AIBU to expect cafés to stay open after 4pm?

It's actually interesting to see the dynamics of my local cafes in our tiny High Street - perhaps it's typical of a dormitory town .
They seem to shut by four as well :
One is run by a mum , who has to collect her son from school .
Her food - which is delicious and healthy is the best in the area and she's constantly cooking .
Interestingly , it attracts women aged 30 upwards and a few professional men .
No food is available on one day a week and on another she has to employ a chef .

My Turkish friend shuts his greasy spoon by four as he's done a long day starting with early breakfasts for workmen . He's tried and failed to have teas and cakes for an older clientele . He found that they spend far too long sitting and chatting and not spending much !

Another friend closed her gorgeous traditional teashop -and she , too shut early by four unless you booked a full afternoon tea .
I've seen people not turn up for it .
Many commuters used to bang on her door as they'd got off the train and were longing for a good cup of tea - and that's it in a nutshell - why stay open to serve a few hot drinks ?
At one stage ,she ventured into serving cocktails at night and it was a failure. The drinks were so expensive .
So that leaves the huge pub opposite the station .
It's very noisy and doesn't offer much apart from alcohol .
There's Costa and it's far from great -but it absorbs the commuters , who don't want alcohol .

Otherwise , two fish and chip shops - one of them is always closed ( you used to be able to have a sit down meal there ) and a kebab take away .
We have a few restaurants with limited opening hours too .
It's very quiet even on Saturday nights .

I've often wondered how the owners afford the £20 - 25,000 rent per annum as most of them are rented .

So I have a question, reading the above, to help me understand the culture of a 'cafe'.

Are the cafe's serving coffee, tea and baked goods, or are they actual restaurants with cooked breakfast or lunch?

And if pubs are open in late afternoon, what's to stop you from going there? Pubs here serve coffee and tea; they just wouldn't have baked goods. Is it a matter of atmosphere, or do they not allow children in?

It's 4pm here... I have a day off and finished my chores. I just made a coffee and had a couple of cookies from the freezer (oatmeal and chocolate chip). I could have stopped at about 4 places in town for the same type of break, or I could have gone to a pub for a coffee and fries (although if I was going to a pub I would have a cider).

cheers,
Curious Canadian.

I agree cabbie. There seems to be a popular trend - at least in this country and my city - more casual restaurants/cafes are opening early morning to 2:00-3:00 pm closings. Breakfast thru lunch, that’s it.

You can have lunch for breakfast and breakfast for lunch. And even a glass of wine. I like it.

I cross-eat to my pleasure - enchiladas in the morning, a lumberjack breakfast (eggs, bacon, potatoes, pancakes!) for lunch. I love it.
USA Gundy

When I’ve fancied a coffee (plus often a wee) and there’s no cafe nearby, I’ve been known to go and sit in a pub, where they’re nearly always happy to make you one. I’ve never felt in the least uncomfortable.

mabon1

You are being unreasonable and selfish.

Really?

In my very small town - which is in The Cotswolds and a tourist spot it is quite plain there is a need for 'afternoon tea' around 4pm - when the two tea-rooms close.

Fortunately, the local delicatessen has obtained a licence to serve tea and snacks in a small section of the shop, which also allows outside seating between the hours of 8 - 6. It's always full of people both in the summer and winter. You can have a late 'breakfast' or a late afternoon tea or coffee.

The two tea-shops are not happy about it because it is taking trade away from them - and I understand that staffing and costs are a problem. If the locals and the tourists decide on a late lunch (and there's quite a few pubs catering for that) and don't finish eating until around 2pm, they're not going to want afternoon tea immediately afterward. It's unfortunate for the tea-shops, but that's how the market works - supply and demand, or, in this case - demand and supply.

Those tourists put money into the local economy, as do the locals themselves, which keep our shops thriving and, as we have quite a number of them catering for many wants and needs, it makes it possible to shop locally instead of having to traipse to the nearest city supermarket.

Haven’t noticed it here, they seem to stay open all day until around 9 at night. Some don’t open until 5 but they would be more restaurants than cafés. Depends on the area I suppose, I think further out of the city they might close earlier. Monday is a day when some close, not the weekends.

Yes, it’s a shame when you’re looking forward to a nice cup of tea and find everywhere closed. I hope you still had a nice break though.

Thanks to everyone for your replies, and special thanks to GSM and Norah for coming to my defence!

I certainly would not expect those cafés which open for early trade to stay open later, but glad that many agree that it would surely be advantageous for some to open later and stay open later than 4 pm especially in touristy areas.
I am aware of the difficulties of recruitment and rising costs, but this culture existed pre-Brexit, pre-Covid, pre-cost of living crisis.
It will certainly affect my choice of overnight accommodation next time I go away, but that’s for another thread.

Would if they could....muddled up my words.....😊

There must be good reasons why they shut at 4 pm. Surely if they could they would. Maybe it's simply unprofitable, or they have staffing problems. It could be one of several reasons.
It does seem unfortunate though.

mabon1

You are being unreasonable and selfish.

Not selfish, Cabbie asked a question and received assorted answers. Many people ask all sort of reasonable questions.

Thanks for the warning if I ever holiday in the UK!

I find that very odd! I would expect cafes in a business area of a city or town to close after 'business hours' of about 5:30 .

Mind you, here we have Tim Hortons in almost every town, and they are always open! Some are 24 hours. It's the place shift workers go for coffee and muffin, after a late movie, where people go early morning to grab their coffee to go, etc. It's a big franchise, so nothing fancy or home-baked.

Gosh that’s harsh! Cabbie is certainly not selfish.

You are being unreasonable and selfish.

Adam Smith (died 1790): “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest."

I'm sure cafe owners aren't cutting off their noses to spite their faces, and closing at 4.00 even though they could be making more money if they stayed open longer.

As others have said, if it was profitable, cafes would find a way to open! My father's cafe re-opened around 1am when coaches went through his small town on their way to/from Blackpool lights - (limited menu, tea/coffee/sandwiches/homemade pies and chips, plus the use of his toilets!)

I work for a bakery chain and many of our cafes are meant to stay open until 6 or 7 depending on where we are but unfortunately it is virtually impossible to get enough staff and the current staff aren’t prepared to work loads of extra hours as the work is hard and the pay low and we’ve seen a huge increase in abusive customers in the last few years. We have been closing at 5 and some of the worst effected cafes are closing all day Sunday and Monday.
I don’t people who don’t work in hospitality underestimate just how hard it is. I start at 6 in the morning to start making sandwiches/ baking etc then when we are closed the cafe has to be thoroughly cleaned as we have to meet very high hygiene standards.

Cafes in my small town normally dont open until 11am and some of the shops don't open until 9.30am or 10am. We are a tourist small town believe it or not. Now that schools have broken up i hope they realise holidaymakers like to enjoy coffee earlier than 11.

I think thats a good idea, sometimes I want to go out for supper, not to a pub or for a full meal and there just isn't anywhere open is there?

We had the same in St Andrew’s, Grammaretto. We wanted a coffee & cake at about 3:40, and wanted to use an independent so we tried them. Either they were already closed or the one that was open, we were rudely told they were closing at 4pm.

So we took our business to Costa’s, which was absolutely heaving, we had to wait for a table! Clearly the custom is there but business people don’t want to take advantage of it. 🤷‍♀️

Well, I feel it's unreasonable, because around 4.00 is just the time I might like to have a cuppa and a cake! But I guess the bottom line is what profits them. I must confess that the early closing of a local tea room has put me off using them, even when I can.

Hi. Here in a tourist area in North Wales I have noticed exactly the same. Many cafes close as early as 3.30. I think it actually started after lock down

I find that some cafes reduced their hours after lockdown,and didn't extend them again.I volunteer at a National Trust property,the cafe closes at 3 now,the house at 4,both an hour earlier than pre-covid.The ones in the nearby town also close earlier,at 4.It can be annoying ,but we just have to be prepared for it when we go anywhere.

Don’t some people prefer to shift work early eg 8 am to 2 pm and others 2 pm till 8 am. We were in the south-west looking for a cream-tea at 4/5 pm a lot of tea shops had already ran out of them and were packing away.