# No 24-hour Italian restaurants - why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-24-hour-italian-restaurants-why/182144 "2003-06-16T03:33:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-24-hour-italian-restaurants-why/182144/1 "2003-06-16T03:33:08Z")
I’ve seen diners, Chinese carry-out places, fast food restaurants, and Greek restaurants that are open all night. However, I’ve never heard of an Italian restaurant that was open 24 hours a day. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-24-hour-italian-restaurants-why/182144/2 "2003-06-16T03:44:51Z")
Plenty of Italian pizza joints open 24 hours in NY. They serve pasta 'n stuff, too. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-24-hour-italian-restaurants-why/182144/3 "2003-06-16T15:19:42Z")
Chinese food has carved out a niche of cheap and ubiquitous. Diners (I’d lump these together with Greek places, because of the heavy historic Greek involvement) cater disproportionately to individuals (think the counter-seating) and people needing basic food at any time. Italian places (over generalization) skew toward family-style, big meal, presentation. Not the sort of thing many families are up for at 3:00 a.m. (See above exception of pizza and calzone joints). Not a lot of late night German or Thai or French (or for that matter, steakhouse) places open – though you’ll find a few all-night French brasserie-type places in large cities in Europe or U.S. if you really need steak frites at 5:15 a.m. (and who doesn’t?). ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-24-hour-italian-restaurants-why/182144/4 "2003-06-16T15:25:15Z")
Italians just aren’t 24/7 type people.😃 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-24-hour-italian-restaurants-why/182144/5 "2003-06-16T17:03:39Z")
**Elmwood** - you may be interested to know that there are many communities in the U.S. in which there are NO 24-hour restaurants. Not even diners. And I’m not talking about Bum-Fuck-Nowhere, either … I’m talking about metro areas of 400,000 people (e.g. Jackson, MS). Even in a “party” city like New Orleans, where I spent my first 29 years of life, the 24-hour choices are severely limited. You’re pretty much left with truck-stop fare or (sometimes pretty good) bar food. Additionally, there is a suprisingly good Chinese place open until 2 a.m. But that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-24-hour-italian-restaurants-why/182144/6 "2003-06-16T17:40:18Z")
I live in Washington DC, and am trying hard to think of 24 hour places. All I can come up with is an upscale cafe that’s open 24 hours on weekends, a diner open 24 hours on weekends, and IHOP. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-24-hour-italian-restaurants-why/182144/7 "2003-06-16T23:07:00Z")
There is a pretty good 24-hour, primarily pasta-serving Italian restaurant in Seattle’s university district. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-24-hour-italian-restaurants-why/182144/8 "2003-06-17T03:39:40Z")
Captain Amazing, When I Google on the terms “restaurants,” “Washington,” “D.C.,” and “open 24 hours,” this link is at the top of the list: [http://www.ytic.com/search/minfo.asp?type=f3](http://www.ytic.com/search/minfo.asp?type=f3) Click on Open 24 Hours for a short list of 24-hour places and on Late Dining for a huge list of late dining places. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-24-hour-italian-restaurants-why/182144/9 "2003-06-17T03:54:51Z")
Yet another reason I love Chicago. We have Italian food available 24 hours. I can get dim sum at 3 AM and the best Thai fried rice place is open 10PM -5AM.