Curious to know if anyone has had similar experiences to this: Last night we went to celebrate one of life’s happy events at a favorite local restaurant. We have enjoyed eating here on busy weekend nights before. On a random Wednesday night, the place wasn’t that busy and the food was rather meh. As if we were in a parallel universe.
The difference on a weekday vs the weekend was so striking. A common experience?
Not a common experience for me. But then, we rarely eat out at a weekend so don’t have much experience to make the comparision.
But I’ve certainly been to the same restaurant and had different experiences. Sometimes they’ve been busy, sometimes not. Sometimes the food has been better than others. You seem to be making an extrapolation based on a single experience that may, or may not, have any actual validity.
Not for me, I usually find eating out on weekday (except Friday) rather pleasant compared to a weekend, less crowd, staff less stressed, food arrives faster, quieter rooms allow better conversation.
I suspect it was the main chef’s off duty day, that could make a big difference.
I avoid eating out on mondays because it’s a very popular day for cooks to take off. It’s very possible wed pm was just the head cook’s day off which can make a big difference.
I actually really enjoy going to restaurants on weekday nights or even better sunday nights; weekends i feel like the kitchen is more focused on volume and speed than “getting it just right” and they’re able to focus without the pressure of weekend crowds.
Good point.
I find a lot of small, family owned places near me close on Sunday evenings and all day Monday. But, in the example quoted, if Wednesday is usually a quiet day (as when the OP visited), this would be a good time for the head chef to have a regular day off and leave things to her/his sous chef.
Good thoughts, all. I was surprised to experience an off night at this establishment, because my experiences of dining out locally in general have been more like what @naf describes. Long workdays in these parts mean that weeknights are generally popular for dining out. You all gave me a thought that maybe some of the staff were sent home early on this Wednesday if the night turned out not to be so busy.
Hmmm, maybe this particular experience is a case of you win some, you lose some.
It’s funny but we have a place we go to that is actually better during the week! But we went to Tarry Lodge (a Mario place) on a Saturday the first time and it was great. We went again on a Tuesday and my husband and I had the same meal and it was AWFUL.
