Your flight has been delayed. The shuttle bus at the airport at which you finally arrived does not show up for at least 45 minutes. The line at the rental car counter is growing because an issue with a customer is being addressed. Traffic is backed up for miles on the highway to the hotel property at which you are staying for the night. You finally arrive at the front desk at the hotel property — only to find no person currently behind the counter. The key to your room needs to be coded again because it did not work the first time.
You are now hungry. You had not eaten all day. You are tired. You are weary. You need sustenance. You either ask the concierge of the hotel property or research the Internet to find a place to eat — and yes! You find a restaurant…
Restaurant Closing Time: When is the Latest You Should Arrive?
…but the estimated time of arrival will place you within minutes of the official closing time of the restaurant. Do you still go?
One argument is to show up at the restaurant in enough time to be able to dine reasonably comfortably and leave by the official closing time — that showing up any later is considered rude and not practicing proper etiquette…
…but others opine that customers should expect full service from as little as one minute prior to the official closing time.
Still other people believe that arriving only minutes before the official close of a dining establishment only applies either for taking food out instead of dining in the restaurant — or simply ordering at a fast food restaurant.
Final Boarding Call
I really do not know the answer to this question, as I have heard other people argue for and against arriving to a dining establishment within minutes of it officially closing…
…but I will say that although a customer can control the speed of his or her dining experience at the table itself, the cooking and serving experience cannot be controlled at all by the customer. I have arrived at a restaurant and had a leisurely meal within as few as 45 minutes because the service was prompt and no problems occurred; and I have also arrived at a restaurant and left as many as three hours later for a variety of reasons which were not my fault. How do I predict when I will actually leave the restaurant?
What about the scenario at the beginning of this article? If you were desperately hungry as a result, what would you do?
One solution which I have practiced in the past is simply contacting the restaurant and asking. The worst that could happen is they say no; but more often than not, I have been warmly welcomed — and I treat everyone with respect and appreciation…
Photograph ©2019 by Brian Cohen.
