to think cafe's should stay open for tea?

[OwlLady]

surely they are missing a trick?

they all seem to close at about 4pm and I quite often think it would be nice to take the children to a cafe for tea

and yes, I live on the outskirts of a market town where everything seems to close too bloody early anyway

[CailinDana]

I'd imagine it's something to do with shifts and paying people to work during the lull period from 3-5.

[RuleBritannia]

There must be a reason for them to close at 4.00pm. Picking up children from school? Why don't you ask why they close at 4.00 and let us know?

It would be nice to have tea there though. Tea, scones with butter, jam and clotted cream or cakes.

[TimothyTumblespring]

Without completely outing myself (hopefully) I work in a cafe that is open until 10.30 at night. We are in fact busier in the evenings than we are during the day most days. Am in a city centre though.

[OwlLady]

I just think it's a shame that you cannot take the children to somewhere that isn't either licensed or a mcdonalds type place after a certain time

I am not sure it would be worth our local cafes staying open until that late timothy but I would have though until 7pm to get a tea/dinner income would do very well

[elizaregina]

owl

i have often thought this - its such a shame....but i also loathe sunday shopping hours and our retail hours in general...

i much prefer continental systems...

no wonder we are a nation of TV addicts - people in spain are out walking round, chatting, socialising in the PM.

[TakingtheHobbitstoIsengard]

Totally agree.

I always remember a German friend at university found it very funny that everywhere shut at 4pm.

"But that's teatime! That's what the English are famous for!"

[Startailoforangeandgold]

I remember discovering as a

[Startailoforangeandgold]

Socks wrong button

[TimothyTumblespring]

Owl - 10.30pm is definitely an exceptionally late time for a cafe. We never used to stay open this late but we just gradually started pushing closing time back by 30 minutes over a period of months/years until we got to this time. If I still had customers queuing at 10.30 then I would open even later. Closing at 4pm does seem very early. Surely they miss out on a lot of after school trade? I love taking DS for a "coffee and cake" after school as a treat. Are the cages near you independents or part of a chain like Costa?

[TimothyTumblespring]

cafes of course, not cages

[OwlLady]

:o at cages

they are little independents timothy

[marshmallowpies]

The greasy spoon caff at the end of my road says it serves 'breakfast lunch & dinner' but they close at 2.30pm! I think they cater mainly for early morning breakfasts for builders, etc, but I was stuck at home during a wet day with DD on Monday & wanted to go out for a hot meal at lunch to cheer myself up...left the house at 2 so it was already nearly closing time by the time I got to the local caff.

Further down the high street there's nowhere open after about 5.30 except KFC and a kebab shop. We definitely need something that stays open a bit later, even if its just Pizza Express!

[NoobytheWaspSlayer]

Yes I agree - and it wasn't always that way. Mind you I may be using 'The Tiger who came to tea' as a reference point.

[marshmallowpies]

Nooby hah I loved that book, the fact they were able to go out for fish & chips so late at night was my favourite bit!

In the 30's/40's/50's there were Lyon's Corner houses which I believe stayed open late at night for dinner as well as doing afternoon tea & cake? I wish they were still around these days!

[MarysBeard]

Depends what they want to achieve really. If it does ok and provides them with enough money being open for breakfast and lunch, then they can shut at 4 and see the family themselves. Yes, you could work all the hours and earn more money, but it depends how interested in money you are over and above what you need to get by.

[OwlLady]

yes, it's half day closing on a wednesday here too and some shops only open thurs-sun!

[SoleSource]

At weekends there are a dew 24 hour cafes here, or used to be. My fave was Mr Egg.

[TimothyTumblespring]

I guess that is one of the downsides of small independent cafes. Very few small business owners are going to want to work every evening/night or be able to pay staff to do it for them in the current climate.
Large restaurant/coffee shop chains might be a bit soulless but being part of a big company enables the flexibility to be open for longer.

[youshonelikethesun]

Oh, I think so to! There is a lovely cafe near us which I would spend hours in on nice evenings, but it's family run and the owner says it's just too expensive to bring in the extra staff to cover it.

[marjproops]

I'd like the idea of late night cafes (with staff on shifts of course, cant have them there so many hours), to go to after an evening at the theatre/cinema/meal/walk...not that ever go out in the eves, but just a wish!!! Dont like noisy pubs.and Id rather have a late decaff.

[RubyFakeNails]

We have a 24hour cafe 5 minutes from us [smug face] although we are in zone 2. Its actually alright every now and again, its sort of like a builders cafe meets a diner.

Don't you have places like Wagamama/Costa/GBK/Shop Cafes?

[crazyhatlady]

I can tell you why I close my cafe at 5pm.
Firstly I'm at 8.30am (1hour commute), work very hard all day, no sit down break.
Cleaning machines/clearing up takes approx 2 hours some if which can't be done whilst still open.
Then I have to get back across town to pick ds up from grandparents then home for play/bath/bed.
I could possibly make more money staying open later but have absolutely no wish to do so.

[BrianButterfield]

I work in a market town and the idea of their being a Wagamama is just laughable! I'd be gobsmacked even if Costa moved in! Sometimes before a parents' evening (I'm a teacher) it would be nice to pop into town for a bite to eat but only pubs are open serving food at 4.30 - 5pm ish and while that's OK sometimes, often you just want light "cafe" food rather than a pub meal. Also cafe food is more likely to be homemade!