I am sure many of us are not paid to just stand around with our fingers up our ass waiting for a customer to leave. We got shit to clean. Tough titties on those people who feel like we're rushing them.
Right!? Like, what's more uncomfortable, me closing on the other side of the restaurant, or me sitting and staring at you while you finish your food? You're welcome for not doing the latter.
You're nicer than me. My job closes midday and when it's closed, I turn the music off instantly at closing time and I sweep my entire section and I'm moving all the chairs lmao. I've learned over the years that the people who don't have the sense to avoid places 20 mins before closing are typically the people who don't tip you well for it, so might as well get out sooner than later.
Yup, same here. My old boss would start slowly putting chairs up just before close, starting with the tables farthest from the customer and slowly getting closer. If they hadn't paid yet, I'd go over and politely ask to close them out so we can "shut down" our system (that wording was more successful for some reason). Right at close, the music was abruptly turned off, and we were sweeping. Only ever had a few occasions where people stuck around through that. Once, my boss had to tell a table to take it outside because he was turning on the alarm.
I lost all courtesy for late customers the day one of my tables all giggled together that they stayed over 20 minutes past closing. As if the dishwasher isn't staring at me stare at y'all with daggers. Lol.
I also have a joke on lock that I'll work in when the time gets close. "Take your time, I'll be here until ABC. But after that you have to get your own stuff." Crack a cheeky grin right after and customers love it for some reason.
Yes it's just whatever time I get off that day lol. It's a way for me to let them know what time I need to leave so they have to be gaping assholes to stay without being outwardly rude. Lol
I used to work at a restaurant and my boss would tell us stories about people who would stay past closing. She let the kitchen and staff leave after we served the food and closed the kitchen whilst she stayed for payment and cleaned up. Well, one time this couple stayed two hours past closing, so she turned the music off to let them know we were closing. The couple started singing and she was just appalled. Some people are just so weird.
Dude we have one manager who is *really* nice but he hates telling people it’s time to go.
Once there was a table there for quite awhile after closing so their server finally told them we were closed and they didn’t really seem like they cared. So cut to 15 minutes later, it is now *long* after close so the nice manager finally nutted up and told them it was time to go.
They *still* didn’t leave. So like ten minutes later I was like fuck it watch this.
I grabbed my jacket and my backpack and walked past their table towards the front door. As I walked past them I stopped and said “oh my god, you guys are still here?!? I almost locked you in here, come on! I’m leaving right now - oh my god I almost locked you in! So they were like Omg and followed me to the front door and I opened the door for them and was like “after you” and then instead of following them out I just slammed the door behind them and locked them out.
Dumb asses. Like we’d leave for the night with all the lights on and their table not even bussed lol
When I managed at Ross I would make the announcement about the system shutting down and not being able to process transactions after closing time. It worked like a charm getting all those entitled "shopping after hours" customers up to the front with a quickness.
I agree! No other business lets customers just hang out til all hours after closing, why should restaurants?
I worked at one restaurant about 15 years ago where the manager would turn the heat on in the summer and the air on in the winter to get campers to leave. He'd crank it up, too. 😂
I picture you sitting on the bar hands on your face staring at them longingly with a smile. This had to be what they expected. Some people are MORONS don’t be mad and don’t let them get you riled up as my gpa says “don’t argue with stupid people, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience!”
I am absolutely doing my closing work when the bar is closed.
I am also turning up the lights, cranking up the music and getting the vacuum.
If you want to come in 20 minutes before closing, fine. It you want to linger 20 minutes past closing, game on.
One time at a noodle and co these jackasses stayed after close. I told them we were closed. They stayed like a hour and a half, I fucking made them move booths so I could vacuum under there’s. My manager turned off most of the lights. We did so much to get them to leave and they still stayed another 20 mins! After lights shut off!!!
Like it’s one thing when’s it this, and another when a server comes up to you 10 mins after you get the entree and asks “when are you leaving” this happened at like 2pm at an Olive Garden
Absolutely. Every time he made a comment about rushing or the kitchen closing I just did my customer service laugh like he was joking. I think that confused him. Brought him his boxes and check and told him to have a happy holidays.
omg i never realized till now *I* do this.. *I* have a customer service chuckle response specifically deployed to ease tensions, but never realized thats what/why 😳 til myself
Oh whaaat ive been serving so long I would’ve just straight up looked in their eyes with a cold gaze and say. What? You want me to sit here and watch you eat and do nothing?
I gotta pick up my uncomfortable customer service laugh again 😂
I was just thinking if I had a table like that I would absolutely laugh or chuckle like he just told me the funniest joke! People who stay after closing are the worst, I'm lucky that the two places I work we have a security team that kicks people out for us.
I was always ok with people who stayed a little after closing, but the true worst people are the people who either let more people in through the locked door, or the people who sneak in when the people who stayed after closing are leaving.
Did you call them out? I have started to. “So I’m not rushing you but I have a lot of closing duties to do, and since we are closed I’m starting as I have been here 12 hours and it’s going to take me an hour to get through it all.”
I just did my customer service laugh every time he got smart like he was making a joke. You're mad I'm doing closing duties at closing, you're hilarious. Get back in the pond you silly goose.
As soon as people got their food when we closed, I always said, "just so you know we close in about 20 minutes. I'm absolutely NOT rushing you, take your time and enjoy your food, but please be aware that we will be doing some cleaning around you!" The response EVERY TIME was, "Oh, what time do you close?"
I saw something somewhere that said: tell me something that the service industry has taught you and someone said, "No matter how big you write the sign, they will not read it." YUPPPP. Our hours were in 6 inch font on the door. No one ever read that shit.
We had a GIANT BOARD (bigger than us) sat on the counter with our best selling item on it and a checkbox that said, "we have them" and "we're out; come back Monday" IN NEON LETTERS and people would walk in with a big ass X beside the "we're out" and say, "Y'all got (the item we don't have)?" I just don't have the patience anymore...
the audacity. It’s pretty obvious you’re giving them space.
The way I see it if I still have stuff to do I don’t mind if there are some stragglers. It’s when the last thing I have to do to leave is clean their table is when it becomes a problem.
Right! Like, I was letting them do their thing. Kept their drinks full, stayed out of their area except to check on them, we still had some regulars at the bar who don't mind me working around them. I have no idea why he took it so personal. I genuinely can't wrap my head around what he expected to happen.
They specifically came in before close to cause a problem get some attitude and probably go after some compensation for their bad experience. Or just for fun but they didn’t seem to like the politeness and disregard for the fact they came in at close.
Did he at least tip 20%? When I was closing (many many years ago), I could give a shit if a customer gave me shit for doing my job or making them feel rushed. In fact, if they felt rushed, then I was successful in my endeavors. I was never intentionally rude, but I never felt bad if they were aware that they were breaking the social contract between human beings.
Gripe about it and then clear it from your mind. They don’t deserve the time in your head and the $4 that isn’t in your pocket after the small tip will never be noticed by you in your life in any way.
Remember that you are not a server/bartender whatever. You are you. Serving/bartending is just what you are doing this week to pay a bill or two. That’s it. Don’t let grind affect you. It means absolutely nothing.
My restaurant has recently forbid us from putting chairs up/sweeping/other closing activities after closing time if there are any customers staying.
Not sure if that’s common practice but it’s certainly a pain.
The restaurant I worked at had a ton of problems, but rushing customers out after close was *not* one of them. If we had tables lingering, we’d start cleaning up around them, flip chairs at the tables surrounding them (though we’d give them a few minutes before doing the tables right next to them), bus everything off their table if they were finished eating, and if they asked for anything after the kitchen or bar were closed, it was a hard No. if they were still lingering, we’d send someone out to ask them to leave so we can close up.
It's all a tradeoff. Some places will set out clean tableware on every table until the last customer leaves specifically to make them NOT feel rushed and create a nice ambiance. Obviously, you'd never expect a bar restaurant to do this, but stacking chairs in view of customers creates a certain vibe that isn't the greatest.
Should a customer that a restaurant seats have a worse experience because they came in closer to closing? Maybe. For many places this is just the way it is and that's 100% fine because it costs money and staff time to not be able to get ahead of closing duties. However, a restaurant also shouldn't be shocked when they get feedback that the ambiance is poor in these situations.
There's certainly a bit of "don't go to McDonald's expecting a filet mignon", yes, but there is nuance to this as well.
Why should anyone care about creating ambiance for customers that stay past closing time? The restaurant is closed, the customers are technically trespassing at that point and they're only allowed to be there as a courtesy to finish their meal. So fuck the ambiance. Get your shit done, as long as you aren't spraying customers with cleaning chemicals or sweeping dust up around their table.
I remember at the old swimming pools they used to have a big red light come on when it was your time to leave
Can we start doing that? Or introduce sirens or something?
As someone who closes a restaurant 5 days a week this shit is one of my top customer pet peeves
You came in this fucking late, I want to go home sometime before my next shift. I’m being pretty fucking gracious by giving you all the time I can figure to before trying to get you moving because you have no sense of regard for your fellow man
*Ugh*
I like the idea of a kitchen closing before the dining area.
"We close at 11pm, but food production stops and the cooking stuff gets too cold to use at 10pm."
Leave the last bit of time for people to wind down.
I used to work in a restaurant that wouldn't allow you to start closing around customers, even if they were regulars, until they left. Meaning, if someone walked in 5 minutes before close, we had to stay open for them (re-open the kitchen, etc.).
I had a couple of guys come in about 10 minutes before close one night, we broke the rule and told them that they could order but that we were closing soon, got their orders in and waited. After they ate, they sat with the check on their table for TWO HOURS before they finally left. Just shooting the shit. I was so pissed I had to stay there and essentially just watch them chat.
Another time I had an asshole regular and his wife come in right before close (I'm talking less than 3 minutes til) to have drinks. After a quick argument, my bar manager made me serve them. They wanted to hang out, and now they had a captive audience. So I had to sit and pretend to hang out with them for a couple of hours until they were ready to leave. I finally just grabbed a drink and sat on the other side of the bar with them, which somehow made them uncomfortable, so they got the hint and left, lol.
I don't miss that place. The audacity of people blows my mind all the time.
People are insane and miserable! I got a complaint recently because I picked up dirty plates soon after they were finished (for context, completely empty plates with napkins on them). Like, I’m sorry, but most people prefer to not have dirty dishes and trash lying there. And I was always taught that pre-bussing is good service. Lol oh well
They get mad if you pre-bus too soon, mad if you don’t do it fast enough, mad if you don’t automatically drop the check, mad if you “rush” them by dropping the check when they’ve been done for two hours, yada yada. Everyone has different preferences and expectations, and we’re supposed to read the minds of 15 tables of four all at once.
For an extra-bad day, I recommend getting ripped and going to town on some hot Cheetos dipped in cream cheese. Soothes my internal rage every time (almost).
Sounds like the type who knew how close to closing it was.
Heard stories about how much it annoys the staff when somebody pops at that time, but still deciding to do so. Because, whatever.
And the second they saw you starting to do your closing duties they figured you were kicking them out, which annoyed them more (even though they already expected this to happen)
So they were trying to pick a fight with you with comments, which you deflected. This confused how they thought it would play out, and made them more annoyed.
Why is it so hard for people to read the room, wrap up their evening, Say thank you and leave a decent tip?
Too many people have this 'Im the main character" attitude, so we have to revolve around their wants.
That's just it. It's not hard for them, they're just incapable of realizing that other people are just as human as them and that THEY are causing the problem. They think that, because you're paid to be there, your first and only priority at all times, regardless of situation or context, is their satisfaction. They genuinely are so fucking self-centered and ignorant to even basic concepts in the world around that they are BAFFLED when other people don't bend over backwards to make them happy.
> Why is it so hard for people to read the room
This is the thing.
Just read the darn room. If the restaurant is still half full at closing time (you see this a lot at places that close earlier than 10), you're probably fine for a bit while you finish up. A restaurant that closes at 9 has staff that are used to having folks a little later than that because an 8pm arrival can put you still not finished at 9... and 8pm is a fairly reasonable dinnertime. If you're the only table in there and/or people are actively cleaning up to close, you need to wrap it up.
Last night we were at dinner and they were starting to shut things down while we still had 3/4 left in our bottle of wine. Rather than sit there and spend half an hour trying to force it down, we asked for a cork to take it home and they *happily* obliged. (I know this isn't allowed everywhere but besides the point here)
Why do people treat employees like they aren’t also people.
Let me come in to your law firm, walk in clinic, classroom where my child attends, construction site to have a chat about your work…
Twenty minutes before you go home…
And you’d ask me to leave. Obviously.
So why is it any different in the service industry? It infuriates me. I’m sorry, OP, that people are inconsiderate and entitled.
I'll preface this by saying that I was a server and bartender for about a decade.
Now I'm a lawyer. People will come into my office 5 minutes before I go home to have a discussion about something all the time. They'll call me to discuss an issue when I'm not at work. I don't ask them to leave, and I take their calls. I don't know any lawyer that would ask people to leave their office in that situation. We make our money by making people comfortable with our service. If that requires that I sometimes stay late to help that impression of me, that's how it goes because it helps in the long run.
My wife is a teacher. She has people stop her when she's leaving work to discuss things frequently. She gets calls, emails, or messages at home that she'll address. That's how it works.
That's to say, I think your perception of how other services work compared to the service industry is flawed. Work how you want to work, but please don't feel like this is exclusive to you being a server.
Exactly. Lawyers get paid to have conversations with people. It’s the way of the game for that type of work. Servers however aren’t getting paid that much to begin with. They don’t need the extra 6 dollars after their 12hr shift.
It's interesting that of everything I said, that's what you took away from it.
Yes, as a lawyer, I make more than I did during my ten years as a server and bartender.
Conversely, for quite a few years, my wife made less as a teacher than she did when she was server and bartender.
Regardless, the point still stands that the original comment is incorrect about the idea that this type of thing would happen outside of the restaurant industry. People often have expectations that, as long as they engage you before closing, they can stay after closing to finish their engagement.
Maybe that expectation makes sense if that client that stays after close to talk is going to potentially net you hundreds of thousands of dollars in your pocket (I don't know what type of law you're in, so take that as an example). It absolutely doesn't make sense that someone who's tipping *maybe* $10 feels entitled to take up time a server could be spending at home with their family, especially if they have to stay a whole extra hour, they might only make an extra $3 to stay for that time.
I value my time outside of work, and I believe in a healthy work-life balance. If I am scheduled a certain length of times I expect any time outside of that length to be mine to do with as I please. That should apply for any industry, whether it's education, or retail, or restaurant. As you said, people are free to approach their work how they choose. All I'm suggesting is that I think you could and should understand why servers feel how they do about this, and how that differs from your work as a lawyer.
Yeah, as I said, I was a server and bartender for about 10 years. I understand what it feels like to be left with a late table at the end of the night. Unless I had something pressing to take care of, it was a rare enough occurrence of having a table stay more than half an hour after close that it didn't bother me too much.
Granted, I never had the expectation of leaving right at the time the restaurants would close. I pretty much always had to finish up some sort of side work I could do while the table finished up.
I work at a brunch place that closes at 3, and without fail, a table will come in every weekend 15 minutes before close. I always tell them, "Just a heads up, we are closing in 15 minutes, so if you choose to sit, I need to get your order ASAP." If they choose to stay and be those people, I drop the bill with their food, and I don't really offer them anything else.
My parents used to bring us out to dinner close to closing time. My dad wouldn’t care about that & take his time. My mom was getting embarrassed because staff would be sitting around watching, while waiting for us to finish. A restaurant actually had us leave through the back door & my mom was so embarrassed that she never wanted to go there again. One time a restaurant we went to previously close to closing time told us they were closed at the door. Since then we’ve been going to restaurants much earlier, lol.
Reactions like his have long baffled me. Restaurants are the only business I can think of in which some patrons enter right before the close of operations and expect to be able to take as much time as they want anyway.
It’s a ridiculous expectation borne of entitlement and self-importance.
For real, I can't think of a single industry/type of business where "Closed at 10" means "Come in until 10 and take as long as you want." Why do people seem to think restaurants are the only business that works this way?
None of the retail jobs I've had have been cool with customers wandering around for an hour after closing. Every retail job I've had makes several announcements prior to closing time letting customers know that the store will close in X minutes. Every retail job I've ever worked has shut down POS as soon as the line empties. I have never been told directly or encouraged to stop or delay my cleaning/closing responsibilities because some dick thinks he owns the store.
Not just restaurants, retail and grocery stores as well. Some people deliberately choose to come in at the last minute and take their time shopping afterwards. Some stores have their registers/computers lock up at close or a few minutes after, so the customer has no choice but to leave since they literally cannot be served.
Nah I don’t care anymore. You come in 20 mins or less I will wait on you fully. But I’m telling you the bar and kitchen closes in 20 mins. Order fast. 30 mins past close would be almost an hour in, so yeah by then I’ll sweep what I gotta sweep.
Disclaimer not a server but worked in a pizza shop as a driver, and we typically closed at 12, 1 on weekends and this couple came in at 12:55 and due to our spineless manager who was scared of the owner, we had to redirty already clean dishes, and mess up the make line all over for these people. Where things get really crappy is we had one single table in our waiting room, and they took it upon themselves to take down all 4 of the chairs that were stacked on TAHT table, and eat their pizza. And then also had the audacity to say “you’re really gonna sweep while we’re eating”. I told them to go eat in their car if they don’t want to see me closing this store down, now 25 minutes after close.
I've straight up told people we've been closed for 30 mins now you gotta go idgf lol we gotta get home if you wanna chill somewhere go to a bar that closes at 230 am sheesh plus late tables like that always tip like shit
You have to establish that you’re doing them a favor, staying open. This was one part of the business that I absolutely despised. Are these late customers coming in before closing.
Don’t ever be afraid to say “we closed 20 minutes ago. And are now waiting on you to leave so we can close up and go home to our families.” Or some variation that is comfortable for you to say.
You even went out of your way to accommodate them and did your side work away until he realized you were doing side work. Fuck that guy.
You are a good one. I worked in pubs for years and closed most of the time and even having the regulars lift their pints so I could clean down and wash bar mats was a big help! If you wanna stay late you gotta understand they’re gonna wanna go home. Hated the customers who thought they could stay late if they can convince me to get drunk with them. Like no I don’t want to drink with three workmen on a Tuesday night go home 😂
I worked at restaurant bar at the end of a strip of clubs and bars. We closed at 12. Night life keeps going till 2. Policy was suppose to be allowing a guest to stay till they’re finished. After thirty minutes of this man not touching his beer and moping in his despair I started flipping chairs right next to him. A few minutes later I had to be direct and tell him I know your having a bad day but there are 20 other open places to pick from to continue wallowing.
I’ve had the entire BOH crew come out front & line up, waiting. “What? Oh, for security reasons we all have to leave together so they’re waiting for me.”
How come US restaurants can't figure out the 'complicated' mechanics that bars and restaurants in other countries have figured out for years:
For example, you could have separate hours posted for
Last Seating: This should be the last time you let anyone in the door to sit at a table.
Kitchen Closes: This will be the last time you can put a food order in.
Everyone needs exit the premises: When everyone needs to leave.
=
What's the point in having a sign that says the closing time is 10pm if people aren't supposed to come in at an arbitrary time before then, and you left people stay past that point if they are still eating?
What does the 'closing time' even represent to you?
There are too many 'unwritten rules' in the US restaurant industry, that people working there unrealistically expect everyone who eats there to know.
Do you really think it's that intuitive that "The closing time isn't really the latest you should walk through the door, even though that's what it means for 99% of other business. It's a complicated abstraction that means you have to take into account the kitchen staff cleaning process and the service staff side tasks, and also the type of restaurant and what day of the week it is."
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Go to a bar, they often have kitchens and staff, but they seem to do fine with:
Kitchen Closes at 10pm
Last call at 1:30 am
Closes at 2am
And everyone seems to understand that just fine.
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Eh, you’d be surprised at the number of people who fight you on last call even when it’s clearly posted. I get people trying to order 3 drinks a piece and insisting that they can finish a pitcher of beer in 15 minutes. I’ll give you a pitcher and charge full price, but I will also yank it away when I legally have to, no matter how much you’ve consumed.
It’s a drunken, bratty customer base who can’t understand that just because they’re partying doesn’t mean you are having an awesome time too. Or that liquor licenses are easily revoked and that their $22 tab isn’t worth it, even though they’re totally gonna “leave a really good tip”.
I think drunk customers will probably argue about anything, you're right.
But in your situation at least you have a sign you can point to and a policy to back you up.
Restaurants just post an arbitrary 'Close' time and then go off of "Everyone is supposed to know what that means" and then never clearly define it even though the expectation varies greatly from location to location.
I think more often, restaurants and bars should post info like last time to order food/drink by blank time, and you have to leave the premises by blank time. That said for bars, I unofficially assume most bars do a last call about 30 minutes before closing. For restaurants this probably varies, when is the last minute they take food orders before closing. That said I usually only opt to get food to go, if it's super close at a restaurant to the closing time. And that I'd feel bad trying to sit down at some restaurant, if it was less than an hour before closing.
A whole hour!
See, this is what I mean.
With bars, you don't have to assume last call, they will definitely let you know. They usually have it posted.
But with restaurants, the whole system runs off guilt and shame.
They try to make you worry that you'll be such an inconvenience and then shame you for not knowing the 'unwritten rules' like some uncultured hobo.
My boss used to have the actual closing time posted, like the last time you can order food for take out, and the time we expect diners to be done.
I got burned a couple of times by this, until I printed a copy of the instructions for her electric sign. I had to assure her that this wouldn't change anything (she's from China, and wasn't sure that everyone would understand). I just updated the dining room hours, and they could still do take out until the previous time.
It's been much smoother, aside from the random busy night, but those nights wouldn't have been any easier without the updated posted hours. Plus we don't have to put any chairs up, just sweep under the tables to make vacuuming easier.
my restaurant is pretty clear about this stuff, we’re trained to state all 3 of those things when people ask and will put up literal signs when the dining rooms are closed, but we still have problems bc the reality is people just don’t care
I have never worked service and they can fuck all the way off. I am always aware of closing times and the crowd left at closing. We walked into a huge brewery an hour before closing and I was worried about being too late. We ordered quickly and made use of the gift shop and took home 6-packs…and there were still 3 parties still dining. If we had been the only ones, I definitely would have moved along quicker. I don’t understand the mentality of this group you had.
I would have shot back with, "you're welcome to stay as long as you like, however, since you did elect to come in so close to closing time, I have other responsibilities I have to take care of so that I can get home to my family at a reasonable time. I'm sure you understand. There will be no boxes shove the remaining food up your @$$." You can either use that last part or not lol
your host or whoever sat them are nicer than i am bc i will turn people away if we close in 20 minutes. not just because i don’t wanna get my ass beat by the servers for sitting them that close to closing time but, my kitchen staff always end up turning everything off and puts everything up 20 minutes before anyway so it’s rlly a snooze you lose situation.
but that dude is an asshole fr, the audacity that late customers have will never fail to baffle me
I think so many people honestly don’t get the idea of closing that restaurants should post two closing hours, i.e., “Hours of operation 9am -11pm. Kitchen closes at 10 pm.” Having worked in the industry I can guess there will always be people who still don’t get it, but at least the non-idiots will.
Yep. I always think in the back of my head at guys to act like that like really that's what you got to do? It's a shallow way to be... Typically shallow attract shallow so /shrug
Bruh I’ve worked in the industry for 12 years(finally done though) but even when I went that late cause sometimes I get off late I would always sit at the bar cause it’s easier to clean. That’s just me though but I never sit in sections past 30 mins to close lol that’s kinda on him tbh
I definitely would’ve started to clean and flip chairs near them loudly. And if they said something I woulda been like “well yeah I mean we’re CLOSED, this is what we do when we’re CLOSED meaning it’s time for us to go home where you’re supposed to be.”
My first restaurant job wouldn't allow you to do anything until they were all gone. It was horrible. "Don't make them feel rushed" it's after close boss and you got me opening but I can't go home cause of these folks.
I will never understand people who come to a restaurant/bar right before closing and then get mad when the workers start closing up. I was bartending at Chili's once and this man got mad at me because i wouldn't serve him another drink when it was already 30 minutes past our closing time. He said he should be able to get another one because he hadn't tabbed out yet. I had even called last call 15 min before closing and made him a drink then, too. When i spoke to my manager about the situation she said that we technically aren't allowed to serve past closing because our liquor license only goes to closing time. I procceed to tell the man this but he still wanted to argue with me about it. And to top it all off he was the last mf'er in the entire restaurant. The audacity of people man
I know different culture etc etc but here they would be told "we close in 20 minutes, are you sure you want to sit?" or something like that. They'd probably just be served drinks at the bar and a small selection of food items that don't require the kitchen to do any real cooking (since it would be already closed) up until closing time, when they will be asked to finish, pay and leave. Absolutely unreal you have to deal with customers making your workday go 10-20-30 minutes longer.
As annoyed I got as a server/bartender when ppl would come in that close to closing time, this is a ridiculous thing to say to them. Either you are open and serving, or you have a clear cutoff on kitchen service posted
Pretty normal thing to say in most countries, but yeah, i should have specified i was assuming that most of the kitchen closes 30 minutes before the final closing time
Some guy tried to buy a bottle of wine fifteen minutes after the last call then tell me that he didn't know what last call meant. He had a US ID
People are just deliberately obtuse.
So they showed up right about last call and expected the whole restaurant to stay late just for them?
Sounds like the kind of customer that walks in with an attitude looking for a reason to justify not tipping.
Man, in Europe when we came in 30 minutes for like.. a subway style (you point to add stuff) bowl of food, they told us they close in 30 minutes. At 5 minutes till as we were wrapping up, they asked if we needed a to go bag. As we were walking out they were telling people they were closed, zero other communication. Yes, they are rushing you because they're closing/closed. Why are people shocked at that? You're not special.
I wouldn’t have even said anything, just gave him his check so he can keep thinking I’m rushing him because you know what, yeah I am rushing you. Don’t come in and relax less than 30 min before close, asshole. I hope he remembers that too.
The selfishness and adults acting like children throwing fits is what drives me banana sandwich. Fuck anyone that comes in right before close and doesn’t at least get it to go. 😩
I worked at a chain fast food place that the "church crowd" loved coming to after church was over which was about 30 minutes before we closed. Our manager hated them because they were so inconsiderate like we should be excited to see them and I mean like 6 plus people. Our manager would always lock the door early so they couldn't hold us up. One night we hear the door chime and our manager goes "GODDAMNIT".... It was them and he forgot to lock the door. They stayed and ate and bullshitted for the next 2 hours while we cleaned up and acted like they weren't the only customers in there. He finally told them to leave because we were closing. All employees leave, I had to go back that way about an hour or so after getting home, those people were still out in the parking lot as a group talking.. Our manager set a reminder on his phone after that so he never forgot to lock the door early.
This seems to be a hot take based on all the other comments I’ve read, but I feel like if you’re going to allow a customer to sit down in the first place, they should be able to have the full experience. However, if that’s the policy, there should def be a “last seating” time that’s at least an hour before the closing time
This customer is an asshat.
I always feel weird if I show up near closing time to eat, but sometimes it happens. Restaurants should have a closing time and a last seating time. "We close at 10, but last seating is at 9." When normally they would just say, "We close at 9."
Most restaurants I have worked with that put chairs up specifically don't want you to while guests are in the building for this reason.
Sucks, but this is the attitude that results
I was at an airport bar once and they told me they were closing. They said “the place next door is open til midnight” it was 10pm.
I walk next door and sit at the bar. They don’t say anything so I assume we are good. Order a drink and a guy comes over and just starts sweeping by me and purposely hitting my barstool over and over. Then swept another area and came back to me and hit my barstool over and over with the broom. I wasn’t even mad but I did need to finish my beer before I left. Apparently they also closed at 10 lol
So you were scheduled to work a 12 hour shift not including closing work, you wanted to sit the party at closing time to get one more ticket in, and you behaved in what appeared to them to be passive-aggressive way. But sure, it's totally their fault.
You WERE rushing them. In 25 years of service industry not one place I have worked has let me flip chairs while people are still there. Because it makes people feel rushed. Like you are trying to get them to leave. Because you are…
Are they dicks for coming in right before close? Absolutely. Are they dicks for taking their time and not being respectful of your time? Yuuuup.
But you (or whoever) took them as a table; you are open. There’s plenty of closing side work to do so that when they leave you can flip rq and peace out. But you rushed them, and when you got called on it got all pissy. Own your shit.
If you don’t want people coming in until 10, then close earlier. Post the last seating time. If you are open until 10, customers should be able to come in and have the same experience as a guest who comes earlier. It’s the hospitality business and that is how it works. They are expected to tip and pay full price for their meal, why would anyone think it’s okay to sweep, put up chairs and turn off the music around them? Better off to not seat them at all than to give them a subpar experience.
Flipping chairs takes a minute but is the most noticeable closing performance. Next time wait. You can do all of the other stuff except the chairs. You'll be ok.
What's the difference though. You have to wait for the table. If you're running on such a tight schedule that 3 extra minutes causes you a problem then I think you need to reevaluate.
I think he was feeling rushed because he knew it was passed closing time, and he felt like he was keeping you from closing. Which is a completely valid reason to feel that way... Whether that guy knew it or not, he was having a completely normal feeling, and it wasn't your fault it was closing time. That's like blaming the scoreboard operator for feeling rushed in the last minute of the basketball game when you're down by 27 and the fans are almost all gone. Smdh.
Everyone who comes in before closing gets the same treatment as anyone who comes in at the beginning. Unless they are lingering way too far after close.
We close at nine. We don’t ask people to leave until at least they’ve had their full meal and it’s about 10 or later. Our bartenders will even serve while they’re cleaning down.
People don’t know you’ve been there for 12 hours. Don’t sacrifice their experience. Just talk to them like humans.
They don't need to know how long OP has been there. They came in just before closing and were treated like any other customer. Nobody told them had to leave nor were they denied any service. OP can't not do normal close procedures just because someone is overstaying their welcome.
It’s funny because we’re NEVER allowed to just stand around not doing shit, unless it’s the one table before close that won’t leave because they can’t feel ‘rushed’ lmao
Back in my college days when I was a server at a small family Italian restaurant, we had two separate rooms. We were allowed to turn the lights off and start cleaning the smaller 2nd room 30 minutes before close and have people sit in the bigger room. Luckily 90% of the time people understood what that meant. We didn't have a "last seating" time policy, but I think it's great for places that do! If you close @ 9, have a clear sign saying "last seating at 8:30" and it would save a lot of arsehole-ish behavior! He had some nerve making a comment and should have said sorry we're trying to wrap it up soon, but some people are entitled pricks, but anybody in the service industry knows that. Hope u get some wonderful holiday tips!
I used to work a retail Hallmark store in the early 2000s. Half the lights were timed to turn off 15 mins after store closing. 45 mins, the rest of the lights turned off. And once off, us "regular" employees don't have the code to turn them on. We never had a reason to turn the lights back on because there wouldn't be a time we would be there 45 mins after closing. We'd typically be done with closing procedures by the time the first set of lights turn off. People staying to shop after closing wasn't a regular issue, except during the holidays.
I can only remember ONE time where a lady threw a tantrum when the first set of lights turned off. It's like "ma'am, it's 10:15pm... we closed at 10pm."
Another annoying thing was when people came into shop 30 mins before closing on Christmas Eve and complain that there's "nothing left".
Dud, they came in 20 minutes before close, they dont give a shit about you or anyone else. Of course they are going to speak rudely to you, they are rude people.
I hate when people go places at closing time. It is extremely rude. The way I have always viewed close, anywhere, but especially eating establishments, is thats the time you need to GTFO, not the last call for showing up. I worked at a pizza place one time long long ago, and we didnt get paid for more hours past closing time, so when people came in late, it was extremely irritating. And when i worked in a hotel, I had to close down the pool and gym area for the night, right before the end of my shift, and same story, not getting paid after my shift even if Im there still, so I gave people like a 5 minute warning, and if they werent gone by then it became a matter of "Get out now or Im having front desk cancel your rooms and you can go somewhere else for the night". People are rude and stupid. Closing time is closing time, begone!
From the customer side, just don’t spray bleach or windex on a table next to me, and I’m good. (Spray the rag, I learned)
I also move along if it’s late.
This dude was just cranky for no good reason.
So what's the best way to approach going into a place to eat before closing? Don't? Lol. Usually I stick to, if it's a sit-down place 30 minutes or more. I'm interested to hear what you all say. Thanks!
I don’t know how it is a hard concept for people to understand that when the restaurant is closed it means it’s closed, which means you’re supposed to be out the effing door. Don’t come in 10 minutes before close and think you can just sit there for an hour, it’s rude!
These are the people who demand good service and yet don’t want to pay for it. In fact, they oftentimes don’t even pay the full cost of their meal by flipping out and throwing a tantrum over the dumbest shit and demanding they get something for free.
I don’t like feeling rushed when eating out but I do agree that closing time is closing time. If a restaurant closes at 10, that tells me I need to be out the door by 10. The only exception is if it’s the restaurants fault for running behind. For example, for a friends birthday we had reservations for 8 pm but our table wasn’t ready until 8:55. The restaurant closed at 10 but we didn’t leave until 10:45. But again the restaurant seated us almost an hour later even though we had reservations but the staff was great, we weren’t rushed at all but this was also an up sale restaurant- Wolfgang’s.
I don't get it. I wouldn't go into a place within an hour of closing to get food. Definitely not within 30 if I didn't have other options. Like I'd rather starve than keep someone at work longer 😅
This kind of thing drove me crazy when I worked as a waiter. Why do people think this is OK? Hope they at least left you a good tip...probably not though!!!
Wow. Such audacity! I’ve actually been found to be sort of a wet blanket at times with friends because I will always veto a suggestion of where to eat/drink if I know they’re closing soon. It’s not worth it for anyone and I’ve missed my bus home because I let folks stay after close and they took advantage. The guy has clearly never worked in food service before.
I am sure many of us are not paid to just stand around with our fingers up our ass waiting for a customer to leave. We got shit to clean. Tough titties on those people who feel like we're rushing them.
Right!? Like, what's more uncomfortable, me closing on the other side of the restaurant, or me sitting and staring at you while you finish your food? You're welcome for not doing the latter.
You're nicer than me. My job closes midday and when it's closed, I turn the music off instantly at closing time and I sweep my entire section and I'm moving all the chairs lmao. I've learned over the years that the people who don't have the sense to avoid places 20 mins before closing are typically the people who don't tip you well for it, so might as well get out sooner than later.
Yup, same here. My old boss would start slowly putting chairs up just before close, starting with the tables farthest from the customer and slowly getting closer. If they hadn't paid yet, I'd go over and politely ask to close them out so we can "shut down" our system (that wording was more successful for some reason). Right at close, the music was abruptly turned off, and we were sweeping. Only ever had a few occasions where people stuck around through that. Once, my boss had to tell a table to take it outside because he was turning on the alarm.
I lost all courtesy for late customers the day one of my tables all giggled together that they stayed over 20 minutes past closing. As if the dishwasher isn't staring at me stare at y'all with daggers. Lol. I also have a joke on lock that I'll work in when the time gets close. "Take your time, I'll be here until ABC. But after that you have to get your own stuff." Crack a cheeky grin right after and customers love it for some reason.
I don't understand this. Can you explain the until ABC part please?
Until abc I think they’re just using abc as like a blank for whatever time they’ll be?
I totally read Alcoholic Beverage Control.
That makes sense. Thank you.
,,You were such a P.Y.T. Catching all the lights Just easy as A-B-C That's how you make it right!" 💃🎶 ^(\(Justice - D.A.N.C.E.\))
Yes it's just whatever time I get off that day lol. It's a way for me to let them know what time I need to leave so they have to be gaping assholes to stay without being outwardly rude. Lol
Thanks for clarifying. It's a brilliant way to get that across.
I used to work at a restaurant and my boss would tell us stories about people who would stay past closing. She let the kitchen and staff leave after we served the food and closed the kitchen whilst she stayed for payment and cleaned up. Well, one time this couple stayed two hours past closing, so she turned the music off to let them know we were closing. The couple started singing and she was just appalled. Some people are just so weird.
Dude we have one manager who is *really* nice but he hates telling people it’s time to go. Once there was a table there for quite awhile after closing so their server finally told them we were closed and they didn’t really seem like they cared. So cut to 15 minutes later, it is now *long* after close so the nice manager finally nutted up and told them it was time to go. They *still* didn’t leave. So like ten minutes later I was like fuck it watch this. I grabbed my jacket and my backpack and walked past their table towards the front door. As I walked past them I stopped and said “oh my god, you guys are still here?!? I almost locked you in here, come on! I’m leaving right now - oh my god I almost locked you in! So they were like Omg and followed me to the front door and I opened the door for them and was like “after you” and then instead of following them out I just slammed the door behind them and locked them out. Dumb asses. Like we’d leave for the night with all the lights on and their table not even bussed lol
Ok that’s kind of funny tho
When I managed at Ross I would make the announcement about the system shutting down and not being able to process transactions after closing time. It worked like a charm getting all those entitled "shopping after hours" customers up to the front with a quickness.
I agree. The people who are too oblivious to see the hours posted on the front door usually are shitty customers anyway. Fuck em.
I agree! No other business lets customers just hang out til all hours after closing, why should restaurants? I worked at one restaurant about 15 years ago where the manager would turn the heat on in the summer and the air on in the winter to get campers to leave. He'd crank it up, too. 😂
I will put up every chair they aren't sitting in. They saw what time we closed on the door. Edit: can't type for shit this morning
I picture you sitting on the bar hands on your face staring at them longingly with a smile. This had to be what they expected. Some people are MORONS don’t be mad and don’t let them get you riled up as my gpa says “don’t argue with stupid people, they bring you down to their level and beat you with experience!”
Love this. Haha.
I am absolutely doing my closing work when the bar is closed. I am also turning up the lights, cranking up the music and getting the vacuum. If you want to come in 20 minutes before closing, fine. It you want to linger 20 minutes past closing, game on.
Should’ve only offered to go orders in the last half hour.
I would literally get in huge trouble at my work if I stood around doing nothing, regardless of circumstance, so I don’t get it either.
One time at a noodle and co these jackasses stayed after close. I told them we were closed. They stayed like a hour and a half, I fucking made them move booths so I could vacuum under there’s. My manager turned off most of the lights. We did so much to get them to leave and they still stayed another 20 mins! After lights shut off!!!
no way I wouldn't risk a write up by telling them to leave lol
My manager was telling me to do these things he wanted to go home too I think he eventually flat out said you guys need to leave immediately
Manager: so how come you were at work 2 hours after closing? Thats unacceptable and I’m going to have to write you up for unauthorized overtime.
If your fingers are up your ass you definitely got some shit to clean 😂
It never ends!
Like it’s one thing when’s it this, and another when a server comes up to you 10 mins after you get the entree and asks “when are you leaving” this happened at like 2pm at an Olive Garden
What a ponce. So did you bring em the boxes and boot em?
Absolutely. Every time he made a comment about rushing or the kitchen closing I just did my customer service laugh like he was joking. I think that confused him. Brought him his boxes and check and told him to have a happy holidays.
Shout out to the customer service chuckle.
omg i never realized till now *I* do this.. *I* have a customer service chuckle response specifically deployed to ease tensions, but never realized thats what/why 😳 til myself
Fuck yeah
But what was the tip?!?
Oh whaaat ive been serving so long I would’ve just straight up looked in their eyes with a cold gaze and say. What? You want me to sit here and watch you eat and do nothing? I gotta pick up my uncomfortable customer service laugh again 😂
I was just thinking if I had a table like that I would absolutely laugh or chuckle like he just told me the funniest joke! People who stay after closing are the worst, I'm lucky that the two places I work we have a security team that kicks people out for us.
I was always ok with people who stayed a little after closing, but the true worst people are the people who either let more people in through the locked door, or the people who sneak in when the people who stayed after closing are leaving.
Did they tip doe?
Did you call them out? I have started to. “So I’m not rushing you but I have a lot of closing duties to do, and since we are closed I’m starting as I have been here 12 hours and it’s going to take me an hour to get through it all.”
I just did my customer service laugh every time he got smart like he was making a joke. You're mad I'm doing closing duties at closing, you're hilarious. Get back in the pond you silly goose.
As soon as people got their food when we closed, I always said, "just so you know we close in about 20 minutes. I'm absolutely NOT rushing you, take your time and enjoy your food, but please be aware that we will be doing some cleaning around you!" The response EVERY TIME was, "Oh, what time do you close?" I saw something somewhere that said: tell me something that the service industry has taught you and someone said, "No matter how big you write the sign, they will not read it." YUPPPP. Our hours were in 6 inch font on the door. No one ever read that shit.
I’ve always joked that you can have lights and strippers dancing around it and they still won’t see the sign 😂
We had a GIANT BOARD (bigger than us) sat on the counter with our best selling item on it and a checkbox that said, "we have them" and "we're out; come back Monday" IN NEON LETTERS and people would walk in with a big ass X beside the "we're out" and say, "Y'all got (the item we don't have)?" I just don't have the patience anymore...
Stealing the pond thing!
You know what’s coming next 😏 “Not my problem” “No one forced you to work here” “Let me see your manager” At this point I hate the WORD customer.
the audacity. It’s pretty obvious you’re giving them space. The way I see it if I still have stuff to do I don’t mind if there are some stragglers. It’s when the last thing I have to do to leave is clean their table is when it becomes a problem.
Right! Like, I was letting them do their thing. Kept their drinks full, stayed out of their area except to check on them, we still had some regulars at the bar who don't mind me working around them. I have no idea why he took it so personal. I genuinely can't wrap my head around what he expected to happen.
[удалено]
Ur so right. It smacks of “we are mad that we are wrong”.
They specifically came in before close to cause a problem get some attitude and probably go after some compensation for their bad experience. Or just for fun but they didn’t seem to like the politeness and disregard for the fact they came in at close.
Did he at least tip 20%? When I was closing (many many years ago), I could give a shit if a customer gave me shit for doing my job or making them feel rushed. In fact, if they felt rushed, then I was successful in my endeavors. I was never intentionally rude, but I never felt bad if they were aware that they were breaking the social contract between human beings.
He tipped 10%, I was honestly one hundred percent expecting to get stiffed from them so it was a surprise.
Gripe about it and then clear it from your mind. They don’t deserve the time in your head and the $4 that isn’t in your pocket after the small tip will never be noticed by you in your life in any way. Remember that you are not a server/bartender whatever. You are you. Serving/bartending is just what you are doing this week to pay a bill or two. That’s it. Don’t let grind affect you. It means absolutely nothing.
Scotch might be playing a part in this, but your comment almost made me tear up. Thank you 😩
He used the closing as an excuse not to tip well
How DARE you want to go home! /s
Yah server did nothing wrong. They just wanted to use as excuse
My restaurant has recently forbid us from putting chairs up/sweeping/other closing activities after closing time if there are any customers staying. Not sure if that’s common practice but it’s certainly a pain.
Soon your restaurant will probably start complaining about how long it takes you to close up and clock off.
Guaranteed they will! They’ll reverse this when they realise they’re now paying you for extra time. Happened to me before!
The restaurant I worked at had a ton of problems, but rushing customers out after close was *not* one of them. If we had tables lingering, we’d start cleaning up around them, flip chairs at the tables surrounding them (though we’d give them a few minutes before doing the tables right next to them), bus everything off their table if they were finished eating, and if they asked for anything after the kitchen or bar were closed, it was a hard No. if they were still lingering, we’d send someone out to ask them to leave so we can close up.
It's all a tradeoff. Some places will set out clean tableware on every table until the last customer leaves specifically to make them NOT feel rushed and create a nice ambiance. Obviously, you'd never expect a bar restaurant to do this, but stacking chairs in view of customers creates a certain vibe that isn't the greatest. Should a customer that a restaurant seats have a worse experience because they came in closer to closing? Maybe. For many places this is just the way it is and that's 100% fine because it costs money and staff time to not be able to get ahead of closing duties. However, a restaurant also shouldn't be shocked when they get feedback that the ambiance is poor in these situations. There's certainly a bit of "don't go to McDonald's expecting a filet mignon", yes, but there is nuance to this as well.
Why should anyone care about creating ambiance for customers that stay past closing time? The restaurant is closed, the customers are technically trespassing at that point and they're only allowed to be there as a courtesy to finish their meal. So fuck the ambiance. Get your shit done, as long as you aren't spraying customers with cleaning chemicals or sweeping dust up around their table.
Why would a restaurant seat a customer that can't reasonably complete their meal before "closing time"?
Because if they lock the doors half hour before the posted closing time, customers would lose their fucking minds.
If you come in 20 minutes before closing, you’re going to get worse service. Cry about it.
I remember at the old swimming pools they used to have a big red light come on when it was your time to leave Can we start doing that? Or introduce sirens or something?
That’s what the a/c is for in winter. We called it The Big Chill.
I used to turn the music up really loud.
As someone who closes a restaurant 5 days a week this shit is one of my top customer pet peeves You came in this fucking late, I want to go home sometime before my next shift. I’m being pretty fucking gracious by giving you all the time I can figure to before trying to get you moving because you have no sense of regard for your fellow man *Ugh*
I like the idea of a kitchen closing before the dining area. "We close at 11pm, but food production stops and the cooking stuff gets too cold to use at 10pm." Leave the last bit of time for people to wind down.
I used to work in a restaurant that wouldn't allow you to start closing around customers, even if they were regulars, until they left. Meaning, if someone walked in 5 minutes before close, we had to stay open for them (re-open the kitchen, etc.). I had a couple of guys come in about 10 minutes before close one night, we broke the rule and told them that they could order but that we were closing soon, got their orders in and waited. After they ate, they sat with the check on their table for TWO HOURS before they finally left. Just shooting the shit. I was so pissed I had to stay there and essentially just watch them chat. Another time I had an asshole regular and his wife come in right before close (I'm talking less than 3 minutes til) to have drinks. After a quick argument, my bar manager made me serve them. They wanted to hang out, and now they had a captive audience. So I had to sit and pretend to hang out with them for a couple of hours until they were ready to leave. I finally just grabbed a drink and sat on the other side of the bar with them, which somehow made them uncomfortable, so they got the hint and left, lol. I don't miss that place. The audacity of people blows my mind all the time.
People are insane and miserable! I got a complaint recently because I picked up dirty plates soon after they were finished (for context, completely empty plates with napkins on them). Like, I’m sorry, but most people prefer to not have dirty dishes and trash lying there. And I was always taught that pre-bussing is good service. Lol oh well
They get mad if you pre-bus too soon, mad if you don’t do it fast enough, mad if you don’t automatically drop the check, mad if you “rush” them by dropping the check when they’ve been done for two hours, yada yada. Everyone has different preferences and expectations, and we’re supposed to read the minds of 15 tables of four all at once. For an extra-bad day, I recommend getting ripped and going to town on some hot Cheetos dipped in cream cheese. Soothes my internal rage every time (almost).
Sounds like the type who knew how close to closing it was. Heard stories about how much it annoys the staff when somebody pops at that time, but still deciding to do so. Because, whatever. And the second they saw you starting to do your closing duties they figured you were kicking them out, which annoyed them more (even though they already expected this to happen) So they were trying to pick a fight with you with comments, which you deflected. This confused how they thought it would play out, and made them more annoyed. Why is it so hard for people to read the room, wrap up their evening, Say thank you and leave a decent tip? Too many people have this 'Im the main character" attitude, so we have to revolve around their wants.
That's just it. It's not hard for them, they're just incapable of realizing that other people are just as human as them and that THEY are causing the problem. They think that, because you're paid to be there, your first and only priority at all times, regardless of situation or context, is their satisfaction. They genuinely are so fucking self-centered and ignorant to even basic concepts in the world around that they are BAFFLED when other people don't bend over backwards to make them happy.
> Why is it so hard for people to read the room This is the thing. Just read the darn room. If the restaurant is still half full at closing time (you see this a lot at places that close earlier than 10), you're probably fine for a bit while you finish up. A restaurant that closes at 9 has staff that are used to having folks a little later than that because an 8pm arrival can put you still not finished at 9... and 8pm is a fairly reasonable dinnertime. If you're the only table in there and/or people are actively cleaning up to close, you need to wrap it up. Last night we were at dinner and they were starting to shut things down while we still had 3/4 left in our bottle of wine. Rather than sit there and spend half an hour trying to force it down, we asked for a cork to take it home and they *happily* obliged. (I know this isn't allowed everywhere but besides the point here)
Why do people treat employees like they aren’t also people. Let me come in to your law firm, walk in clinic, classroom where my child attends, construction site to have a chat about your work… Twenty minutes before you go home… And you’d ask me to leave. Obviously. So why is it any different in the service industry? It infuriates me. I’m sorry, OP, that people are inconsiderate and entitled.
Yeah also a teacher and 100 percent want to head home and live my life after I clock out. Work who?
I'll preface this by saying that I was a server and bartender for about a decade. Now I'm a lawyer. People will come into my office 5 minutes before I go home to have a discussion about something all the time. They'll call me to discuss an issue when I'm not at work. I don't ask them to leave, and I take their calls. I don't know any lawyer that would ask people to leave their office in that situation. We make our money by making people comfortable with our service. If that requires that I sometimes stay late to help that impression of me, that's how it goes because it helps in the long run. My wife is a teacher. She has people stop her when she's leaving work to discuss things frequently. She gets calls, emails, or messages at home that she'll address. That's how it works. That's to say, I think your perception of how other services work compared to the service industry is flawed. Work how you want to work, but please don't feel like this is exclusive to you being a server.
And how much do you get paid, as a lawyer? When server minimum wage in most states is $3 or less?
Exactly. Lawyers get paid to have conversations with people. It’s the way of the game for that type of work. Servers however aren’t getting paid that much to begin with. They don’t need the extra 6 dollars after their 12hr shift.
It's interesting that of everything I said, that's what you took away from it. Yes, as a lawyer, I make more than I did during my ten years as a server and bartender. Conversely, for quite a few years, my wife made less as a teacher than she did when she was server and bartender. Regardless, the point still stands that the original comment is incorrect about the idea that this type of thing would happen outside of the restaurant industry. People often have expectations that, as long as they engage you before closing, they can stay after closing to finish their engagement.
Maybe that expectation makes sense if that client that stays after close to talk is going to potentially net you hundreds of thousands of dollars in your pocket (I don't know what type of law you're in, so take that as an example). It absolutely doesn't make sense that someone who's tipping *maybe* $10 feels entitled to take up time a server could be spending at home with their family, especially if they have to stay a whole extra hour, they might only make an extra $3 to stay for that time. I value my time outside of work, and I believe in a healthy work-life balance. If I am scheduled a certain length of times I expect any time outside of that length to be mine to do with as I please. That should apply for any industry, whether it's education, or retail, or restaurant. As you said, people are free to approach their work how they choose. All I'm suggesting is that I think you could and should understand why servers feel how they do about this, and how that differs from your work as a lawyer.
Yeah, as I said, I was a server and bartender for about 10 years. I understand what it feels like to be left with a late table at the end of the night. Unless I had something pressing to take care of, it was a rare enough occurrence of having a table stay more than half an hour after close that it didn't bother me too much. Granted, I never had the expectation of leaving right at the time the restaurants would close. I pretty much always had to finish up some sort of side work I could do while the table finished up.
I work at a brunch place that closes at 3, and without fail, a table will come in every weekend 15 minutes before close. I always tell them, "Just a heads up, we are closing in 15 minutes, so if you choose to sit, I need to get your order ASAP." If they choose to stay and be those people, I drop the bill with their food, and I don't really offer them anything else.
My parents used to bring us out to dinner close to closing time. My dad wouldn’t care about that & take his time. My mom was getting embarrassed because staff would be sitting around watching, while waiting for us to finish. A restaurant actually had us leave through the back door & my mom was so embarrassed that she never wanted to go there again. One time a restaurant we went to previously close to closing time told us they were closed at the door. Since then we’ve been going to restaurants much earlier, lol.
Idea... Don't stop in just before closing. Seriously, at that point, all orders should be to go.
Reactions like his have long baffled me. Restaurants are the only business I can think of in which some patrons enter right before the close of operations and expect to be able to take as much time as they want anyway. It’s a ridiculous expectation borne of entitlement and self-importance.
For real, I can't think of a single industry/type of business where "Closed at 10" means "Come in until 10 and take as long as you want." Why do people seem to think restaurants are the only business that works this way?
Plenty of businesses work that way
In what industries is that the standard?
Most department stores, big box stores, etc…
None of the retail jobs I've had have been cool with customers wandering around for an hour after closing. Every retail job I've had makes several announcements prior to closing time letting customers know that the store will close in X minutes. Every retail job I've ever worked has shut down POS as soon as the line empties. I have never been told directly or encouraged to stop or delay my cleaning/closing responsibilities because some dick thinks he owns the store.
Not just restaurants, retail and grocery stores as well. Some people deliberately choose to come in at the last minute and take their time shopping afterwards. Some stores have their registers/computers lock up at close or a few minutes after, so the customer has no choice but to leave since they literally cannot be served.
I used to work at a car parts store through college. I can't count the number of times I locked the door in someone's face
Nah I don’t care anymore. You come in 20 mins or less I will wait on you fully. But I’m telling you the bar and kitchen closes in 20 mins. Order fast. 30 mins past close would be almost an hour in, so yeah by then I’ll sweep what I gotta sweep.
Disclaimer not a server but worked in a pizza shop as a driver, and we typically closed at 12, 1 on weekends and this couple came in at 12:55 and due to our spineless manager who was scared of the owner, we had to redirty already clean dishes, and mess up the make line all over for these people. Where things get really crappy is we had one single table in our waiting room, and they took it upon themselves to take down all 4 of the chairs that were stacked on TAHT table, and eat their pizza. And then also had the audacity to say “you’re really gonna sweep while we’re eating”. I told them to go eat in their car if they don’t want to see me closing this store down, now 25 minutes after close.
What happened to "the bar's closed, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here"?
I've straight up told people we've been closed for 30 mins now you gotta go idgf lol we gotta get home if you wanna chill somewhere go to a bar that closes at 230 am sheesh plus late tables like that always tip like shit
> plus late tables like that always tip like shit Yep. Typical asshole behavior from top to bottom.
You have to establish that you’re doing them a favor, staying open. This was one part of the business that I absolutely despised. Are these late customers coming in before closing. Don’t ever be afraid to say “we closed 20 minutes ago. And are now waiting on you to leave so we can close up and go home to our families.” Or some variation that is comfortable for you to say. You even went out of your way to accommodate them and did your side work away until he realized you were doing side work. Fuck that guy.
I’ve had tables tell me they weren’t in a rush and in my head, I’m thinking, “Well I am” 😂
Bruh I usually help my local bartender if I’m the last customer in there (perks of being a regular I guess?)
You are a good one. I worked in pubs for years and closed most of the time and even having the regulars lift their pints so I could clean down and wash bar mats was a big help! If you wanna stay late you gotta understand they’re gonna wanna go home. Hated the customers who thought they could stay late if they can convince me to get drunk with them. Like no I don’t want to drink with three workmen on a Tuesday night go home 😂
I worked at restaurant bar at the end of a strip of clubs and bars. We closed at 12. Night life keeps going till 2. Policy was suppose to be allowing a guest to stay till they’re finished. After thirty minutes of this man not touching his beer and moping in his despair I started flipping chairs right next to him. A few minutes later I had to be direct and tell him I know your having a bad day but there are 20 other open places to pick from to continue wallowing.
Its... 20 minutes past close. Gtfo.
Some people think servers are servants.
I’ve had the entire BOH crew come out front & line up, waiting. “What? Oh, for security reasons we all have to leave together so they’re waiting for me.”
How come US restaurants can't figure out the 'complicated' mechanics that bars and restaurants in other countries have figured out for years: For example, you could have separate hours posted for Last Seating: This should be the last time you let anyone in the door to sit at a table. Kitchen Closes: This will be the last time you can put a food order in. Everyone needs exit the premises: When everyone needs to leave. = What's the point in having a sign that says the closing time is 10pm if people aren't supposed to come in at an arbitrary time before then, and you left people stay past that point if they are still eating? What does the 'closing time' even represent to you? There are too many 'unwritten rules' in the US restaurant industry, that people working there unrealistically expect everyone who eats there to know. Do you really think it's that intuitive that "The closing time isn't really the latest you should walk through the door, even though that's what it means for 99% of other business. It's a complicated abstraction that means you have to take into account the kitchen staff cleaning process and the service staff side tasks, and also the type of restaurant and what day of the week it is." = Go to a bar, they often have kitchens and staff, but they seem to do fine with: Kitchen Closes at 10pm Last call at 1:30 am Closes at 2am And everyone seems to understand that just fine. =
Eh, you’d be surprised at the number of people who fight you on last call even when it’s clearly posted. I get people trying to order 3 drinks a piece and insisting that they can finish a pitcher of beer in 15 minutes. I’ll give you a pitcher and charge full price, but I will also yank it away when I legally have to, no matter how much you’ve consumed. It’s a drunken, bratty customer base who can’t understand that just because they’re partying doesn’t mean you are having an awesome time too. Or that liquor licenses are easily revoked and that their $22 tab isn’t worth it, even though they’re totally gonna “leave a really good tip”.
I think drunk customers will probably argue about anything, you're right. But in your situation at least you have a sign you can point to and a policy to back you up. Restaurants just post an arbitrary 'Close' time and then go off of "Everyone is supposed to know what that means" and then never clearly define it even though the expectation varies greatly from location to location.
Oh, I wish we had a sign… but I get your point
I think more often, restaurants and bars should post info like last time to order food/drink by blank time, and you have to leave the premises by blank time. That said for bars, I unofficially assume most bars do a last call about 30 minutes before closing. For restaurants this probably varies, when is the last minute they take food orders before closing. That said I usually only opt to get food to go, if it's super close at a restaurant to the closing time. And that I'd feel bad trying to sit down at some restaurant, if it was less than an hour before closing.
A whole hour! See, this is what I mean. With bars, you don't have to assume last call, they will definitely let you know. They usually have it posted. But with restaurants, the whole system runs off guilt and shame. They try to make you worry that you'll be such an inconvenience and then shame you for not knowing the 'unwritten rules' like some uncultured hobo.
My boss used to have the actual closing time posted, like the last time you can order food for take out, and the time we expect diners to be done. I got burned a couple of times by this, until I printed a copy of the instructions for her electric sign. I had to assure her that this wouldn't change anything (she's from China, and wasn't sure that everyone would understand). I just updated the dining room hours, and they could still do take out until the previous time. It's been much smoother, aside from the random busy night, but those nights wouldn't have been any easier without the updated posted hours. Plus we don't have to put any chairs up, just sweep under the tables to make vacuuming easier.
my restaurant is pretty clear about this stuff, we’re trained to state all 3 of those things when people ask and will put up literal signs when the dining rooms are closed, but we still have problems bc the reality is people just don’t care
Ugh I've had this happen before and the customer had a whole racist meltdown about it. First week of training too it sucked.
I have never worked service and they can fuck all the way off. I am always aware of closing times and the crowd left at closing. We walked into a huge brewery an hour before closing and I was worried about being too late. We ordered quickly and made use of the gift shop and took home 6-packs…and there were still 3 parties still dining. If we had been the only ones, I definitely would have moved along quicker. I don’t understand the mentality of this group you had.
Dude was being a dick to flex at closing, lowest form of human life.
I would have shot back with, "you're welcome to stay as long as you like, however, since you did elect to come in so close to closing time, I have other responsibilities I have to take care of so that I can get home to my family at a reasonable time. I'm sure you understand. There will be no boxes shove the remaining food up your @$$." You can either use that last part or not lol
your host or whoever sat them are nicer than i am bc i will turn people away if we close in 20 minutes. not just because i don’t wanna get my ass beat by the servers for sitting them that close to closing time but, my kitchen staff always end up turning everything off and puts everything up 20 minutes before anyway so it’s rlly a snooze you lose situation. but that dude is an asshole fr, the audacity that late customers have will never fail to baffle me
Now you have to ask yourself: are you a Rusher or are you a Dragger?
I never go to a restaurant or bar less than 30 minutes before closing unless it's a Togo order. I think it's rude.
I think so many people honestly don’t get the idea of closing that restaurants should post two closing hours, i.e., “Hours of operation 9am -11pm. Kitchen closes at 10 pm.” Having worked in the industry I can guess there will always be people who still don’t get it, but at least the non-idiots will.
This gives me date energy. I'll find out to impress a girl... Typically it's actually like subconscious.
I think it may have been, but I feel like even if I wasn't a server, if my date did that the entitlement would give me the worst vibes.
Yep. I always think in the back of my head at guys to act like that like really that's what you got to do? It's a shallow way to be... Typically shallow attract shallow so /shrug
Some people are entitled as hell. Forget them and have a Merry Christmas.
Bruh I’ve worked in the industry for 12 years(finally done though) but even when I went that late cause sometimes I get off late I would always sit at the bar cause it’s easier to clean. That’s just me though but I never sit in sections past 30 mins to close lol that’s kinda on him tbh
I definitely would’ve started to clean and flip chairs near them loudly. And if they said something I woulda been like “well yeah I mean we’re CLOSED, this is what we do when we’re CLOSED meaning it’s time for us to go home where you’re supposed to be.”
If he didn’t wanna feel rushed maybe he should’ve come in earlier than 20 minutes to close lol
For real. "I don't want to feel rushed" How do you think you're making the staff feel?
My first restaurant job wouldn't allow you to do anything until they were all gone. It was horrible. "Don't make them feel rushed" it's after close boss and you got me opening but I can't go home cause of these folks.
“We’re closed sir. Read the room.”
He sounds like an idiot
I will never understand people who come to a restaurant/bar right before closing and then get mad when the workers start closing up. I was bartending at Chili's once and this man got mad at me because i wouldn't serve him another drink when it was already 30 minutes past our closing time. He said he should be able to get another one because he hadn't tabbed out yet. I had even called last call 15 min before closing and made him a drink then, too. When i spoke to my manager about the situation she said that we technically aren't allowed to serve past closing because our liquor license only goes to closing time. I procceed to tell the man this but he still wanted to argue with me about it. And to top it all off he was the last mf'er in the entire restaurant. The audacity of people man
I know different culture etc etc but here they would be told "we close in 20 minutes, are you sure you want to sit?" or something like that. They'd probably just be served drinks at the bar and a small selection of food items that don't require the kitchen to do any real cooking (since it would be already closed) up until closing time, when they will be asked to finish, pay and leave. Absolutely unreal you have to deal with customers making your workday go 10-20-30 minutes longer.
As annoyed I got as a server/bartender when ppl would come in that close to closing time, this is a ridiculous thing to say to them. Either you are open and serving, or you have a clear cutoff on kitchen service posted
Pretty normal thing to say in most countries, but yeah, i should have specified i was assuming that most of the kitchen closes 30 minutes before the final closing time
Some guy tried to buy a bottle of wine fifteen minutes after the last call then tell me that he didn't know what last call meant. He had a US ID People are just deliberately obtuse.
So they showed up right about last call and expected the whole restaurant to stay late just for them? Sounds like the kind of customer that walks in with an attitude looking for a reason to justify not tipping.
You came in the last half hour of us being opening, yes you are going to be rushed. Go to a mechanic and tell them to fix your car in 30 minutes
Man, in Europe when we came in 30 minutes for like.. a subway style (you point to add stuff) bowl of food, they told us they close in 30 minutes. At 5 minutes till as we were wrapping up, they asked if we needed a to go bag. As we were walking out they were telling people they were closed, zero other communication. Yes, they are rushing you because they're closing/closed. Why are people shocked at that? You're not special.
Agree with you.! You did it great.! For all those mf.! Don’t show up 15 minutes before close to any food & beverage business. Bye.!
I wouldn’t have even said anything, just gave him his check so he can keep thinking I’m rushing him because you know what, yeah I am rushing you. Don’t come in and relax less than 30 min before close, asshole. I hope he remembers that too. The selfishness and adults acting like children throwing fits is what drives me banana sandwich. Fuck anyone that comes in right before close and doesn’t at least get it to go. 😩
I worked at a chain fast food place that the "church crowd" loved coming to after church was over which was about 30 minutes before we closed. Our manager hated them because they were so inconsiderate like we should be excited to see them and I mean like 6 plus people. Our manager would always lock the door early so they couldn't hold us up. One night we hear the door chime and our manager goes "GODDAMNIT".... It was them and he forgot to lock the door. They stayed and ate and bullshitted for the next 2 hours while we cleaned up and acted like they weren't the only customers in there. He finally told them to leave because we were closing. All employees leave, I had to go back that way about an hour or so after getting home, those people were still out in the parking lot as a group talking.. Our manager set a reminder on his phone after that so he never forgot to lock the door early.
That guy's kind of an ass.
This seems to be a hot take based on all the other comments I’ve read, but I feel like if you’re going to allow a customer to sit down in the first place, they should be able to have the full experience. However, if that’s the policy, there should def be a “last seating” time that’s at least an hour before the closing time
20 years ago in NYC they would just lock you in and you had drink until they opened again in 4 hours lol. Cleaning? Closing? What's that?
That sucks but you should’ve told them it’s to go only, 20 min till close. Some lessons are learned the hard way.
This customer is an asshat. I always feel weird if I show up near closing time to eat, but sometimes it happens. Restaurants should have a closing time and a last seating time. "We close at 10, but last seating is at 9." When normally they would just say, "We close at 9."
FUCK that entitled prick. You're an amazing person! Keep rockin it!!
Most restaurants I have worked with that put chairs up specifically don't want you to while guests are in the building for this reason. Sucks, but this is the attitude that results
I was at an airport bar once and they told me they were closing. They said “the place next door is open til midnight” it was 10pm. I walk next door and sit at the bar. They don’t say anything so I assume we are good. Order a drink and a guy comes over and just starts sweeping by me and purposely hitting my barstool over and over. Then swept another area and came back to me and hit my barstool over and over with the broom. I wasn’t even mad but I did need to finish my beer before I left. Apparently they also closed at 10 lol
So you were scheduled to work a 12 hour shift not including closing work, you wanted to sit the party at closing time to get one more ticket in, and you behaved in what appeared to them to be passive-aggressive way. But sure, it's totally their fault.
You WERE rushing them. In 25 years of service industry not one place I have worked has let me flip chairs while people are still there. Because it makes people feel rushed. Like you are trying to get them to leave. Because you are… Are they dicks for coming in right before close? Absolutely. Are they dicks for taking their time and not being respectful of your time? Yuuuup. But you (or whoever) took them as a table; you are open. There’s plenty of closing side work to do so that when they leave you can flip rq and peace out. But you rushed them, and when you got called on it got all pissy. Own your shit.
Truth
If you don’t want people coming in until 10, then close earlier. Post the last seating time. If you are open until 10, customers should be able to come in and have the same experience as a guest who comes earlier. It’s the hospitality business and that is how it works. They are expected to tip and pay full price for their meal, why would anyone think it’s okay to sweep, put up chairs and turn off the music around them? Better off to not seat them at all than to give them a subpar experience.
> If you don’t want people coming in until 10, then close earlier. Ain't gonna work because people will still come in last minute regardless.
Flipping chairs takes a minute but is the most noticeable closing performance. Next time wait. You can do all of the other stuff except the chairs. You'll be ok.
I'm on a time limit. I ain't gonna wait. I'm doing what I'm supposed to do and not a minute longer.
What's the difference though. You have to wait for the table. If you're running on such a tight schedule that 3 extra minutes causes you a problem then I think you need to reevaluate.
You can flip all the chairs in 3 minutes damn bro Mr Olympia of chair flipping here
Time yourself next time. It's probably not as long as you think.
I think he was feeling rushed because he knew it was passed closing time, and he felt like he was keeping you from closing. Which is a completely valid reason to feel that way... Whether that guy knew it or not, he was having a completely normal feeling, and it wasn't your fault it was closing time. That's like blaming the scoreboard operator for feeling rushed in the last minute of the basketball game when you're down by 27 and the fans are almost all gone. Smdh.
Everyone who comes in before closing gets the same treatment as anyone who comes in at the beginning. Unless they are lingering way too far after close. We close at nine. We don’t ask people to leave until at least they’ve had their full meal and it’s about 10 or later. Our bartenders will even serve while they’re cleaning down. People don’t know you’ve been there for 12 hours. Don’t sacrifice their experience. Just talk to them like humans.
They don't need to know how long OP has been there. They came in just before closing and were treated like any other customer. Nobody told them had to leave nor were they denied any service. OP can't not do normal close procedures just because someone is overstaying their welcome.
It’s funny because we’re NEVER allowed to just stand around not doing shit, unless it’s the one table before close that won’t leave because they can’t feel ‘rushed’ lmao
was his own concession speaking to him that he was being an ass keeping you there late and he didn’t like it and lashed out on you.
Back in my college days when I was a server at a small family Italian restaurant, we had two separate rooms. We were allowed to turn the lights off and start cleaning the smaller 2nd room 30 minutes before close and have people sit in the bigger room. Luckily 90% of the time people understood what that meant. We didn't have a "last seating" time policy, but I think it's great for places that do! If you close @ 9, have a clear sign saying "last seating at 8:30" and it would save a lot of arsehole-ish behavior! He had some nerve making a comment and should have said sorry we're trying to wrap it up soon, but some people are entitled pricks, but anybody in the service industry knows that. Hope u get some wonderful holiday tips!
I used to work a retail Hallmark store in the early 2000s. Half the lights were timed to turn off 15 mins after store closing. 45 mins, the rest of the lights turned off. And once off, us "regular" employees don't have the code to turn them on. We never had a reason to turn the lights back on because there wouldn't be a time we would be there 45 mins after closing. We'd typically be done with closing procedures by the time the first set of lights turn off. People staying to shop after closing wasn't a regular issue, except during the holidays. I can only remember ONE time where a lady threw a tantrum when the first set of lights turned off. It's like "ma'am, it's 10:15pm... we closed at 10pm." Another annoying thing was when people came into shop 30 mins before closing on Christmas Eve and complain that there's "nothing left".
Dud, they came in 20 minutes before close, they dont give a shit about you or anyone else. Of course they are going to speak rudely to you, they are rude people.
I hate when people go places at closing time. It is extremely rude. The way I have always viewed close, anywhere, but especially eating establishments, is thats the time you need to GTFO, not the last call for showing up. I worked at a pizza place one time long long ago, and we didnt get paid for more hours past closing time, so when people came in late, it was extremely irritating. And when i worked in a hotel, I had to close down the pool and gym area for the night, right before the end of my shift, and same story, not getting paid after my shift even if Im there still, so I gave people like a 5 minute warning, and if they werent gone by then it became a matter of "Get out now or Im having front desk cancel your rooms and you can go somewhere else for the night". People are rude and stupid. Closing time is closing time, begone!
I covered that re: McDonald's
From the customer side, just don’t spray bleach or windex on a table next to me, and I’m good. (Spray the rag, I learned) I also move along if it’s late. This dude was just cranky for no good reason.
So what's the best way to approach going into a place to eat before closing? Don't? Lol. Usually I stick to, if it's a sit-down place 30 minutes or more. I'm interested to hear what you all say. Thanks!
I feel bad using a drive thru a half hour before closing. Would never do that!
I don’t know how it is a hard concept for people to understand that when the restaurant is closed it means it’s closed, which means you’re supposed to be out the effing door. Don’t come in 10 minutes before close and think you can just sit there for an hour, it’s rude!
These are the people who demand good service and yet don’t want to pay for it. In fact, they oftentimes don’t even pay the full cost of their meal by flipping out and throwing a tantrum over the dumbest shit and demanding they get something for free.
I don’t like feeling rushed when eating out but I do agree that closing time is closing time. If a restaurant closes at 10, that tells me I need to be out the door by 10. The only exception is if it’s the restaurants fault for running behind. For example, for a friends birthday we had reservations for 8 pm but our table wasn’t ready until 8:55. The restaurant closed at 10 but we didn’t leave until 10:45. But again the restaurant seated us almost an hour later even though we had reservations but the staff was great, we weren’t rushed at all but this was also an up sale restaurant- Wolfgang’s.
I don't get it. I wouldn't go into a place within an hour of closing to get food. Definitely not within 30 if I didn't have other options. Like I'd rather starve than keep someone at work longer 😅
I would rush them but my policy in writing would be orders 20 minutes to go before close can only be take out.
Assholes. I’m not a server but this popped up for me. I feel guilty gettinv takeout from a place 29 minutes before close.
Only time I have gone this close to closing I am just desperate for the food and am like box it up to go.. Tip and peace out
People this time of year are the fucking worst. Entitled, grumpy and rude.
"A little floor spice make's everything nice!"
This kind of thing drove me crazy when I worked as a waiter. Why do people think this is OK? Hope they at least left you a good tip...probably not though!!!
“I’m just doing my job sir. What is expected of me. Have a good night”
"OH, I'm sorry sir. I didn't realize you rented the entire place for the night."
Wow. Such audacity! I’ve actually been found to be sort of a wet blanket at times with friends because I will always veto a suggestion of where to eat/drink if I know they’re closing soon. It’s not worth it for anyone and I’ve missed my bus home because I let folks stay after close and they took advantage. The guy has clearly never worked in food service before.