Why do restaurants and takeaways close so early now?

WithNobsOnIt- with the rising cost of food these days the 'young ones' (a lot are students i assume) have realised that it works out cheaper to order takeaways/delivered take outs- my son at uni does that mostly and makes a bucket of KFC last a couple of days, the only thing he cooks really is buffalo chicken wing and the occasional steak as a treat when he gets his grant every term.&the usual student staple of pasta to keep him going. When he got home here in holidays he went to local butchers.

My son took us out to a restaurant in a pub last night (more restaurant than pub) and it was packed at 6.30 when we arrived. When we left an hour and a half later it was almost empty. Our favourite local restaurant is also busy earlier than they used to be, though they do still have a few later customers. I think that perhaps people are simply choosing to go out and get home earlier?
There aren't many take-aways left in our immediate area (Greater London) as people seem to use Deliveroo and Uber-eats instead.
I've also noticed that many coffeeshops seem to close earlier, I used to sometimes take my grandchildren to one after school, but most are closed before 4. Greggs is still open, but not as busy as it used to be.

Coffee shops closing before 4 drives me nuts! I often want to take my small grandchildren for an after school snack/treat but lots of places are shut by 3.30! And we live in a seaside touristy town! There are a couple of late takeaways but the ones I tend to prefer are finished by about 10 that said I rarely get takeaways and prefer my own cooking. I went to a Toby Carvery last week with my youngest daughter and her 3 boys for a birthday meal and did eat early (the youngest is 7 and it was a school night) but was amazed to hear one of the staff telling another customer that everybody is out by 9.30

The majority of local restaurants here are closed on Sunday other than pubs offering lunches. On Sunday night it's virtually impossible to eat out. Most are closed all day on Monday, though our favourite does open in the evening. Some are closed on extra days through the summer holiday period whilst others shut for at least two weeks for an annual holiday. Most shut for the whole of Christmas/New Year.
Maybe part of the drop in demand it due to the many excellent "ready to cook" or ready meals available now? There is a branch of Cook not far away and many garden centres and farm shops offers ready meals too.
But mostly I suspect that eating out is much more expensive than it used to be and people go out less, it's more of a special occasion thing for many families now.

All I ever see is home deliveries morning, noon and night! Clearly cos they're cheaper. Though I used to love going out for a meal. I have Coeliac Disease now and hardly anyone caters for them. Bit worrying all these home deliveries as younger people rarely cook.

I think it must very much depend on where you live Plevey08. Here nearly all deliveries must be by a person in an unmarked car... I hardly ever see a delivery bike.

Years ago there were lots of Domino's Pizza bikes.

Lucky you dont live in France. We are on holiday and you can eat a meal in a restaurant between 12 and 2 or 7 to 9. Everything closed after that!

Plevey08

All I ever see is home deliveries morning, noon and night! Clearly cos they're cheaper. Though I used to love going out for a meal. I have Coeliac Disease now and hardly anyone caters for them. Bit worrying all these home deliveries as younger people rarely cook.

Being able to cook and ordering take aways go hand in hand today.
My youngest grandchildren ( 16/19) are both accomplished cooks as they were taught pre school how to cook.
But at the same time they think nothing of ordering a Big Mac to take away if they feel like one.
Times changed some time ago.

Almost every restaurant seems to be signed up with one of the delivery services, takeaways are not restricted to just bottom of the market outlets.

Yes I’ve noticed it here as well up north!