Hungry at 3 a.m.? Head home and go to sleep. You’re out of luck.
Shift workers, bar-hoppers and night owls don’t have nearly as many late-night dining options as they did during the pre-pandemic heyday of 24-hour diners and restaurants.
And it’s not just restaurants. Walmart, four years after Covid-19 prompted curtailed hours, still hasn’t gone back to “open all night.” Some supermarkets, electronics retailers, coffee shops and pharmacies that shuttered early during Covid-19 have never come back to late-night hours. Not even all of 24 Hour Fitness’ gyms — the promise is right in its name — are 24 hours.
But the worst hit are sunset-to-sunrise diners and restaurants.
The number of restaurants offering 24-hour service fell 18% from 2020 to 2024, according to data from Yelp. The city that never sleeps, New York, has lost 13% of its 24-hour restaurants. Los Angeles, which was also impacted by the Hollywood strikes, has lost a stunning 35% of 24-hour eateries, and Chicago 10%.
The slow recovery of “open all night” America highlights changes to consumer habits and the restaurant industry. Big shifts in customer behavior, including earlier dinner times and less booze late into the evenings, have held back a return to pre-pandemic patterns. Higher labor and food costs have led restaurants to close earlier as well.
Breakfast-based chains are rebounding, somewhat. Around half of IHOP’s 1,800 locations are back to being open 24 hours on Friday and Saturday, at the very least. About 75% of Denny’s 1,600 restaurants are open 24 hours again. And, in a comfort to bleary-eyed students everywhere, all of Waffle House’s nearly 2,000 restaurants run 24 hours again.
But 24/7 is risky, restaurateurs warn. “It’s very stressful to have a business open 24 hours,” explained Alex Barakos, the general manager of Pete’s Kitchen, a Greek diner in Denver with a countertop and retro vibe.