Rule of thumb: Dining in before closing

Is there a rule of thumb?

I’m sure this varies depending on what type of food you’re ordering.

The cook time, how busy the restaurant already is, and how long you plan to sit down and eat.

I have friends who work in restaurants and they always complain about people who come in to eat 15 minutes before they close. They have to take the order, cook the meal, serve, and wait for the diners to finish eat, clean up, and close, causing the restaurant workers to stay later than expected.

I also have friends who believe the hours of operation mean you can dine in within those hours. The restaurant is open during that time frame and should list their closing hours depending on when they’d like to be off. So instead of closing at 8pm, the restaurant should “close” at 7pm in order to allow diners time to finish their meal and employees have an hour to close up for the night. (Being off at 8pm)

What is the latest you should dine in?