I walk into a late-night pizza spot and ordered a slice. I wasn’t told they were closing soon. I ordered and took a seat. My pizza came out piping hot. A few moments later, a girl walks out and says “we’re closing in 5 minutes, everyone has to LEAVE.” At closing she came out again and said everyone has to leave. I got up and walked towards the door, still chewing. Again they told me to LEAVE. I said I have a couple bites left and I said “THAT’S RUDE.”
Then, Mr. Tough Guy comes out of the kitchen to intimidate me. I finished chewing and threw away my plate. I walked out and he said, “Leave before I call the cops for trespassing.”
LOL
Is it normal now for restaurants to kick out customers in the middle of a meal, right when they close?
Comments
They want to go HOME, not wait on you to chew and saunter out.
Yes, closed is closed.
This varies by restaurant. Most will tell you they are closing soonish, sounds like this one did not.
Most also have a policy that the employees can’t count down the cash drawer while customers are still in the lobby/bathroom/etc.; and possibly other closing-related duties as well.
Sometimes the county or state may also prohibit the restaurant from doing things like locking the door while a customer is inside (meaning more customers can try to enter after closing, which makes things very time consuming and awkward – especially if closing duties have the lobby unsupervised at times).
Getting kicked out at closing time is not unusual, but it does sound like the staff handled this instance very poorly on several counts.
I wouldn’t say it’s normal but also they were closing.
“I wasn’t told they were closing soon” seems like a weird way of saying “I couldn’t be bothered to read their operating hours or know what the current time is.”
It’s certainly not normal, I worked in a restaurant as a cook for years. We do silently hate with the rage of a thousand burning suns, though. I wish I could kick last minute diners out like that.
I wouldn’t call that normal but people are free to run their business however they want. Some places will bend over backwards to let you stay as long as you want. Some, clearly, will not. It’s your choice if you want to ever go back there.
Not normal at all. If they seat you and take your order, they should give you a reasonable amount of time to finish your meal. If they expect an empty dining room right at closing time, they should stop seating well before the posted closing time.
Now if you’re still lingering well after closing time, that’s an inconsiderate move – but that doesn’t seem the case here.
Sounds about right for a bunch of underpaid workers working late at night. I don’t think I was ever quite that rude about it, but I worked register at a place in college that closed at 2:00, and if you were still in there at 2:01 I would kick you out
AIs get kicked out of businesses all the time.
I’ve worked in restaurants for over 30 years so let me help you understand the situation.
You knew when you walked in there they were about closed. Because they have a sign on their door with hours, and generally when you walk into a place at near closing time there are obvious signs. People cleaning up, not many people there, lights turned up. Things like that.
Now let me ask you this. For the sake of debate let’s say you work 9-5. It’s 4:55pm and you’re at the desk, turning your computer off. A client walks in and drops a folder on your desk and expects you to file it right then and there, they even sit down and start waiting. How you gonna feel?
In a situation like this, order your slice and eat it on the way home. It’s on you for waiting until however late they were open until deciding you were hungry. You had literally all day to get that slice, you HAD to have it right at close?
We’re not your fucking servants dude. We’re human beings with long shitty hours and we want to go home when the sign on the door says we can. I’ll tell you what’s rude, expecting people to stay at work late cause you’re hungee and couldn’t figure that out till goddamn midnight or whatever.