In the United States, most households eat dinner between 5:07 p.m. and 8:19 p.m., with the peak at 6:19 p.m.[1] That’s based on American Time Use Survey data. A more recent survey suggests weekday dinners may be drifting even earlier, since a CivicScience study from March 2025 put the average at about 5:53 p.m.[2]
Take that baseline abroad and things can get awkward. You may find a restaurant with the lights on and nobody at the tables, or a kitchen that hasn’t started service yet. These eight countries are where that happens most often.
Spain
Spain is the usual example, and the reputation holds up. Restaurants there typically don’t open until around 8 p.m., and they don’t fill up properly until around 9 p.m.[3] Locals often sit down between roughly 9:30 and 10:30 p.m., according to a comparison reported by idealista[4].
The time zone is a common explanation. Spain’s clocks run an hour ahead of Portugal’s, a change made permanent in 1942.[5] Effectively, what was once a typical 9 p.m. dinner now takes place at 10 p.m. because Spain follows Central European Time.[5]
Greece
Greek dinners tend to start when many Americans are winding down for the night. Travel guides put the usual window between 9 and 10 p.m.[6] Some accounts say it can run to around 10 p.m. or later.[7]
Lunch explains a lot of it. The largest meal of the day is typically enjoyed around 2 or 3 p.m.[7] Since that meal can stretch for hours, nobody is hungry for another big one until well into the evening.
Portugal
Portugal sits next to Spain but runs a little earlier, and it still lands well past the American norm. Estimates for a typical dinner time are 9 to 10 p.m.[4] Other travel sources put it closer to 9 p.m.
The gap with Spain is partly about the clock. Portugal keeps the time zone that geography suggests, so the sun sets an hour earlier by local time. Locals there still eat well after the American dinner rush, though.
Italy
Italy isn’t uniform. Guides commonly list 8 to 9 p.m.[6] as the range, and one travel site puts the typical evening meal at 9 p.m. Season and region make a difference too.
Head south and it gets later. Dinner is often eaten later the farther south you go in Italy.[5] The reasons are partly weather variations but also tradition.[5]
Argentina
Argentina brings the late dinner across the Atlantic. In Buenos Aires, the biggest meal of the day is eaten at lunchtime[5], and a later meal after 9 p.m. is the norm for most locals, known as Porteños.[5]
Restaurants follow that rhythm. According to Turismo Buenos Aires, they don’t tend to open until at least 8 p.m. and will still be busy as the clock approaches midnight.[5] If you show up at 6 p.m., you’ll likely have the place to yourself, if the doors are open at all.
Uruguay
Uruguay is Argentina’s neighbor across the Río de la Plata, and the habits are much the same. Daily Passport notes that a similar pattern can be seen on the opposite bank of the river in Uruguay.[5] That means dinner starts late in the evening.
I couldn’t find a precise national average for Uruguay, so it’s safest to think of it as sharing the Buenos Aires rhythm. Travelers who plan around a 9 p.m. table won’t be caught off guard. Anything much earlier may leave you waiting.
Croatia
Croatia is often overlooked in these comparisons. One European dining roundup lists 9 p.m. as the typical dinner time there[8], matching Portugal and Italy. That’s a full hour or two later than a typical American evening meal.
The same source ties the timing to the coast, saying Croatians eat at a more Mediterranean hour to take advantage of Adriatic sunsets.[8] It’s a traveler’s guide rather than official data. Still, it fits the wider pattern of later dinners in southern Europe.
France
France is the mildest entry here, but it still runs later than the United States. Dining guides place the usual dinner hour between 8 and 8:30 p.m.[6] That’s roughly two hours after the American peak.
Restaurants may open earlier than locals actually show up. A resident of southern France reports that restaurants usually open for dinner at 7, but most people arrive around 8 to 8:30.[9] Work schedules probably play a part too, but that’s a common explanation rather than a proven one.
Quick Reference for Travelers
Compared with the American peak of 6:19 p.m., typical dinner times run roughly as follows. France is about 8 to 8:30 p.m. Italy is about 8 to 9 p.m., Portugal and Croatia about 9 p.m., and Greece 9 to 10 p.m. Spain runs 9:30 to 10:30 p.m., while Argentina and Uruguay commonly start after 9 p.m.
