The Hassle of Eating Out Late

By Tibni Valle

Anyone accustomed to eating out late in Bowling Green can testify to the difficult task of finding a place to eat past 10:00 PM. If it's a weekday night and you're looking for somewhere to eat, you can expect to be met with empty parking lots, lift chairs, and dimmed lights, suggesting closing came early that day. This occurrence is one of Bowling Green's various natural phenomena.

So, what is considered late? Personally, I consider past 11PM to be late. However, every person's definition of late can vary. Melanie Beltran, a sophomore at Bowling Green High School has an earlier definition. 

“Around 8 is late, when it’s already dark and the hecticness of the day has already passed,” she said. 

Others argue for much later. 

“11:40 PM is late. If I’m out and in my car, at that time I’m speeding home,” said Amram Macias, a junior. “By 11:40, I should be done with everything I had to do that day. Something is wrong if I’m up doing stuff at that time,” he added.

Due to the variation of what is considered late, restaurants close at different times to adapt to their employees’ and customers’ schedules. That is why you find that most places open after 10PM are bars or restaurants catered towards adults, limiting the options for teenagers and young adults. Some people might argue that teenagers have no reason to be eating so late anyway, but that feeds into the stereotype that teenagers are constantly looking to be reckless. Like Melanie, not all teenagers eat out late often. 

“I personally never eat at night unless I go out with friends,” she said. 

Even for those who do eat out late often, Amram brought up a good point. 

“I can only go at night because that’s when I’m free,” he justified. 

The lack of options is not the only struggle when eating out late. Larger groups of people encounter other issues. 

Melanie describes one of these issues for us by recognizing that, “it's hard making a decision in a short amount of time since it’s multiple people and everyone has something to say.” When asked about any bad experiences they've encountered on their late trips, Melanie commented, “you could tell servers are tired and a little annoyed that we’re there so late.” 

Amram elaborated on a similar encounter. “There were two times at Wingstop where me and my friends were uncomfortable with the way the employees were acting. They were rude and disrespectful, had nasty looks, and a lady working there was saying stuff and it felt like it was directed to us,” he stated. 

Another annoying part of eating late is that many restaurants and fast food places’ hours don't match up with what is said on Google. For example, Steak N Shake might claim to close at 10PM, but their Bowling Green location is locked and empty by 9PM. Despite many places' inconsistency with Google and relatively early closing hours, some spots do adopt late hours. However, be careful. The closer the clock gets to 11PM, the more your options narrow. So I hope you're craving chicken, because that's practically the only option you'll have left. 

In the unfortunate event that your definition of late extends itself well into the next day, there's one spot that will still be open. It may not be your first choice and may seem a bit bizarre, but considering your late night is someone else's early morning, it is surprisingly fitting. Waffle House is open 24/7 and open to serving a late or early breakfast.