Just in case you have never worked in the business

this would be good to print out and keep with you..

**warning, link does contain adult language**

http://www.cracked.com/article_19064_tr ... ew%2Btopic

Having never worked in the business, I only disagree with one:

Closing time.

Your published closing time should be the time the IN door closes, not the OUT door.

If you dont want to seat someone after 10:30, make 10:30 your closing time, not 11.

Having never worked in the business, I only disagree with one:

Closing time.

Your published closing time should be the time the IN door closes, not the OUT door.

If you dont want to seat someone after 10:30, make 10:30 your closing time, not 11.

you are right Rob(in theory)..but I can tell you that after many years of cleaning the grill and wrapping everything up, only to have a 6 top walk in the door at 5 minutes til close, nothing is worse for the staff..I for one won't even walk in the door less than 1 hour til close.

Having never worked in the business, I only disagree with one:

Closing time.

Your published closing time should be the time the IN door closes, not the OUT door.

If you dont want to seat someone after 10:30, make 10:30 your closing time, not 11.

you are right Rob(in theory)..but I can tell you that after many years of cleaning the grill and wrapping everything up, only to have a 6 top walk in the door at 5 minutes til close, nothing is worse for the staff..I for one won't even walk in the door less than 1 hour til close.

This is an interesting problem... if the restaurant is empty at 10:30 and the cooks start cleaning up and a couple walks in, it sucks for everyone involved. I had lots of problems when I was in night classes getting home at 9pm and trying to find a place to get dinner, as I don't like to show up to a restaurant near closing time... that said, posted hours are posted hours... I work in retail and will be on the counter until 6pm regardless of how dead my shop is... then again, I can start my shut down process without affecting customer service.

I'm not sure there is a good solution to this, but as a customer, I won't walk into a restaurant near closing time... That's probably a good thing for the employees but a bad thing for the management.

I recall many a night, we would foolishly break everything down by about quarter of close and sure enough, four top. But thems the breaks and it is our fault for breaking down so soon. So we fired it all back up and cooked, usually a bit grumbly, but the last guest is just as important as the first. You must have that attitude or your are dead in the water.

As a courtesy, we do try to avoid going to places right as they close, but if it is a half hour or better, we'll go ahead. Owners need customers in the last thirty minutes just as much as they need them at the dinner rush.

If the business is slow and the dining room is dead all you have to do is send someone home, start cleaning up or start a new project and the dining room will magically come back to life. Just like when I was in college and smoked waiting for the bus. All you had to do was light a cigarette......

This just reminded me... about 2 years ago, my wife and I went to Bruester's for some ice cream (before Comfy Cow existed) and got in the drive through line behind a line of cars... the shop attendant told us they were closed. (We were in line probably five minutes before close)

I haven't been back to Bruester's since... and there are way too many dessert choices in the city for me to ever go back.

In England it is quite normal for restaurants to post something like "closing at 11:00pm last orders 10:30pm." Don't know if this would work in the States or not.

[Robin Garr]

In England it is quite normal for restaurants to post something like "closing at 11:00pm last orders 10:30pm." Don't know if this would work in the States or not.

I've seen places here advertise something like "open until midnight, kitchen closes at 10 p.m.", but that's generally places with a bar that stays open longer.

At momofuku in new york they did a last call on all food orders 15 or so minutes before the kitchen closed. Thinking back, it was awesome.
I spent many long nights at the Oakroom with the kitchen all cleaned up, closed since 10, and everyone else having left as I waited for the last lingering customers to finish their drinks (and maybe another round or 3), and then get coffee service, before they ever saw the dessert menus.

Having never worked in the business, I only disagree with one:

Closing time.

Your published closing time should be the time the IN door closes, not the OUT door.

If you dont want to seat someone after 10:30, make 10:30 your closing time, not 11.

you are right Rob(in theory)..but I can tell you that after many years of cleaning the grill and wrapping everything up, only to have a 6 top walk in the door at 5 minutes til close, nothing is worse for the staff..I for one won't even walk in the door less than 1 hour til close.

Wow! I'm with you on this one Mike and it really hit home for me last week. There is a sort of "unwritten protocol" in this business and after running the gammut for 30 years, I can tell you that nothing pisses me off more than the "let's stroll in at the last minute or after closing" crowd, particularly when you've had your junk handed to you, you work alone all day, and are just about ready to roll out the door for a beer. I guess there is a marked dichotomy from those who have to execute, and those who just want to dine after hours?? A consideration factor maybe??? Not sure what the answer is......common sense perhaps?. Just my .02

If we're heading out for a late dinner and it's getting close to the posted closing time, I generally call ahead to see if the restaurant will still be serving 10 minutes from then. Therefore, no surprises for either party.

Ahhh the art of the pre-close. If executed correctly, your makeline is cleared out, fryers are changed out and 1 is left hot, and all pans have been replaced and are covered on a cooking sheet in the reach in. The floors are cleaned up and dishland is waiting to be broken down. If close rolls by with no late guests, give me 10 minutes cleaning the grill and I'm out. If they do come in, I have hot grease and grill and can easily get everything I need from the reach in. 10 minutes later, customer has hot meal and 10 after that I'm at the bar. I for one, never turned away a late customer and told servers and cooks who complained about them 1) Don't forget where the money comes from 2) Do a better job on your pre-close.

I think a limited menu after a certain time is good way to go.

I have never worked in the business but I would never dream of going in somewhere, probably even the last hour before close,definitely not the last half hour. Just common sense...I would hate to be put in that spot if I was working there so I wouldn't do it to somebody else.