To think that tea rooms close too early

[CoolForCats09]

This probably sounds like a totally pointless thread but this kind of annoys me - why do most tea rooms close at 4?
I get that places might open early so close early but I'd love to find more places that are open until 5 at least. I think ideal tea and cake time is about 4ish but there's never anywhere open by then, unless it's Costa.

Has anyone else ever thought the same?

Well, there's always Costa, Cafe Nero and Starbucks I guess 😊

What a shame though, we try and support local but when most locals work full time and the kids are at school - supporting local isn't an option.

If anyone is on holiday in Cornwall and you're stuck for food and drink. Try the local pub instead of the cafe x

We've felt this way for ages, my late PILS both shared this frustration as they would have loved to have sometimes gone out in the early evenings, but they weren't really pub people. Although it is more acceptable to either drink tea or coffee these days in a pub (with maybe a small cake) it hasn't always been the case - when they were young pubs were for drinking.

I think this is actually what I miss most about the 90s, cafe culture. I live in a fairly small city but from 1994 until I moved away in the early 2000s, there were a few cafes that opened until 8am to 11pm weeknights and 7am to 3-4am at weekends. It was just lovely. Especially if you managed to snag the couches by the fire upstairs in my favourite one. It was a destination in itself when I was 15/16. And a great place to go for food after the pub/nightclub or in for a hangover breakfast when I was older. Then back to often being the destination itself when I was a bit older again. It genuinely hurts a bit to think about how great they were and how they don't exist any more.

I agree, especially as many that close at four stop serving food at 3pm and start actually closing up at 4pm rather than just stopping serving at 4pm.

One place we went to served coffee in takeout cups and made us sit outside at 3.30 because they were locking up at 4pm.

Garden centre chain cafes tend to stay open until 5pm but I would rather support independent cafes.

This is such a bugbear of mine! We have a few lovely cafes in town that would be perfect for an after school tea but since they all close at 4, that obviously can't happen leaving us with the usual suspects of McDonalds, Costa or more expensive restaurants (which is a waste of time when DD has had a cooked school dinner because she's not hungry enough for that)

Surely closing at 5:30 or 6 to take advantage of tea time trade would be commercially sound.

@thelobsterquadrille so why not just close at 2.30pm? What's the point of opening to 4pm if you're not even taking advantage of the later afternoon business? It won't in all establishments, but in some that business could make up for the dead hours. What's the point of paying the costs of opening during the dead hours, then just...closing?

In our city centre even John Lewis and Fenwicks cafes close around 4 so if the big boys can't do it why are the small businesses expected to? I find it astounding that so many people think that business owners don't know their own businesses, and don't actively want to make money!

Do you mean coffee shops (like Costa) or cafes (like in Allo Allo) because cafes are their equivalent of pubs really and you can get tea or coffee in all UK pubs nowadays.

It is to suit the owner and staff. They want to get home by 5.00 and start the family meal because the kids want to eat at 6/6.30.
They have enough income to do it:- EASY Life!!
I know a transport cafe on A5 that closes by 2.30. so they can do the school pick up. We found it when moving house, it avoided a pub.
People have no ambition, don't want to grow a business. Stay small and moan about the difficulties of running a business.

There are a lot of costs & admin associated with employing people eg employers NIC, stakeholder pension provision, which are on top of their actual wages. If you could just pay a teenager a flat hourly rate I'm sure many would.

In my previous shop I did a Halloween event for kids, well advertised, 100s of 'going' or 'interested' on the event page on Facebook, loads of work put into it, and less than 10 people showed up. People are very good at saying they'd do something then not actually doing it!

@CanadianMoose that's a really good point 👍

"I live in a fairly small city but from 1994 until I moved away in the early 2000s, there were a few cafes that opened until 8am to 11pm weeknights and 7am to 3-4am at weekends. It was just lovely."

That wasn't a general 90s thing though. When I was growing up I don't remember any cafes with nice sofas or nice decor or anything. They were all things like Sayers the bakers with some plastic chairs and tables to have a doughnut and a cup of tea.

They have enough income to do it:- EASY Life!!

If running a cafe or restaurant is so easy then why isn't everyone doing it and making a fortune? I do live the armchair experts on here. They're always entertaining.

Love.

I think some people are happy with a small business as long as it gives them enough money. They don't necessarily want to grow.
I don't see that as a bad thing though. Fair enough for them.
I suppose the problem now with coffee shops is the dominance of chains anyway. A few ordinary people starting a cafe that opens till 8 is not going to change things in general.

YES I have often wished tearooms never me were open later. I'd love to finish work and be able to pop in for a cuppa and mahoosive slice of cake. As it is, we only have Saturdays for tea rooming so I make it my mission to drag DH to a different one each week to 'sample' the bakes.

I had this exact rant at my local nature reserve place- they close at 4pm. It's the exact time I'd look for tea and cake as would my kids.

This overlaps with my bugbear about those dessert places that only sell milkshake/waffles/doughnuts loaded with Oreos/snickers/biscoff... Where are the dessert places for adults (ie not the aforementioned teenage sugarfests) that a) aren’t a chain coffee with uninspiring cake and b) are open at a time an adult can visit after work?

There was a great relaxed bar owned by a guy who had previously owned a restaurant where I lived in Italy, and I often went in for a glass of wine and something from the selection of restaurant quality desserts that had been made there that day. No pressure to have a full meal, and none to have alcohol either. The only thing that would come close here would be a food hall, but the dessert options in those are always a bit of an afterthought and, again, generally involve cake.

I doubt enough people would use a cafe after work to make it worth while to cafe owners. Maybe in a city centre it might, but not in quieter locations.

I also wondered why all independent coffee shops close so early. I love to go to the town with DD after school/college and have coffee and cake, our “coffee hour” is usually 4.30 pm but by then the only choice is Costa, Nero and Starbucks. The cafe at our local Waterstones is closing at 4pm!!! However the shop is open until 6pm. Lots of places are closing at 5pm but it means that since 4.30 pm they are not really welcoming, you literally feel they sweeping (or vacuuming) you out of the place.
I’d love to meet for a coffee and cake with my friend after 6 pm, why not? Even our local theater doesn’t have coffee/ tea, cakes anymore just bar with drinks and crisps, and ice cream kiosk.
I’m not from UK originally so always have attributed that to my “coffee clock “ working differently, glad that I’m not alone.
Someone mentioned about cafe being opened since 7am. But the cafes we are talking about are for later leisurely visits. None of them are open early then 10am.
Also Heavenly desserts places are open until 11pm and busy so there is market for this.

Is this the same for cafes in shopping centres?

We have the perfect little bake house in town but it closes at 3 everyday. I'd absolutely go there for a pick me up after work.

They're usually the Nero/Costa/Starbucks types.

Whilst we are on the subject some cafes around me open & closing depends on the weather. Whilst I get that when it's torrential rain, but when it's a bit over cast. And you're never sure if they'll be open or not. Or if it was stormy on the morning but that blew threw by 11am and it's now bright sunshine. Will they be open??