Opening Hours: What to Expect
Hours are set locally rather than nationally, but the pattern is consistent enough to plan around.
The most common arrangement is opening in the late afternoon on weekdays and around midday at weekends.
The usual pattern
Weekdays: most restaurants open in the late afternoon, commonly around 4pm, and serve into the evening. Lunch service on weekdays is not the norm.
Weekends: opening around 11am is typical, which is when lunch is available.
This is why the Early Dine list runs where it does — it covers the first part of weekday service, when the restaurant has just opened and is quietest.
- Weekdays — commonly open late afternoon
- Weekends — commonly open around midday
- Weekday lunch — usually not served
- Early Dine — the early weekday window, Monday to Thursday
- Holidays — hours change, and some offers do not run
Why there is usually no weekday lunch
A steakhouse kitchen is built around grilling to order at volume in a concentrated evening period. Opening for a thin weekday lunch service means staffing a full kitchen for a fraction of the covers.
Weekends are different because the volume justifies it, which is why Saturday and Sunday open earlier.
If you specifically want a midday meal, the weekend is the reliable option.
Checking properly
The official locator carries current hours for each restaurant, and that is the source worth using. Hours change seasonally and around holidays.
For anything time-sensitive — Early Dine in particular, where reported timings vary between sources and between restaurants — a two-minute phone call settles it more reliably than any published page, including this one.
Third-party listings are worth treating with particular caution here. Map listings and aggregator pages are frequently out of date, and they are the source most people check first because they appear at the top of a search. A restaurant that changed its opening time six months ago may still show the old one in several places.
The other timing consideration is when to arrive rather than when the doors open. The first hour or two of weekday service is the quietest period and overlaps with Early Dine, which means going early buys you a shorter wait, a quieter room and a cheaper entrée at the same time. Weekend evenings are the opposite on all three counts.
Frequently asked
Does it open for lunch?
Usually only at weekends. Most restaurants open in the late afternoon on weekdays.
What time does Early Dine run?
Most commonly Monday to Thursday, ending around 6pm. Timings are set locally and reported figures vary, so check with your restaurant.
Are hours the same everywhere?
No. They are set per restaurant, and they change around holidays.
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