It’s late afternoon, and the patio at Bin 77 Bistro in Perkins Rowe is a hive of activity. Diners munch on shareable flatbreads and charcuterie boards while sipping wine in the balmy Louisiana fall.
Ordinarily, this would seem like a happy hour crowd, meeting before the dinner rush for discounted drinks and snacks. But no, this is the dinner rush–or at least the beginning of it.
Like the rest of the country, Baton Rouge restaurants are seeing dinner service start an hour or two earlier. It’s a nationwide trend that’s taken root since the pandemic.
“In 2021, we found that by 9 p.m., especially during the week, things were pretty much over,” says Brian Dykes, owner of Bin 77 and Solera. “Dining is definitely earlier at both our restaurants.”
That shift in consumer behavior prompted Dykes and his team to begin shutting down Solera at 9 p.m. on weeknights, rather than its original closing time of 10 p.m. Bin 77’s hours haven’t changed because its live music and bar scene draw patrons throughout the evening, but things get started earlier than they used to, Dykes says.
Peter Sclafani, partner at Making Raving Fans Hospitality Group, has also seen an increase in earlier dining across his company’s brands, including SoLou and Portobello’s Grill.
“I’ve noticed that everything’s shifted earlier, even to 4:30 p.m. and 5 o’clock,” Sclafani says. “I was like, ‘Man, what are all these people doing here so early?’ But we’ve seen it more and more, with less and less people eating late, like at 8 o’clock.”
Bin 77’s patio gets busy for live music in the evenings, and owner Brian Dykes says the crowd forms earlier today than before the pandemic.
Numerous national news stories have pointed out the post-pandemic trend, even in larger cities where early dining has been considered the playground of senior citizens. A 2022 article on the online reservation platform Resy featured the headline “5 p.m. is the New 8 p.m. at New York Restaurants—and I Couldn’t Be Happier About It,” with internal data showing the platform’s increase in earlier reservations. The 5:30 p.m. timeslot had climbed to claim more than 8% of reservations in New York through Resy at the time, while 8 p.m. had fallen in popularity. Other stories across the country have showcased the near nullification of late-night dining’s cool factor. People of all ages are happy to opt for an early supper, observers say.
Locally, before the pandemic, the most popular time for dinner reservations was around 7–7:30 p.m. Now, it’s 6–6:30 p.m., operators say. And the trend cuts across generational lines, says Russell Davis, owner of Eliza Restaurant & Bar and JED’s Local.
“We’ve always had kind of an earlier crowd at Eliza,” Davis says. “But at JED’s, it’s a younger demographic, and we’re definitely doing business earlier there than we used to.”
There’s no one reason why, but some speculate the change is for health reasons. (Sclafani has personally shifted to eating earlier as he’s focused more on his health and weight loss, he says.) Some blame the pull of Netflix and the explosion of streaming services—people want to get home with time to spare to binge their shows. Others point to growing family demands and the pressure to check the dinner box early because of near-constant obligations.
“I just see how busy parents are who have multiple kids,” Stephen Hightower, City Group Hospitality’s longtime managing partner, told 225 earlier this fall. “Being able to step in early to get dinner out of the way, that’s helpful.”
Like many local eateries, City Group’s restaurants, including City Pork and Rouj Creole, stay open throughout the afternoon rather than closing between lunch and dinner. That’s deliberate, according to Hightower. It helps capture growing sales in what used to be a slow, in-between period.
The trend has changed the way restaurants staff operations, too. More employees may work in the late afternoon and early evening, with fewer needed as the night progresses. Sclafani says the increased interest in earlier dining has made him think about his restaurant’s closing time.
“I’ve noticed other restaurants are closing earlier,” Sclafani says “We haven’t acted on it yet, but we’re talking about it. I keep thinking it’ll change, but it looks like it’s not changing.”
But while sales are softer later at night, Hightower says another dining trend in Baton Rouge has buoyed the bottom line: the rise in brunch sales. Brunch enthusiasts start arriving as soon as doors open and continue throughout the day.
“It’s been that trade-off day,” Hightower says. “You’re picking up on a Sunday, and sometimes it’s your best day with sales all day. There’s no timetable on it.”
This article was originally published in the December 2024 issue of 225 Magazine.
