The Pros and Cons of Running a 24-Hour Restaurant

Round-the-clock restaurants needn’t be fast-food joints or greasy spoon cafes either. The likes of the Duck and Waffle, an ultra-stylish London eatery that has opened 24-hours each day for almost three years now, have more than proved that. But before we all go snatching those closed signs off the restaurant door, we’re taking a little look at the good, the bad and the ugly sides of running a food business that never sleeps to help you decide if it’s more than you can swallow.

Positioning and footfall

If you live in a sleepy town, chances are that opening through the night is not going to prove too profitable for you. Successful 24-hour restaurants are almost always positioned in city centres and within easy distance of transport links; these are the places where jetlagged businessman land, where partygoers decide to refuel and insomniacs inevitably gather to dine.

Your menu needs to appeal to these people, and while keeping things simple has worked for some of the forerunners of the never-closing kitchen such as Vingt-Quatre, there is increasingly a market for meals that make people feel special whatever the hour of the day. Just check out the Duck and Waffle menu for proof.

If you’re planning on switching to 24-hour opening times, you need to be aware of what type of customers this would, and could attract in your area. Will you need Wi-Fi to appeal to the hungry out-of-towners who, unable to sleep, decide to feed their insomnia while prepping for an early morning business meeting? Or will you offer Bloody Marys and mimosas to jetsetters who want to start or end their day in style?

Admin, HR and Health and Safety

When you work in hospitality you do, to an extent, accept that you will be working unsociable hours, but that’s not to say your staff will be up for working night shifts – and those who do will likely want to be rewarded that little bit extra.

If you do decide to work through the night there are a few HR implications to be aware of. Take a look at the working time regulations to start; one key point is that any workers who work between 11pm and 6am should undergo a suitability check first and have regular assessments to ascertain if they are fit to work night shifts.

You should also consider that accidents are more likely to occur during the twilight hours when people’s bodies are more inclined to switch off, and with this in mind you’ll need rigorous safety routines and checks in place.

The operational points

If you’re going to extend your opening hours you’ll need a special licence to serve hot food and drinks after 11pm, and you should to be able to show that you have considered operational obstacles such as keeping your premises clean. With no ‘opening’ or ‘close down’ checklists, cleaning and food hazard regulation tasks will need to be built into the continuous working schedule.

Wherever you are based, opening after 11pm means there’s a good chance that at some point a customer asking for service may be intoxicated. How do you plan on dealing with that situation? Can you afford to employ door staff? Finally, can you be sure that opening all hours won’t impact on the quality of your food?

You’ll need to consider your menu, food storage and food preparation carefully as you can’t rely on the judgement of people’s palates dipping through the night. In fact, since those who work in hospitality are among the groups who may want to eat and drink at odd hours, chances are you may find professionals make up at least part of your clientele and you wouldn’t want to serve up anything less than wonderful to someone else that works in the business, would you!

The opportunity

While there are some high profile examples of continual opening done well and any city with a high student population inevitably has at least one 24-hour takeaway, the 24-hour restaurant scene in the UK is still in its relative infancy so there is a real opportunity to make your mark.

By catering for customers at all hours you have the chance to become their group’s go-to, whatever the day or time. You can serve more people, take more bookings and with so many meal times on the menu you can test the talent and creativity of your chefs to the maximum. You might offer breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, cocktail happy hour and late night snacks, or simply opt for a menu for daylight hours and one that carries customers through the night.

Would you consider altering your opening hours to make them more in line with the 24-hour society? Have you eaten at a kitchen that never closes? If so, what did you make of the menu? Leave us a comment below or tweet us at @BunzlLockhart."