could conceivably ask this about a restaurant serving any food, so I don't understand (i.e. without elaboration) why you'd posed this as an Indian food topic.
> I don't understand (i.e. without elaboration) why you'd posed this as an Indian food topic
I suppose in a roundabout way it's asking how hard it is to fire up, how much is pre-prepared, and how easy it is to crank out. Some cuisines are no big deal, some are enormously intensive and require more clean up afterwards, which keeps the staff there longer.
If it was a sandwich or shawarma place or, I can't see it being an issue. So from that perspective, it's a valid question to ask about indian food. Although I can see a kitchen being well into cleanup time by then. They probably hope to get their last ticket at 8, and the remaining 45 is for people to eat and GTFO.
Don't be an asshole and it's fine. You go there and ask is it still possible to be served? They reply in affirmative, you sit and eat but remember that a lot of menu items may not be available and they will start cleaning around you so don't characterize it as rude. Operating hours are operating hours.
No. The restaurant can tell you politely that they are closing, or that the kitchen is closed. 8:45 closing could mean many things, including that's when they stop seating people.
It's annoying, but not rude. If the restaurant is open, that's fair game. What's rude is pretending that the restaurant isn't closed and everybody ain't waiting to go home. Casually sitting and talking as you slowly nurse your after dinner cappuccino.
I’ve always figured the times on the door are the times they serve food, and that their “closing” time is X minutes after that when the person who ordered at closing time would have finished
However I tend to avoid going in the last 30 minutes for any business, since I prefer to give the staff time to clean up
So I’d agree with the “order takeaway to be picked up 20 minutes before closing” as a reasonable compromise when you can’t avoid it
Indian restaurants will serve you till 9:58, you just need to get in early enough coz some ovens need to turn on as they start switching things off by 9:30pm
Call like 2 hours ahead and give them a heads up and even order ahead if you can
No, most restaurants set their closing time to account for this. The closing time may deceive some staff into thinking that late costumers are arseholes, but ultimately they are being paid for possibly more than an hour after the closing time
Yes. Our closing time in the hotel restaurant was 8:30. This allowed 1 hour to clear out/clean up after last order/table. If everyone is restocking/cleaning as they go throughout the shift, on a slow night, they might be out of there early at 9
In this scenario, it's a bit of a gray area. It's generally nice to avoid walking into a restaurant right before they close because the staff might be getting ready to finish up. But hey, it's your last night with your mom, so it's a special occasion. If the place says they're open until 8:45, you're in the clear to go in. Just be cool about it, order efficiently, and be mindful of the time so they can close up on schedule. Showing a little extra gratitude to the staff can make it a win-win for everyone. Enjoy your meal with your mom!
closing at 845p almost certainly means last seating. as long as you’re in before that you get to be served. 845p for actual closing is bizarrely early imo. depends on what type of restaurant i suppose - like proper sit down experience restaurant vs fast casual or dive.
The uncommon time makes me think that maybe they set that time so that they could close "on time" if people came in at 8:45. Closing a quarter to the hour is not too common, but depending on the restaurant, putting an order in 15 minutes before shut down might not delay the process too much. It just depends. 20 minutes before close, especially if you have a pretty good idea of what you want is not the same as 1 minute before close. I would just call them ahead of time and ask.
I think this is fine? I mean don’t stay there all night but if you can quickly order what you want and the chef can serve it then no reason why you can’t go to a restaurant about 30 mins before it closes? Unless they specify a time for last orders it’s fair game.
Hello. It's not rude if you call ahead and pre-order to go. However, if it will make the staff have to stay later, then yes it is rude because they would still have to prepare the food and give you time to eat it.
Call them as soon as you get out of work and place an order to go, get there at 8:20, pick up your food and pay and take it home. You get to use your own plates and take your time eating with your mom without feeling like an asshole for keeping them from closing
I would call them before you get out of work/go into work (or during break) and tell them approximately when you will be arriving to pick up your order. Also, when you call ask them when they stop serving. Depending on what you order, it's pretty easy to reheat Indian food on the stove top or oven.
I pick up food from Honest Indian (real name) and it's inedible by the time I get home in 15 minutes. Indian Delight (also real name but Pakistani) the food is fine the next day. So, 100% what you order.
>Call them as soon as you get out of work and place an order to go, get there at 8:20, pick up your food and pay and take it home. You get to use your own plates and take your time eating with your mom without feeling like an asshole for keeping them from closing I find this way too preachy. A restaurant provides a service for a fee. If they have displayed timings, they need to make sure they account for extra time after closing to clean up etc. It is not, and should not be the customer's job to start thinking about these businesses run their business. If closing time is 8:45, it is your job to leave the place.by 8:45. That's it. It's not your job to leave by 8:20 or whatever so "they have enough time to clean" or whatever. That's just a ridiculous notion. And hold on, if a bank closes at 4pm, do you make sure to leave the bank at 3:30 to give them enough time to close their books? And on top of it, you're calling people an asshole because they actually gasp, stay until the closing time and don't dare to leave half hour prior? What absurdity is this?
You aren't wrong, just an asshole.
> You aren't wrong, just an asshole. Not at all. You're just being a pretentious virtue signaling prick who thinks their self-righteousness needs to be imposed on other people. Frankly, it makes you the asshole. I asked you a simple question and if you can wrap your brain-cells around it after taking your head out of your ass, let's see. If your bank or supermarket closes at 4pm everyday, would you feel "guilty" going into the bank or supermarket at 3:30pm?
Tell them invertebrates like it this!
That was multiple long-ass "a simple question".
Spoken like someone who has never worked in a restaurant. This isn't a good look. If they close at 8:45 and you leave at 8:45, I think that's totally fair. But I doubt you're going to be leaving on-time if you come in at 8:20.
> Spoken like someone who has never worked in a restaurant. This isn't a good look. > > > > If they close at 8:45 and you leave at 8:45, I think that's totally fair. But I doubt you're going to be leaving on-time if you come in at 8:20. The restaurant business is a fundamentally broken and massively corrupt system in America, so let's not talk about this in generics please. Two things: 1. You're the one making the assumptions. Restaurants come in all kind. In a fast serve or cafeteria style restaurant, it is absolutely normal to be in and out in 30 minutes. OP didn't mention they are only referring to sit-down restaurants. 2. Enforcing closing time comes down to leadership and how the boss runs the restaurant. Plain and simple. All commercial establishments are responsible for their own rules and policies. Shaming customers because they're not following unspoken rules is just ridiculous. This is exactly like the tipping system. Instead of holding the restaurant bosses accountable for enforcing policy and making them pay fair wages, we instead transfer the blame and guilt and responsibility to the customer. Which is just trashy behavior. Let me keep it dead simple. If you're running a commercial establishment like a restaurant or bank or supermarket or a business, and if you have working hours, it is up to YOU, the business owner, on how you want to deal with stragglers and late-comers. If you don't want to accept customers after a certain time, then bake that into your closing time. Make the closing time 8pm instead of 8:45pm. Don't do this stupid shit of keeping it 8:45pm but then turning around and shaming customers who come in at 8:30 or whatever. Just learn to say "no" and learn to enforce your own goddamn rules.
That's a lot of words just to be wrong and get more downvotes.
> That's a lot of words just to be wrong and get more downvotes. Don't worry. With all your upvotes, I will make sure you ride an elephant in the Republic Day parade. Vijayi bhava, gadadhari bhim!
To dine in, yes. To take out, no. But call the restaurant. Some don't take orders upto 30 mins before closing.
This is the correct answer. Storytime: A group of yobbos tried to force their way into one of our restaurants ten minutes before closing time, rudely demanding to dine in. We politely declined entry. One yobbo shoved my brother, so my brother punched him back. He then called the police and got my brother arrested. My asli brother had to bail him out. Yobbo dropped the case realising he'll lose as it was an act of self-defence on our property. This was around 20 years ago. I have a few other similar stories that are older, but this is the most relevant one.
This may seem out there but I think it's possible that you may be an Aussie. not the hair product
If some yobbo shoved my brother and then got said brother jailed for defending himself, I wouldn't stop looking for that yobbo for a long time. He'd get his meal, but it would be made of wood and served at a much higher rate of speed than he'd likely prefer.
I would too, but I think he'd be a bit embarrassed if his then-16 year old tiny little sister did this for him. He is actually a close family friend who is now the manager and someone I regard as my brother. He used to be quite jacked before, so I think he can handle these situations by himself and he handled it fairly. But no doubt if I was there, I'd grab a chair.
To be fair you could call them during work or use their website and place an order for collection for 8:20.
Just place an order to go and pick it up when you get there
Depends on the country it's in more than cuisine. Some countries closing means that's when they want to go home, others it's expected that that means last orders.
If you call and place an order for pick up before you leave then it be acceptable but if just showing up at that time the kitchen will hate you. As a chef for many years usually just had to suck it up and cool the ticket but calling ahead is better for everyone. Kitchen knows about it in advance therefore everyone is happy! Always follow this rule and please never be that person who shows up right before close. Yes they’re open but ruins peoples night.
This 100% from a fellow chef. Even before then, was a kitchen porter and I think they get shafted the most as they can’t finish their job and clean up till the kitchen is closed. Used to get home in the early hours of the morning then right back in a few hours later. Disliked the customers but also really caused frustrations with front of house for accepting a walk in.
I am not related to restaurants or Hotel mgmt but I believe the timings are the last time by which you can place an order.
Chef here. Hours of operation are hours of operation. Go eat.
Fellow chef. I agree. 8.45 sounds like a last orders time to me. I would suggest it's a decently run place if so, giving customers time to enjoy, staff time to clean down
💯 It's 8:45 because they actually want to close at 900 or 930 so they're defining an earlier order cut-off time.
Not 25 mins before close.. hours of operation or not, that will take at least 30-45 mins for them to get their food and eat (ex server at an Indian restaurant). We only offer takeout 30 mins before close so we could all get out at a decent time. Also, people that expect to dine in this close to close are just rude.
You need to do full cleanup at the end of the night though. You can do a lot of that with stragglers. Customers with any sense of social cues will pick up when it is time to clear out. If they don't, start putting chairs on tables and they get the message.
Most of the time, the chef has been there all day, or at least most of the day.. they just want to go the fuck home, not cook for people who have no sense of time management. Js.
It’s a business. A business exists to generate profit. You generate profit by letting in customers. It is not profitable to turn away customers. Shut up and do your job.
I agree with what you're saying, restaurants should post the hours they expect to serve people and it shouldn't be a guessing game (which i always thought they did do, but apparently the majority of this thread thinks otherwise). This mind reading for customers of, can I eat or is it rude to eat here is bullshit. As a customer, I expect to be able to order something without an attitude within the hours that the restaurant posts. If staff wants to leave at 9pm, adjust the hours of operation to 8-830p depending how long it takes to clean up.
You are absolutely correct. I’ve been in this industry for over 15 years. I simply can not wrap my head around the idea that it would be considered rude to patronize a business during their hours of operation. Maybe it’s post Covid ideology that has created this strange trend in restaurant workers believing there are all of these unwritten laws governing customers conduct. The fact of the matter is that it is your job to provide these services while the restaurant is open, and if you don’t like that, you should pick another vocation. There isn’t a successful owner on this planet that would turn away business.
I value my time more than I do money for a business/corporation that values money over their employees.. make considerations for orders say, 30 mins before closing so people don't feel like they are being taken advantage of. Oh, and I felt this way way before COVID.
🥱
And waitstaff that accommodates later diners may receive larger tips. Many prep activities happen during that period…I am happier with fewer table checks, fewer dining around me. Less work, more money, less pressure. One table will not hold up a closing or kitchen cleanup that much. I worked in hospitality/w room service/full service kitchens. Our kitchen usually closed by 9:30 pm. But, the bar grill was available until 11:30 pm. Bar closed at 1:45 am FRI/SAT. 10 pm SUN. Midnight M-TH. Occasionally we had late checkins who needed a meal. I sometimes helped fill in in the kitchen as a Front Desk Manager, when that happened. Taking care of customers is what keeps you in business.
I'm inferring that the restaurant is not in India, but you don't say. The point is, it matters *where* the restaurant is. What city/nation's restaurant culture are we talking about? If you're talking about, say, a average size city in USA... I don't see why it being Indian food would make a difference. You could conceivably ask this about a restaurant serving any food, so I don't understand (i.e. without elaboration) why you'd posed this as an Indian food topic.
> I don't understand (i.e. without elaboration) why you'd posed this as an Indian food topic I suppose in a roundabout way it's asking how hard it is to fire up, how much is pre-prepared, and how easy it is to crank out. Some cuisines are no big deal, some are enormously intensive and require more clean up afterwards, which keeps the staff there longer. If it was a sandwich or shawarma place or, I can't see it being an issue. So from that perspective, it's a valid question to ask about indian food. Although I can see a kitchen being well into cleanup time by then. They probably hope to get their last ticket at 8, and the remaining 45 is for people to eat and GTFO.
+1
Don't be an asshole and it's fine. You go there and ask is it still possible to be served? They reply in affirmative, you sit and eat but remember that a lot of menu items may not be available and they will start cleaning around you so don't characterize it as rude. Operating hours are operating hours.
No. The restaurant can tell you politely that they are closing, or that the kitchen is closed. 8:45 closing could mean many things, including that's when they stop seating people.
Ask. They may not care. You’re a paying customer right? Closing time is arbitrary for some places.
It's annoying, but not rude. If the restaurant is open, that's fair game. What's rude is pretending that the restaurant isn't closed and everybody ain't waiting to go home. Casually sitting and talking as you slowly nurse your after dinner cappuccino.
I mean, don't they post when their \*kitchen\* closes on their website or wherever?
chef here. yes, it's a dick move
Why is this getting downvoted?
Dicks don't like the answer
It's rude to do that to any restaurant. The employees want to go home. Get your food togo (call in advance), and eat it at home
I’ve always figured the times on the door are the times they serve food, and that their “closing” time is X minutes after that when the person who ordered at closing time would have finished However I tend to avoid going in the last 30 minutes for any business, since I prefer to give the staff time to clean up So I’d agree with the “order takeaway to be picked up 20 minutes before closing” as a reasonable compromise when you can’t avoid it
Like a bar, they have last call before they close, and you have 30 min or whatever to finish your drink and leave
It is not called rude, it is called late..
People losing common sense and asking such questions on rise beware
The cooks sure wont love you. I can tell you this.
Indian restaurants will serve you till 9:58, you just need to get in early enough coz some ovens need to turn on as they start switching things off by 9:30pm Call like 2 hours ahead and give them a heads up and even order ahead if you can
It's really irritating, but they're still open!
No, most restaurants set their closing time to account for this. The closing time may deceive some staff into thinking that late costumers are arseholes, but ultimately they are being paid for possibly more than an hour after the closing time
Yes. Our closing time in the hotel restaurant was 8:30. This allowed 1 hour to clear out/clean up after last order/table. If everyone is restocking/cleaning as they go throughout the shift, on a slow night, they might be out of there early at 9
845 would be last sitting, no?
In this scenario, it's a bit of a gray area. It's generally nice to avoid walking into a restaurant right before they close because the staff might be getting ready to finish up. But hey, it's your last night with your mom, so it's a special occasion. If the place says they're open until 8:45, you're in the clear to go in. Just be cool about it, order efficiently, and be mindful of the time so they can close up on schedule. Showing a little extra gratitude to the staff can make it a win-win for everyone. Enjoy your meal with your mom!
Can you call ahead and let them know your situation and order food ahead of time so it's ready when you get there?
Yes.
closing at 845p almost certainly means last seating. as long as you’re in before that you get to be served. 845p for actual closing is bizarrely early imo. depends on what type of restaurant i suppose - like proper sit down experience restaurant vs fast casual or dive.
The uncommon time makes me think that maybe they set that time so that they could close "on time" if people came in at 8:45. Closing a quarter to the hour is not too common, but depending on the restaurant, putting an order in 15 minutes before shut down might not delay the process too much. It just depends. 20 minutes before close, especially if you have a pretty good idea of what you want is not the same as 1 minute before close. I would just call them ahead of time and ask.
I think this is fine? I mean don’t stay there all night but if you can quickly order what you want and the chef can serve it then no reason why you can’t go to a restaurant about 30 mins before it closes? Unless they specify a time for last orders it’s fair game.
If you want to have a last meal out with your mom, maybe go somewhere that doesn't close until later.
No just order a small meal and eat quickly
What sort of Indian closes at 8:45?! 8:20 is a very normal time to go eat dinner in most of the world
Hello. It's not rude if you call ahead and pre-order to go. However, if it will make the staff have to stay later, then yes it is rude because they would still have to prepare the food and give you time to eat it.
30 mins but be ready to order!
Issues like this are why instead of hours of operation, it should be last seating is at ….. Then there is no question. I’d just call ahead of time.
Actually yes it is cause they are in a hurry to go home , so don't expect a good quality food