Sandwich shops that close early

[cabron50]

I left work at 8:30 last night with a hunger for a good sandwich. All of the prime delis around here close pretty early, but I figured Subway would do since they are open until 9pm and there is one near my work. After a short drive, I arrive at Subway at 8:40 intending to get a sandwich to go. I go in and the guy behind the counter immediately tells me that they are out of lettuce, green peppers, olives, tomato and a whole bunch of other stuff that I would normally get on my sandwich. I didn't believe his story. I figured he had just shrink wraped everything, put it in the cooler and was telling every late night customer that the veggies had run out. That way, he could get out of there earlier after locking the door. I didn't make a big deal out of it because Quizno's sounded better anyway. I head over to the nearest Quizno's and arrive at 8:50. The open sign is on and the door is unlocked, but all the chairs are up and the interior lights are off. No one is to be seen behind the counter. At that point, I decided to go home and boil some spaghetti. Obviously, the people that work in these places are planning on getting out of there right at closing time. I worked in a deli many years ago. It closed at 9pm, but I would always leave at 9:30 because we never started to close before we locked the door at 9. I guess that basic level of customer service no longer exists in the sandwich industry.

I could go on to gripe about the taco shop that I used to go to that opened at 9am but was never ready to serve food until 10, but I'll save that for another post.

 

[Mike G]

I love a good sandwich.

We have started to keep sandwich makin's available at home because of the very same reason.

Subway around here seems to pack it in at leat 1/2 hour early every night, and we got frustrated trying to get sandwiches late.

So, my old lady keeps chopped veggies, a variety of meats and cheeses, and sub rolls available so when we are hungry for sandwiches, or we have the 'soup and sandwich' night, we can make them up.

I also pack a sandwich every day for lunch. Makes it easy to get going in the A.M.

 

[BaliLover]

Sometimes the problem lies with the shop itself. I've seen in more than one place that the employees only get paid until the closing time on the sign, but are expected to stay and clean everything up beyond that time. If I only get paid till 9, thats when I leave, if you want me there later to clean up, I better be getting paid for my time. If you want me there earlier, I better be getting paid for my time.

 

[glockman99]

That $5 foot-long Subway sandwich sure sounds good...Especially since they no-longer use that "bread" that was hard-enough to break a tooth on.

 

[Bob W]

Yeah, everything around here closes very early also. I work very unusual and random hours, and there's nothing open when I'm in the mood for some fast cheap calories.

I also worked nights in a much larger town / small city for a short time, and there was nothing open at night there either. Starving at 2 a.m. from an 11-hour shift at the saw mill and not a darn thing to eat anywhere!

 

[AfterTFD]

At this McDonalds we're open as long as there are any cars in drive through or anybody is waiting for their food. During fair week this can mean several more hours of business. While we're open we're entirely open; you will be greeted politely and promptly, your order will be taken quickly, it will be made correctly, and you will have a clean place to sit in lobby if you would like to dine in. We will not be mysteriously out of everything. We will start to get things cleaned and put away early but never will this result in a customer being neglected.

Anything less than this at any convenience food place is unacceptable. Don't be afraid to ask for a manager or write a letter to the store owner.

Whenever you get crappy treatment at night like has been described in this thread you may be sure beyond a doubt that the employees or at least managers at the offending restaurant are losers who are unworthy of even working at McDonalds where anyone smart enough to push buttons and count to ten can do well.

 

[mycroftt]

Yeah, everything around here closes very early also. I work very unusual and random hours, and there's nothing open when I'm in the mood for some fast cheap calories.

I also worked nights in a much larger town / small city for a short time, and there was nothing open at night there either. Starving at 2 a.m. from an 11-hour shift at the saw mill and not a darn thing to eat anywhere!

When I was in my early 20's I used to get out of work at 2:00 AM. There was one of those old railroad car type diners right around the corner that was open all night. You could get breakfast food, blue-plate specials, cheeseburgers and fries, pretty much anything you wanted. Man, that food was good. Needless to say, I was a regular there for as long as I stayed on that shift.

 

[Kalindras]

...I'm a-gonna do it, anyway!!

It's not just sandwich shops!! Around here, and even down in Dallas and Austin, if you go to a restaurant less than forty minutes before closing, expect to get the dregs of whatever you order. You'll have the last, ragged remnants of lettuce in your salad (which they'll try to disguise by DROWNING it in dressing, maybe), if you order something common (say, fajitas), you'll have the greasiest, most pitiful little bits that were left in the hot-box all evening, and if you (Gods forbid) order something that requires cooking, you'll get service with a sneer, a twenty-minute wait as they have to fire the grill back up, and you'd better enjoy the taste of your cook's DNA, because you probably won't have to look far to find the spit.

This all feeds into the general decline in service which seems attendant with the "Aura of Entitlement" that plagues our nation as a whole today. You know the symptoms: waiters who roll their eyes when you ask to have food prepared "specially" (i.e., with/without something not listed in the description...say, mayonnaise), the expectation of a 15%-20% tip for simply not screwing up your order, and the misunderstanding that the hours on the door are the hours are the hours that employees work, not the hours you can get services or goods from that store!!

It comes back to people mistaking PRIVILEGES for RIGHTS. My parents both grew up pre-WWII. They worked hard, and made sure that I and my siblings understood that if you want the benefits that come from hard work, you actually have to DO the hard work part, first. I'm trying desperately to instill this in my son. But a disturbing proportion of the rest of the country seems to be missing out on that part. Even people coming out of college today seem to expect to get their diploma in one hand, and the keys to their new life (six-figure income, Mercedes, supermodel spouse, $10M mansion, etc.) with the other. And it comes across as bitterness when they don't get it. When the reality of life hits, and they have to actually go WORK to pay bills, you wind up with the kind of treatment that we're complaining about, here. The store clerks who couldn't be bothered to help you find something. The cashiers who round your purchases to the nearest dollar. The employees who steal from the job (isn't that a perk? Or is it a benefit? I forget... ). And the waitstaff that thinks of restaurant patrons as minor, yet omnipresent annoyances in the room with all the tables and chairs outside the kitchen.

Sure, there are exceptions to this vitriolic rant, but unfortunately, it's becoming all to true that they ARE exceptions. So, do your part, and walk into a fast-food restaurant at 5 minutes until close and order, "The entire left column..."

"...With cheese!!"

 

[TorzJohnson]

LOL, I remember a few years ago as I was heading towards the knife counter at Wally World, a worker saw me coming and actually slithered around the corner and down an aisle to make his getaway. Anything to avoid actually serving a paying customer. It would have been funny if it wasn't so shameful.

 

[kozak6]

Around here, Walmart and Fry's actually have decent subs. You should give those a try.

 

[MikeH]

I almost totally avoid fast food places now. My problem was not so much service as it was terrible sanitary practices.

I abandoned the local Capt. D's when I was waiting in line and a 6 or 7 year old girl ran in from the dining area and up to the lady dispensing drinks. "Grandma, I need some more ice", she said. Grandma replied "I'm busy. Get it yourself". The girl then takes her already used cup and swipes it through the open ice bin, with grandma saying not a word of protest. I left and have never gone back.

Revently, I walked into a Burger King fairly early in the morning and the young fellow mopping the dining area walked behind the counter and said, "may I help you?" with not so much as a towel wipe of his hands. "Not any more" I said as I left.

 

[orthogonal1]

I don't get the gripe.

Back in the 70's and 80's most eateries I went to pretty much stopped taking new orders and/or serving food 15-30 minutes before closing, so I hear nothing new.

I have seen eateries run out of some popular foods 2-3 hours (if not more) before closing. But, this isn't new either.