Yesterday my friend and I tried to go eat at a restaurant half an hour before its closing time, only to be turned away because they close the kitchen an hour early.  What?!?!  That is ridiculous.  Most meals only last about 40 minutes or so.  I absolutely hate when restaurants stop serving food way before closing time.  I once ran down to a place I wanted to eat at and made it 20 minutes before they were supposed to close, only to have the doors pretty much shut in my face.  And here I thought restaurants would want to maximize the amount of customers they serve, but I guess going home is far more important.

What really bothers me about this is that it’s so misleading.  Do I always have to plan on showing up at least an hour before the listed closing time, even if I only plan on a quick meal?  In last night’s case, we even called at 10:15 and asked when they close that night – they told us 11.  Why didn’t they bother to tell us that, oh by the way, the kitchen is closed?!  It’s not like we were asking when they usually close.  We asked when they were closing that night.  Hint, hint, we wanted to eat there TONIGHT.  Those hours of operation are unreliable.

I think there should be legislation that forces restaurants to list their opening hours as when they stop serving new customers (and listing when they actually kick the customers out of their shop would be optional).  After all, we’re going there to eat, don’t we have a right to know at what time we won’t be able to do so anymore?  Restaurants should not get away with tricking people into thinking they’re open far more than they actually are.  It’s like this one boba place that I’ve heard doesn’t even serve boba until at least half an hour after opening.  They should have to note that on the door with their opening times!  After all, much of the draw of their store is the boba.  People don’t just go to get any old drink; they could do that somewhere else that’s probably open earlier anyway.

So if you ever open a restaurant, please take it upon yourself to do the responsible thing and let people know if your food isn’t served until half an hour after your doors open or if it is no longer served an hour before your doors close.  It’s vital information that’s typically far more relevant than when those doors lock and unlock.  Thanks.