Are restaurants closed on Mondays all over the UK?
I have visited the UK (London, Reading, Swindon) several times so far. During my last trip to Swindon, I noticed that many restaurants are closed on Mondays.
Is this practice specific to Swindon or valid all over the UK?
Edit: Since Monday is not a common holiday in Turkey, it is not common for me either.
Best Answer
It is common but not universal. Chain restaurants are usually open all days, smaller restaurants may take a day off during the week and Monday is a sensible choice because more people eat out over the weekend.
Other businesses, particularly small businesses, may do the same if most of their trade is weekend shoppers.
If you are wanting to visit a particular restaurant, or are staying in an area with only a couple of places to eat out available, it would certainly be worth checking out in advance. In most areas, though, there will be other restaurants around that are open so it is only a minor inconvienience.
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Why is Mondays closed?
This has been a common restaurant practice long before COVID-19 times. In short, the reason for it is because opening on a Monday isn't all that financially successful. Within the restaurant industry, Monday has traditionally been known to be their slowest day of the week.Why are Chinese restaurants closed on Mondays?
Monday is typically a day of rest for a chef. In larger restaurants, the chef would work weekends and then take off on Mondays and leave other cooks and team members to handle the preparations for that day. The same can be said for Chinese cooks.U.K. government 'stupid' to close London restaurants down when other venues are open, owner says
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Answer 2
I would say that most restaurants in the UK are open seven days a week. However, if a restaurant is going to close for a day, that day will almost always be Monday.
The same holds for shops and museums – and any other business that does most of its trade at the weekend. (And, if such a business is closed for two days, they'll likely be Monday and Tuesday.) This isn't unique to the UK: I've seen the same thing in the US, for example.
It's noted in the comments below the question that public holidays in the UK are commonly on Mondays. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the day after Easter Sunday, the first and last Mondays in May and the last Monday in August; in Scotland, the first and last Mondays in May and the first Monday in August. However, I don't think that's an issue: restaurants and shops aren't legally obliged to close on these days and, since they're holidays, they're likely to be very good for business. I'd certainly expect a museum that usually closes on Mondays to open on holiday Mondays.
Answer 3
From my experience this is more common in smaller towns and possibly in the North. I live in the South (about 50 miles North of London) in a fairly large town and it's not terribly common here. I know of a few places which are closed on Mondays but it tends to be smaller and often take-away places (Chinese, chip shops, etc.). On the other hand, I have been on holiday to smaller towns (one springs to mind in the Peak District) where almost everything was closed on a Monday night except for one Indian take-away place. It may be a regional thing or may be more due to the size of town, or a bit of both.
So I would say that it's somewhat common, but far from universal, and may be more common in some regions than others.
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