Regarding restaurant reservations, is 6 p.m. the new 8 p.m. in St. Louis, as it seems to be in other cities? —Cindy B., St, Louis
In the not-too-distant past, “dinner at 8” was the prized restaurant reservation time, the norm in civilized dining circles. The pandemic may have changed all that. Dining earlier in the evening—and even late in the afternoon—might be one of its unintended resets. The geriatric stigma of being an “early bird” diner appears to be fading.
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Former St. Louisan and respected restaurateur Danny Meyer stirred the pot a month ago in a social media post on X by asking a timely question:
A flurry of replies followed, from the “popularity of intermittent fasting” (which calls for an early dinner) to “Healthier living. More time to digest before sleep,” and “until it’s dethroned by 5pm!!”
Meyer had his opinions as well, citing “more entertainment content than ever to get home to” and “work from home contributes to social isolation. That’s why restaurant bars and seats are filling up ever earlier.”
In addition, remote work means zero commute time, so the evening’s proceedings can start earlier. S. Margot Finn, a food studies lecturer at the University of Michigan, puts it another way: It’s not that 5 p.m. is necessarily when people want to eat, she says; it’s just “when they want to be somewhere else.”
As summer drifts into fall and temperatures remain warm, there’s also the pleasure derived from enjoying a sunset dinner on a restaurant patio. Indoors, restaurants are often quieter at an earlier hour, attracting some people to take the evening meal when ‘happy hour’ is still underway in the next room.
As for Meyer’s “will it last?” query, the jury’s still out. If it does, then the changes will impact restaurants’ business models, from employee scheduling to menu planning and promotional events.
We asked several restaurant owners and chefs whether they’ve also noticed a shift in reservation times:
Kevin Nashan, Sidney Street Café, Peacemaker Lobster & Crab, La Tertulia: “I don’t know about other cities, but in St. Louis and Tulsa, people are definitely dining earlier, a little later on weekends.”
James Bommarito, Tony’s: “When we were downtown, we used to get quite a few reservations later in the evening. In Clayton, it’s tough to get diners after 8:30.”
Blake Askew, Mainlander: “We have definitely seen our 6 p.m. time slot fill up first, although as we go along, we are starting to see our 8:30 p.m. seating get more traction. This really only relates to weeknights. On Fridays and Saturdays, we have no problem attracting diners at 8:30 p.m. From the beginning, we knew that we wanted to be an evening dining spot. And, when you have a small intimate space such as ours, you simply must have more than one seating, and there is nowhere else to go but later in the evening to do that. We really believe that St. Louis deserves to have dining options at all times of the day and night. Although it is a challenge at times, we are committed to staying the course. We hear from our diners all the time, especially at later hours, how grateful they are that we exist and that we are here doing our thing late into the night.”
Austin Martinez, 801 Fish: “In St. Louis, I’ve noticed that 7 p.m. is by far the most popular time, but anytime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. is usually acceptable. We do see a significant drop off after 8 p.m.”
Matthew Glickert, Westchester: “The 6–6:30 p.m. reservations are the first to go, and the late-night push has definitely slowed down. That said, last Tuesday I was serving entrées to a group of sound techs from The Factory at 10:15 p.m. Go figure.”
Brant Baldanza, OG Hospitality Group: “Dining trends have shifted to earlier, and staying out later on the weekends may be a thing of the past. Just recently, we tried to make a reservation for 5:15 p.m. The next available time was 7:30 p.m. Pre-pandemic, we found it to be the exact opposite at The Tavern, with 6:30–8:30 p.m. being booked and the earlier times wide open. We also see that same trend at our Corner Pubs. All of the business is now concentrated from 4:30–8:30 p.m., with much less late-night eating and drinking. That being said, fortunately we’re not losing out on any business. The busy times just got earlier, which our managers love because they’re able to get home at a decent hour. It keeps them happy, which means I’m happy.”
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