What time do you eat dinner/supper?

[MaryIsobel]

Just read something that stated that the average dinner time in the US is 6:22. That is in line with when we eat, although we are in Canada. I aim to have dinner by about 6:15 but depending on the day and the weather, it is sometimes as late as 7:00 or 7:30.

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[heidih]

As a singleton - when I feel like it. As a former family person - all depends on work schedules, child schedules. A while back there was a New Yorker article addressing. Probably paywalled  https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/the-underrated-pleasures-of-eating-dinner-early?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Around midnight.

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

3 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Around midnight.

 

That’s second seating.

[liuzhou]

When I'm hungry. I'm not slave to the clock.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

51 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

When I'm hungry. I'm not slave to the clock.

 

Nor am I but I call it breakfast.

 

[DesertTinker]

We aim for between 5pm and 7pm, nearer seven in summer, nearer 5 in winter. The cat demands his dinner at 5pm (but absolutely no later than 6pm), followed by treats before 7pm.
Hmm… who’s actually in charge here…😹

[MetsFan5]

I could have sworn in a past life I started a topic like this. 
 

 Generally around 7:30-8:30pm. 

[Kerala]

Never before 7:30, usually before 9.

[chromedome]

I prefer mine around 5 or 6, GF usually likes hers between 10 and midnight. We compromise on 8-ish.

[liamsaunt]

Generally around 6 PM. 

[Honkman]

Normally between 7-7:30pm sometimes later

[Maison Rustique]

5:30-6:30 most evenings. It has gotten earlier as we've aged. (Back in the days when I worked in advertising, I often didn't get home until 6:30 or so, and it was not unusual for us to eat at 8.) When the cat was diagnosed with diabetes and put on insulin, we tried to keep him on a regular schedule that fit best with us, so that meant earlier dinner for us so he could eat and get his shot shortly after we had finished. He is now in remission, but we've kept the same schedule.

 

During the pandemic, when we finally began to go out to a handful of places, we would go between 4:30 and 5 in order to get there, eat and be gone before it got busy.

 

Edited September 13, 2022 by Maison Rustique
omitted word (log)

[blue_dolphin]

These days, unless I'm dining with others, I rarely eat an evening meal.  I have a good breakfast, a late lunch and often enjoy a cocktail in the evening. 

[SLB]

@blue_dolphin, it sounds like you have landed in the good life!

 

Meanwhile, I've recently developed heartburn, which is entirely avoided by dinner at 630p.  It can be hard with work and the New York version of socializing, which is meeting out for dinner at a restaurant considerably later than 630.  But I aim aim at 630 as often as I can.

 

Heartburn is for the birds.  

[Katie Meadow]

I'm in the @blue_dolphincamp. Breakfast is on the late side. Then I might have a snack, or not. Dinner, which is really Linner, happens anywhere between 3:30 and 5:00 pm. Later in the evening we might have a cocktail or a snack. Or dessert. This schedule developed a few years ago, and was made possible by the fact that we had both retired. In addition, I've had some health issues and lack the energy to cook later in the evening. And on top of that, the kitchen doesn't have the best lighting, and I need more and more light as time goes by, so prepping and cooking after dark isn't fun. I'm working on that, slowly upping the wattage and starting to put in under-the-counter lighting. But the 60's cabinetry, all birch, is still in use, so as with many renovations of a 1915 craftsman house, upgrades have been piecemeal and can often entail working around cranky systems. And we are getting cranky as well. It is no mystery why older people develop new habits.

[lindag]

In my house dinner is at around 7:30 preceded  by a long cocktail hour featuring my house wine, Bogle Zinfandel.

[Darienne]

After Ed retired from teaching, we completely changed our eating habits.  We began to eat breakfast together every day...until the day I decided that I'd had enough of making THAT many meals.  So now we eat separately, often the leftovers from the day before.

 

Lunch has become dinner and it's at  12:30 when we don't have early afternoon appointments.

 

And dinner turned into supper, salads alternating with soups.  And at 6 pm. 

[Shelby]

I aim for 7:30.  Therefore, it's usually 8:00.

[Anna N]

4 hours ago, lindag said:

In my house dinner is at around 7:30 preceded  by a long cocktail hour featuring my house wine, Bogle Zinfandel.

In my house dinner often is the cocktail. 

[shain]

That'd be 9:30ish here, sometimes 8:30 when lunch was light and dinner is going to be more substantial.

Lunch is around 2pm on weekends. Somewhat earlier on workdays as we eat at work. 

[gulfporter]

Mi esposo likes to eat at 6; I prefer 7.  What time we eat dinner at home depends on who's doing the cooking 😉

 

When we eat out we leave our home on foot at 6 and wander into town.  After making our choice of where to eat, by the time we get our food it's generally 7 o'clock.  

 

We've been retired almost 20 years (from age 50); in our work years we never ate before 7, most often at 8 o'clock.  We also eat lighter at dinner nowadays.  When we worked, lunch for us was light. a piece of fruit for me between running errands on my lunch hour.  For him a pack or two of crackers or dried fruits & nuts between job sites.  

 

Things change with retirement....we now prefer lunch to be our main meal.  

[MaryIsobel]

So interesting to see everyone's dinner/supper times. Given my druthers, I would like to eat at 7 or 7:30 but DH is an early to bed, early to rise guy who is fairly active all day, so that would be too late for him most days. When we eat out with or host friends, we are likely to eat around 7:30. Apparently I have done interminent fasting for many years unbeknownst to me. I have no desire to eat early in the day. I usually have sort of a breakfast/lunch around 11 and then nothing til dinner around 6:30 and then usually nothing before bed time. If I'm hungry later in the evening I will have some fruit, occaisionally a cookie or a square of dark chocolate.

Edited September 15, 2022 by MaryIsobel (log)

[Orbit]

5pm is my preferred dinner time

[SLB]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/20/t-magazine/eating-early-new-york-restaurants.html