"Never on Wednesday"

[Fresser]

I figured if KatieLoeb eats there, the food must be pretty good. So I checked out Koch's Deli, courtesy of Holly Moore's website.

There's some serious schtick going on here, with the overstuffed sandwiches and the kibitzing sandwich-makers behind the counter. But what caught my eye was their schedule: "Open Thursday to Tuesday; Never on Wednesday."

"What kind of joint closes on Wednesday?" I wondered aloud. Maybe the place is run by doctors who take the day off to play golf.

Now I realize a guy needs a day off, but the middle of the week seemed a strange time to shutter a deli. Charlie Trotter's is closed on Mondays, true, but that's a whole different kind of experience. Are there any other restaurants that might not be open when I pop in mid-week?

[Eden]

Our local burrito shop has a little sign in the window telling you "Don't want Gordito's on Tuesdays", so of course I always get a craving for their food on Tuesdays

[turkeybone]

My guess would be it's the day that he loses the least money being closed on. One place I worked would always close Monday Tuesday during the off-season. Why Wednesday? I dunno. But I would think its a fiscal thing.

[hsm]

Pho Xe Tang - Tank Restaurant in Chicago is another Never on Wednesday. Luckily there were good alternatives nearby when I learned that the hard way. I keep meaning to ask them why.

[KatieLoeb]

I figured if KatieLoeb eats there, the food must be pretty good.  So I checked out Koch's Deli, courtesy of Holly Moore's website.

There's some serious schtick going on here, with the overstuffed sandwiches and the kibitzing sandwich-makers behind the counter.  But what caught my eye was their schedule:  "Open Thursday to Tuesday; Never on Wednesday." 

"What kind of joint closes on Wednesday?" I wondered aloud.  Maybe the place is run by doctors who take the day off to play golf.  

Now I realize a guy needs a day off, but the middle of the week seemed a strange time to shutter a deli.  Charlie Trotter's is closed on Mondays, true, but that's a whole different kind of experience.  Are there any other restaurants that might not be open when I pop in mid-week?

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It is good. And not just because I eat there. It got a 4 grease stain rating from Holly. That's some serious street cred right there.

Now that new management has taken over at Koch's I think they are expanding the hours. They might even have said something about being open on Wednesdays.

I suspect that they were closed on Wednesdays because everybody needs at least one day off, one night per week that counts as their "weekend" so they can go out the night before, maybe sleep in a little bit, get some errands done dring other people's "Normal business hours", schedule a doctor's appointment or whatever. Why they chose Wednesdays is a mystery to me, but I certainly understand the need for the day off.

Pho Xe Tang - Tank Restaurant in Chicago is another Never on Wednesday.

There's another Philly restaurant called Pho Xe Lua that's also closed on Wednesdays. Does the phrase "Pho Xe" mean "Closed on Wednesday" in Vietnamese?

[JasonTrue]

In the formerly sleepy nether regions of Seattle (Ballard, Greenwood) Tuesday is a popular day off for restaurants and similar service businesses. It probably allows them to do more things than being closed on Mondays would allow them, including, for example, eating at other restaurants.

Monday as a day off isn't that surprising for a restaurant; it's always a very low traffic day except sometimes for lunch-driven businesses.

Since Seattle is not New York, money is likely not the only factor in deciding which day of the week is a small business's weekend. I tend to take Tuesday or Wednesday as a lighter workload day because of the nature of my schedule; Monday I'm often catching up on orders that came in over the weekend, while I was busy running around doing supermarket demos. Tuesday or Wednesday as a passive work day will annoy fewer people.

If I were a restaurant, I'd probably shutter on Mondays. But I might instead choose a day when my own favorite restaurants or vendors were still open but my customer traffic were fairly light.

[Kevin72]

Tuesdays are the "odd" day that restaurants are closed, particularly the Vietnamese and taqueria places I like. And like Eden, I'm invariably the customer with the perplexed and angered look outside their door come Tuesday evenings.

[BarbaraY]

I once worked at a place that closed on Wednesday. The reasoning, it was a small town with only three eating places. They each closed on different days so that people would always have a place to eat.

[mrbigjas]

Pho Xe Tang - Tank Restaurant in Chicago is another Never on Wednesday.

There's another Philly restaurant called Pho Xe Lua that's also closed on Wednesdays. Does the phrase "Pho Xe" mean "Closed on Wednesday" in Vietnamese?

when we were in niagara falls last year, we were looking to eat somewhere decent and cheap, and you know in a tourist place like that it's not easy. then i discovered (possibly through posting on here, actually) a vietnamese place right downtown! psych, that's gonna be great! no overpriced craptacular tourist food! no oversalted awful chain restaurant dining! no fast food! yeah!

until we walked over and it was closed on wednesday. i kinda stood there for a few minutes, not believing that any moment they wouldn't come open up for me. what a sad day, which ended up with us at outback steakhouse, after having misjudged the distance on the map and walking for like 2 miles... the falls are still neat though.