Restaurant closing time: What would you do?

If a gift shop/lunch boutique had hours of 9:00 - 3:00 with lunch served from 11:30 - 3:00 what would you expect?

A. to be able to get lunch at 10:00 am because the doors are open.

B. to get lunch right up until 3:00 because the doors are open

C. to wait until 11:30 to get lunch because the sign says lunch starts at 11:30

D. to get lunch not much after 2:30 because the place closes at 3:00 and the staff has a life.

Darn, I checked the wrong one and can't change it. I meant to vote B & C. I grew up in the restaurant business and posted hours were when we served. So if the sign says 1130 - 3 then so be it.

I need more information, but b & c sound reasonable to me. If lunch hours are posted from 11;30 to 3, this should mean that you can order lunch any time within those hours. If they closed for orders at 2:30, it should say 2:30. But it says 3, which usually means that the staff works to serve lunch well past that.

Well the store actually closes, locked door, the whole nine yards at 3:00. The staff, unless someone comes in last minute, leaves promptly at 3:00. The owner prefers when the staff leaves at 3:00. It is rather frustrating.

I think if the intention is to close the store/restaurant at 3pm sharp, then the sign needs to change.

Lunch Hours should be indicated at 11:30am - 2:30pm, or something like that, otherwise, people will assume they can come closer to 3pm.

I chose C &/or D....

If they state that lunch servings begin at 11:30, then respect that and do not even try to order off the lunch menu before that time.

This is a personal preference of mine, but I will try NOT to get a reservation, or visit, a WDW restaurant within 30 minutes of closing time. Now, with that said, most of the listings are for SERVING times rather than an official opening/closing times.

Yes, I know, this is a minor technicality, but if the system allows booking of a reservation 5 minutes before/after "closing" time or 5 minutes before/after "opening" time, I would expect those reservations to be honored with the full menu for that time slot.

When I worked in a restaurant we all knew that a 9pm closing really meant we would be out of there by 11pm.

If a restaurant is open until 3pm I'd assume that 3pm is the latest they'll seat guests.

I agree. If you are open until 3 then it is presumed that you can still walk in at 2:59 and be served. Most retail stores are like that too. Yes, they are closing at 9 pm but customers who are already inside are typically not immediately ushered out. And the workers know they are not getting out of there until at least 9:45ish. Not that I do any of this but there were a few times I was somewhere when they were closing and hadn't realized they were about to close. It happens. When you are in the business of serving customers...

In retail, my nighttime hours were something like 5pm to close. If the store closed at 9pm, anyone in the store was welcome to continue shopping (within reason), but new customers were not let into the store. We stayed until we were done, NOT some time on the clock.

I just don't get the new definitions in the service industry.

If they seat you, they should serve you. To me it's as simple as that.

Personally, I think one of two things needs to happen. They either need to change the employee hours to reflect a later quitting time or they need to change the store hours to 2:30. Most of the staff are moms who have obligations to meet immediately following 3:00 such as picking kids up from school etc. This had not been a problem until recently except on occasion. So something needs to change one way or the other.
Thanks for the feedback! :mickey:

I of course voted C and D
I was raised in a family that when we went to eat at a restaurant, if it was late, we ALWAYS checked to see when they closed before going in.
If we arrived and they would close in thirty to forty five minutes we went somewhere else because it seemed the right thing to do...

To me if there is a sign that says they close at three it means they CLOSE at three
People should have enough respect for others to understand that they shouldn't go in and order a full lunch at 2:59 because that's honestly a bit ridiculous.

I vote c. I know everyone wants to start and go home when they are supposed to. And, If lunch starts at 1130..I wouldn't expect it until 1130. I know in my career. When its time to "clock out" I clock out. Got family and other things to do. Unless I get paid overtime....Im gone:thumbsup:

I worked "in the biz" in high school and college and the resturaunt I worked at doors locked at the posted close time, if some one walked in prior to the doors being locked, they were seated and served. Even if the kitchen had already shut down because of a slow night. They would have to turn everything back on.

I didn't vote because the choices really don't fit for me.

It wouldn't really be an issue for me because I eat lunch at 11:00AM every day and I despise breakfast so if lunch doesn't start serving until 11:30, you won't ever see me there. Lunch should start serving at 10:30AM or so in my opinion and it does at most everywhere I know of these days.

Anyway, every restaurant I know of seats people up until the posted closing time. It would pretty much tick me off if I entered a restaurant prior to their closing time only to be told I didn't have time to order and eat. However, I never and I mean never go to a restaurant within their last hour of operation because you get the rush treatment. A couple of times when I happened to do this, I received microwaved food. Think about microwaved Red Lobster food for a minute. lol

I don't understand why you would post a closing time and expect the staff to be leaving at that time. It typically takes about an hour to shut everything down, sweep the floors and clean the equipment. It sounds like poor management to me. It is one of those deals where if you don't like the hours and what comes with the business, get out of the business.