Business: Go Long

By extending their hours, operations can find new audiences and build brand loyalty.

By Christine LaFave, Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 3/1/2008

Ike’s, a diner serving up everything from breakfast to burgers, fills a demand for late-night dining on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

After extending hours gradually over several years, the University of Georgia went to 24-hour weekday operations at Snelling Hall.

Chefs and restaurateurs understand the concept of not having enough hours in the day. Fourteen or 16 hours spent in the kitchen, in meetings, on the phone leaves little time to grab a meal or to sit down and enjoy a conversation. Increasingly, so goes the life of the everyday consumer, too—with kitchen time replaced by office hours, kids’ band concerts, 9 p.m. softball leagues and 7 a.m. business meetings.

And whether they’re urban Gen Yers meeting up for a weeknight concert or suburban parents trying to get their child to swim practice by 6 a.m., time-crunched consumers seek foodservice options that can adjust to fit their schedule—not the other way around. Major quick-service chains have led the extended-hours charge, but today more independent restaurants, regional chains and college operations are following fast food’s lead.

Arlington, Va.-based Bumblefish, a "neo-Asian" QSR concept with four current locations and two in the works, decided last May to extend hours at its Alexandria, Va., store. "We had a lot of people that were literally knocking on closed doors as our team was closing," says Bumblefish President Kent Scholla.

The store—situated not far from a stop on the Metro line in the tourist-heavy (and commuter-heavy) Washington, D.C., suburb—now remains open two extra hours Tuesday through Saturday. Diners can get their raw, cooked or vegetarian sushi fix until 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

"We’ve seen a really good rush on Friday and Saturday nights in particular," Scholla says. Although Bumblefish had planned to extend the store’s hours only through the fall, strong customer response prompted the company to make the change permanent.

One other change the store made: To maximize labor efficiency and help cut costs from expanding hours later in the week, the Alexandria location now closes an hour earlier, at 5 p.m., on Sunday, and stays open only until 8 p.m. on Monday.

Destination Dining

Workdays and evenings out that end after 10 p.m. can leave hungry consumers with limited options in terms of late-night fare. Recognizing this, some enterprising operations that welcome guests into the wee hours seek to boost their brand by positioning themselves as a dependable spot for after-hours finer dining.

"In the D.C. area, there’s no [other] very fine-dining restaurant open this late," says Christel Portella, manager of late-night stalwart Bistro Francais. Popular with Washington Wizards players and M Street revelers alike, the restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Diners who would rather end their evening with steak frites than with sliders can get their fix at Bistro Francais; the restaurant’s full menu is available throughout the night.

Portella says that Bistro Francais’ hours make it an attractive option for Washington theater- and concertgoers. "If they go to a show that ends at 10:30, they can come here and have a nice dinner before going home," he says.

In Hollywood, producer Gavin Polone and casting director John Papsidera are aiming to fill a late-night-dining gap between über-chic and super-cheap with The Waffle, a concept inspired by 24-hour roadside refueling spots.

"Everybody’s complaining because there isn’t any real food after hours," says Peggy Hovsepian, the restaurant’s general manager. Positioning itself as an upscale diner, The Waffle will offer selections such as a jalapeño waffle topped with fried chicken and gravy. The concept was set at press time to open in mid-February.

After the restaurant works out any opening kinks—staying open until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 4 a.m. on weekends—it will likely move toward staying open 24 hours.

"There’s more and more of a need for those [extended] hours," Hovsepian says. "People work longer hours; they work different hours."

Crowd Control

Extending hours into between-meal periods offers the chance to generate business from diners seeking to avoid prime-time crowds. Bistro Francais serves an early-bird menu from 5 to 7 p.m. and again from 10:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Additionally, the restaurant’s weekend champagne brunch runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

At Balthazar Restaurant in New York, an afternoon menu—offered from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday—provides an option to locals and tourists keen on sampling Keith McNally’s bistro fare without having to compete for a lunch or dinner table. Afternoon selections are fewer in number than lunch options, but Balthazar keeps prices the same for both dayparts.

Playing it Safe

Adequate staffing and visible security measures are crucial in keeping late-shift workers safe.

At the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. (Ivy ’95), Snelling Dining Commons is equipped with biometric access—all employees entering the building through the rear door after 5 p.m. do so using a fingerprint key pad. Additionally, a camera monitor was installed at Snelling’s front entrance when the facility moved in March 2007 to 24-hour weekday operations. "It was just a proactive step to minimize inappropriate behavior," says J. Michael Floyd, the university’s director of food services.

As a further safeguard for cashiers, the dining hall has a no-cash policy (meal-plan and credit cards only) after 10 p.m.