Cafes stopping food before they close

[athomemum1]

I love a cafe stop on a weekend but often find them stopping food or closing before they actually close. Today I went to a cafe that was advertised as closing at 5 at 3.55 we waited for a seat for 5 ish minutes to be told they stop serving food at 4. I can under stand stopping a bit before but a whole hour seems a bit much. Also walked to a cafe last month who closed at 4.30 and at 3.45 ish where told we couldn’t have a drink as they were closing at 4.30.

Because most normal/sane people would understand that a cafe sign saying closing at 5pm actually means they close at 5 and would use their common sense to understand that it takes time to go it, settle down, look at the menu, have the order taken, wait for the food to be cooked, time to serve it, and time to eat it, then ask for the bill, then pay, then go to the loo, then leave! It's really not rocket science.

Same in a supermarket on a Sunday afternoon. You get announcement from 3.30 onwards about closing time at 4. The announcements get more regular and turn into instructions to "make your way to the till" about 3.45. Security guards are usually blocking people from going in about 3.45.

When something says "close at 5", they mean close at 5. They don't mean feel free to wander in at 4.55 and take an hour to take your time, forcing the staff to wait around for you before they can start the day's winding down and cleaning up duties!

Because they prob still serve drinks and cakes..dear god, use your brain and think about how the industry works!

I think people have become so entitled and intolerant- especially towards service staff.

With hot food I can understand that the kitchen will close significantly before the actual cafe closes, but I'm not sure I'd describe a person hoping to purchase a drink in a cafe , 45 min before closing, entitled...?

Really? Every town has god knows how many restaurants, take aways and cafes!

Opening longer costs money in terms of staff and utilities. Unless it's actually busy enough, then it makes no sense to open longer for some random straggler customers.

I think it would be helpful if they were clearer about last orders time, eg
Closing time 5pm
Last food orders 4.30pm
Last hot drinks orders 4.45pm

I don't agree that it's entitled to want business owners to advertise realistic closing times.

If I go into a cafe that closes at 5pm, at say 3.55pm, under your model, I can still order my food but I then have to sit there while the staff are cleaning up around me. Not a pleasant experience and not good service. Meanwhile, if I arrived 5 mins later, I wouldn't be able to order anything at all, despite the cafe clearly advertising itself as open, and I would be annoyed by the misleading opening times.

Under my model, the cafe would close at 4pm. If I went in at 3.55pm, I could still order, but the staff would explain that it's nearly closing time so they will be cleaning up while I eat. I can choose whether I want to go ahead with the order. If I arrive 5 mins later, I can't order but I see that the cafe has closed so it's fair enough.

It’s usually different clientele. Like I said, I don’t live in the UK anymore, but DC worked in a local independent cafe and one shift did the morning tradesmen, the SAHM coffee and cake set, and work lunches. Then DC would usually do a 4-9 shift, with other young people or people who had second evening jobs and that was a younger crowd or people picking up dinner to go after work.

This cracks me up too. My son plays football on a Wednesday evening at a complex that has a coffee shop beside it so it could really benefit from the custom that it would generate but although they open to 8 they cordon off huge chunks of the sitting area at 6 so it's quite clear they don't want the bother. I even suggested to them politely that they would greatly benefit from this but clearly they don't want to have the extra work

You think you can order food at 3:55pm and be able to sit down to eat it and be finished by 4pm? Where do you regularly eat that ordering, preparing and eating take under five minutes in total?

I'm thinking about how the very successful independent cafe where my dd used to work operates. They prioritise excellent service and treat both staff and customers with respect. This leads to tremendous loyalty from both, and that's what has kept them going through a challenging few years when most of their competitors have either changed hands or folded completely.

I get that other places run on a different model. That's their choice, and I can choose to take my business elsewhere.

I've worked in both hospitality and retail. The profit margins are getting tighter for businesses these days. Employing people to stay after closing means your paying people to work with no money coming in for that time. People go on about the cost of living crisis but it's like they think it doesn't apply to businesses. So I totally get why they stop serving hot food earlier, so they can clean up.

You've misunderstood. The cafe I'm thinking of allows you to stay and eat while they're clearing up etc but explain that this is the deal.

I. Agree except to say that lunch breaks are not paid in most workplaces so that isn’t an issue.

Absolutely this.

What drives me nuts is my local pub where the landlord is the chef but only when he feels like it, so you cannot rely on getting food.

@SoNiceToComeHomeTo if you work longer than 8 hours you are entitled to a 20 minute paid break. This break is what constitutes a 'lunch break' for most people working in hospitality.

Paid or not, you don’t want staff not working at the busy time as you need to employ someone else to cover them, at additional cost!

Yeah, but they don't. Plus no matter what time they say they close people don't allow time to consume their order. Even if you say you close at 4 & pay your staff an hour until 5 to clean down, people will still order at 4.

if they say 3, people will complain, it's too early.

Local small town is over-populated with coffee shops but all have narrow opening hours 0930 to 1430 missing school runs and breakfast. No idea how they all survive.

It is cost & supply/demand

Offering longer food service times means paying more staff for longer. Its only worth it if there's enough people ordering food at those times

Many places have stopped doing it because offering food longer would mean upping prices and people simply can't afford/won't pay more.

@taxguru

What's your problem?

I'm allowed to say what would work in my local area without wanting to do it. I have never wanted to own a cafe, but I could still appreciate one that's nice locally 🙄🙄🙄

Had you said, when ordering the drinks, that you were ordering food too?

if you did, fair enough, but if you didn't that's terrible.

you could have just paid for the drinks & had those before leaving.

Same here, but apparently I'm not allowed to have an opinion unless I want to own a cafe 🤷🏻‍♀️