The old small town joke used to be that they rolled up the sidewalks at sunset. My hometown had a population of about 28,000 and even on week nights places like Pizza Hut, Pizza Inn, and Wendys were open until midnight.
When I originally moved to my state’s capital (250,000) all the fast food places were open till 1AM or even 2 weeknights.
Not any more. Don’t even think about getting Pizza or Fried Chicken on a weeknight after 10 pm. I know because I’ve tried and failed. Burger King, Wendys, McDonalds closes their dining room at 9 or 10pm? Drive thru closes at midnight.
I went to Krogers (open 24/7) last night at 11:30pm. Finished at 12:40 and was hungry. Went by several fast food places with no luck. Finally drove to a Taco Bell in a nicer part of town and it was open. None of the burger places on that street were open. Dennys would have been my last resort.
Why are they rolling up the sidewalks so early? Is it crime they are worried about? Teens drinking & loitering in the parking lots? Whats the deal?
One guys experience moving from NY to Baltimore. Much of downtown Little Rock closes at 5pm except the fast food places. You can’t even find a nice dine in restaurant open after 10pm in Little Rock. Even Outback Steakhouse closes by then.
I wanted a meal. Not a snack. I didn’t want to come home and cook something at 1AM. I guess a deli pack of ham and some American cheese would have been nice for a quick sandwich. Didn’t think of that until after I left Krogers.
Crime seems a plausible explanation, but so does “They weren’t selling enough food” (and making enough money) for it to be worth their while. And so does “They were having trouble finding reliable workers to staff the late shifts.” I have no idea, though, which if any of these is/are the correct explanation.
I live in Dallas, and most of the fast food joints shut their dining rooms around 11. Most have drive-throughs open to midnight or 2. Restaurants like Chili’s stop serving new customers around 11-midnight, and bars stop serving booze at 2 am (by law).
A very few keep their dining rooms open very late- Taco Cabana used to, which is why it was reknowned drunk food in my younger days.
Most grocery stores shut around 11 as well; Wal-Mart stays open 24 hours, but Target shuts at 10, IIRC.
If my experiences as a bus-boy and a retail drone years ago are any indication, the restaurant business trails off pretty hard after 9 or so, and the retail side shuts down pretty hard at about 7:30-8 pm in most cases. It’s busy as hell from about 4-7:30, but after that, most people are eating dinner, watching TV, etc… After 8:30 or so, it’s time to pick stuff up and get ready to go home.
theres a Wal Mart Super Center near me open all night. But I don’t feel safe there late at night. Bad part of town.
Most of the Krogers close at midnight. Theres a few that stay open all night. The one I shop at has the parking lot very brightly lit. It’s newly remodeled and quite nice.
Taco Bell is about the latet drive thru open. I think they close at 2AM weeknights. Dennys is the only all night place. Even IHop in Little Rock closes aound 1AM or 2. IHop in North Little Rock doesn’t close.
I think there’s maybe two drive throughs in Stockton that are open 24 hours. (Not that I’ve driven through the whole town looking.) And how late the others stay open seems to shift over the years. I think it’s just that there’s only so many customers available that late.
How early places open seems to shift around, too. If the times are shifting, I assume it’s because managers are working the math.
I’ve worked in fast food and retail before and if it isn’t a big college town my guess is they aren’t making enough money to stay open that late. Crime might be a factor, but honestly the two places I worked that got robbed both got robbed before 8 p.m. so I’m doubting that crime has a ton to do with their closing hours. Unless by “crime” you mean drunk/stoned assholes stealing 7,000 straws or something.
Anyone aware of any late night movies at the Theaters? We used to catch one around 10:30 and finish just after midnight. Then go for pizza afterward. Our bowling lanes offered half price rates after 11pm. We used to bowl until 1 or so. Good times. No wonder all my college homework didn’t get done. LOL
Orlando I can understand. You’ve got a ton of visitors, spending all day at one of the parks, heading back to shower, then discovering that they are hungry, because it’s 8PM at home, but 11PM in Florida.
Yeah, but I quite literally live in the opposite corner of town from the attractions. It’s a 45 minute drive, so there are no tourists in my area unless they’re horribly lost. There is a large university very close, though.
Detroit has a lot of crime and still has fast food; they just put up bullet proof glass at the drive thru. Now if crime is driving so many people out of a neighborhood that no one bothers to go out for fast food then the place will just shut down. See lot’s of boarded up eating establishments. Fast food seems to know how to deal with criminal neighborhoods. Lock the doors and only serve drive thru past certain hours, don’t keep much money in the drawers and hand it over when asked without any hesitation. That and the aforementioned bullet proof glass drive thru window.
White Castles on 8 mile actually thrives on the criminal element coming in late, it’s quite a show.
I notice the URL has 1991 in it. I hear things have changed a bit in Baltimore since then, to say nothing of the rest of the country. Even if it’s more recent, it’s wrong: Federal Hill has a vibrant night life, and is safe enough to walk back to your place after going out as long as it isn’t an obscenely late hour.
I live in a college town. Lots of restaurants are open late and most of the grocery stores are 24 hours–even the small local ones. My guess for a reason any place would cut back on hours is due to loss of business during those times. College students are frequently up super-late and pulling all-nighters, so it makes sense around here.
I see plenty of places open late here (Queens/Brooklyn) in less desirable neighborhoods, so while crime may be a contributing factor, I’d have it at least third after not enough business and difficulty staffing, concurring with the dopers who came before me.
I’ve been in fast food places where it looked like the workers were going to rob me. That little girl with the gang tattoos behind the registrar isn’t to be f’d with and will let you know what you can do with your messed up order. Go ahead, send your order back and then wonder why you got food poisoning when they cooked you up a fresh burger that had been laying out all day just waiting for someone like you.
My assumption is that the answer to why a business does anything is going to come down to money.
Sales don’t cover staffing or operating costs.
Over the last few years I’ve seen a lot of businesses shorten their hours. Some are restaurants, but also chain drugstores, Staples, and the local Barnes & Noble. I’m sure there are others, but those are the ones I’ve gone to and been surprised by an hours change.
Our Trader Joe’s closes earlier now than it did five years ago, but they also started opening an hour earlier. It’s never crowded at 8:00 am!