Picured: Roast Vegetable Pizza. It is today’s pizza special.

Mentioning what I have noticed could jinx it but… well…

Sales have, for the first time in a few weeks seen a slight uptick. This is anticipated as Jan 1 to Feb 14 is the really slow time for restaurants. That’s a sign that people are coming out of their cocoons but it’s not THE sign. What I notice most is that the lunch hour is extended.

We do about the same amount in sales over lunch as we do in the evening. The difference is that the lunch, in winter, is heavily compacted into 11:30 to 1:00 while supper is spread out from about 5:30 to 8:00. This is because people have a defined lunch hour. They rush out, have lunch, and rush back to work. At supper… not so much. People head out for supper whenever they like and, thus, it’s not as compressed as lunch. It’s more spread out.

But here is what I have noticed that makes me feel good about warmer weather soon… The lunch hour has been getting longer. I am starting to see people come in for lunch at 1:00 and 1:30. Not huge crowds but a trickle. These late lunchers are not office workers, they are leisure lunchers. In other words, they are folk who are out for lunch as a social occasion. There were not doing this in January… THIS is the sign, to me, that people are beginning to leave the safe, warm confines of their homes and emerge back into the daylight.

Restaurants everywhere are rejoicing.

Dave