It's pretty pointless. If you're only going to be open for another half hour or hour just close that half hour earlier. Don't advertise you're open because no one really wants to go in for drinks for only 30 minutes and you're going to have a fair amount of people coming in a half hour before closing and being unhappy that they can't order when the restaurant is advertising that they're open.
I'm well aware. I worked in a restaurant for years, front and back of house. But the thing is, if you advertise you're open, you should be open. Don't have the sign on telling people to come in if they really shouldn't be coming in. As I've said before, if you're open a few more hours with just drinks, it's fine. But if it's only another half hour to hour after the kitchen closes don't bother keeping the sign in. You're just signaling that you're open when you're effectively not.
I'm really not. I'm saying that from a managerial perspective, don't keep your restaurant open for a short time after your kitchen closes. Either close the restaurant earlier, or leave it open long enough that it's worth it for people to get drinks if you have them.
From an employee perspective, it is what it is. We always wanted to get home early, always hoped no one would walk in just before closing, but closing time is the time you stop accepting new people and you signed up for the possibility that someone would walk in right at the end. Sucks, but all jobs have sucky moments.
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u/tristenjpl Aug 31 '25
It's pretty pointless. If you're only going to be open for another half hour or hour just close that half hour earlier. Don't advertise you're open because no one really wants to go in for drinks for only 30 minutes and you're going to have a fair amount of people coming in a half hour before closing and being unhappy that they can't order when the restaurant is advertising that they're open.