Is It Ever Okay To Walk Into A Restaurant Right Before Closing?

Would you ever have the nerve to go into a restaurant just before its stated closing hour and expect to be served a meal? For my part, I'd be inclined to say no, never. As it happens, though, in the not-so-metropolitan area where I live, I typically encounter the opposite situation where I arrive an hour before closing only to be told the kitchen is no longer serving and only the bar is open. (Good old Milwaukee, you can get drunk 24/7 but eating after 9 p.m. is always iffy.) With that in mind, perhaps you needn't be so reluctant to be an inconvenience, since chances are, if a restaurant doesn't want to serve you, it won't. Guy Vaknin, an owner and chef at City Roots Hospitality in New York City, feels this might be a mistake on its part, though. "We are here to serve our guests during the business hours we list," he told The Takeout. "If a restaurant is truly about hospitality, they would have no issue serving guests" before closing, he said.

The way Vaknin sees it, any restaurant, whether it offers haute cuisine or burgers, should be amenable to last-minute walk-in customers. "If guests would like to dine before closing time," he said, "it's more business for the restaurant and overall a good thing for everyone." That makes sense when you think of all the restaurant chains that are struggling or popular eateries that have filed for bankruptcy, not to mention small local restaurants that might need even more support to stay afloat. Still, it's probably best not to try this at one of those snooty establishments where you need to make reservations well in advance.

If you're still feeling a bit guilty over imposing on restaurant staff who were hoping to go home, Guy Vaknin offered a couple of tips on how to lighten the burden. First of all, pick your day. "Restaurants are typically open later on Thursday, Friday, or Saturdays as most patrons are dining out on those days, and there's demand for later reservations," he said. Sundays through Wednesdays, when restaurants are less crowded, they might be more inclined to cut their losses and close on time than accommodate last-minute arrivals.

An "extra tip goes a long way" to compensate for a server's annoyance at having to go home later than they usually would, said Vaknin. This is especially true if you notice you're one of the last diners in the restaurant and the staff really are waiting on you to finish up before they can start closing. 

Finally, three words you'd do well to remember are: "read the room." If you walk into a restaurant and they're already mopping the floors and stacking chairs on top of tables, turn right around and leave. Chances are, there's a drive-thru open somewhere, so you can get a quality burger on the go and you're not going to starve. (Unless you're in Milwaukee, where even fast food chains don't keep late hours — but if you head out into the suburbs, Kwik Trip sells sandwiches.)