Late night dining, also known as “night lunch,” is a popular trend among shift workers, students, and party-goers. Some nutritionists suggest that eating several smaller meals throughout the day, including a lighter nighttime lunch, may be better for metabolism. Many restaurants and universities offer late night meals to cater to this crowd.
When Taco Bell first introduced its “Fourth Meal” promotional campaign, critics were concerned about adding an additional heavy meal to America’s already bloated meal plan. As it turns out, Taco Bell and other restaurants were simply tapping into an established practice known as night dining. A night lunch is an additional meal, either dinner or breakfast, usually eaten after 9.00pm or later. Some night lunches serve as regular dinners or breakfasts for shift workers, but others are eaten by late-night party-goers or students holding all-night study sessions.
The idea of a nightly lunch may not appeal to those who stick to a traditional breakfast, lunch and dinner schedule, but sometimes a person may need to eat smaller meals or skip a traditional meal altogether. Several hours after a light dinner, for example, a night owl may find a few pangs of hunger. Normally these pangs can be ignored during sleep, but sometimes the simplest cure is a fourth meal or a nightly lunch.
Some nutritionists believe that some people are better served by eating several smaller meals throughout the day instead of three large meals at traditional times. A lighter nighttime lunch eaten several hours before bedtime may be better for a person’s metabolism than a long period of fasting after a traditional dinner.
Many customers and 24-hour restaurants anticipate the late-night lunch crowd by scheduling more employees between 9:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m., after local nightclubs and other entertainment centers close. Crowds of hungry bar patrons and late night movie goers often end their nights by frequenting restaurants that serve late night lunches or quarter meals. Cruise ships may also offer midnight buffets to their passengers as a form of late night dining.
The popularity of late night meals has prompted many universities to offer their cafeteria services at the 4th meal. Students on a college meal plan can use their memberships to get a nightly lunch during night study sessions. University libraries may also have cafes that serve late night meals, or school administrators may contract with an outside franchise to provide 4th meal to students on campus.
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