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By Alice Gibbs
Senior Reporter
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When two American tourists sat down to eat their evening meal while on vacation in Portugal, they got a surprise when they looked around and noticed a completely empty restaurant.
In a video on TikTok with 1.2 million views, the diners shared footage of the empty eatery with the text overlay: "POV: Americans book 6:00 dinner in Portugal."
Bathed in golden hour light, they were enjoying their food, but the shock of the lack of fellow diners was surprising. The caption read: "A family with a baby showed up as we were leaving."
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As the video gained more attention since being shared last week, people headed to the comments to share their reactions. "Who eats dinner later than 6pm? Not in Canada," said viewer Granof5.
While JamesH asked: "If people eat dinner so late, what time do they wake up for work and school in the morning?"
But others offered an alternative perspective. Roma4uk wrote: "In Spain the restaurant's don't open until 8 or 9pm."
While Hectornic said: "Only U.S. and Canada have dinner that early."
Early Bird vs. Night Owl Culture
In the U.S. and parts of Northern Europe, dinner is often functional, family-oriented, and early. With the workday typically running 9-5, restaurant service usually begins around 5 p.m. and peaks at 6:30 to 7 p.m.—suburban areas especially lean toward eating around 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, across southern Europe—Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece—dinner is done a little differently.
In these places, lunch is the main meal event, often happening around 2-3 p.m., which naturally nudges dinner later into the day, often between 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.
Because a main meal is eaten earlier in the day, an evening meal is more of a social event. Rarely rushed, and layered with talk, wine and togetherness, dinner can sometimes stretch for hours.
By contrast, Western Europe tends to settle somewhere in the middle, dining at 7–8:30 p.m., and Northern European countries such as Sweden and Denmark more closely echo American dinner times earlier in the evening.
This isn't the first time an American has shared their European culture shock online. Last year a huge debate ensued across social media when American tourists said that it was "impossible" to find drinking water in Europe.
The debate heated up, with responses from Europeans and shock from Americans who were struggling to find water easily on travels.
While another TikToker recently shared her experience of trying to eat the "European way." In a video, the 42-year-old woman tried to eat with a fork in the left hand throughout, rather than switching it while eating.
But the continental cutlery left her struggling, and confused Europeans in the comments section on her video.
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