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It varies for us (I'm a single mom with 2 elementary school-aged boys). Some days it's "normal" (ie 5:30-6pm); other times it's closer to 8. All depends on how I'm feeling that day and if I want to cook. :)

It could be a medical issue - before my husband had his heart bypass surgery, we got into the habit of eating supper very early, between 5 and 6 - I got off work at 4, walked through the door and into the kitchen to start supper - the nice part was that I had a long evening as dishes were done by six - to get back to my story, we ate early because my husband would get really bad angina if he ate later and went to bed on a fairly full stomach. It was not pleasant for him and eating early was very helpful.

It is odd to invite a person for supper and then rescind the invitation without an explanation though.

(the invite was recinded because they wanted to do 6, but I can't get out of work till 6, so by the time I get there it will be 7... it was not dinner at someone's home, just a standard "hey lets go out to dinner".)

The incident just got me wondering what time was "normal" for dinner time.

Growing up we had dinner by 5:30, but my mom was a teacher, so she was home by 4 and had time to prepare it.

I usually get home at 7, so we eat around 7:30, 8. But on the weekends, we don't usually eat lunch, so we are starving by 6

We usually eat at about 5:30, give or take depending on prep time. My husband gets off work at 5 and we only live 2 miles from his office. I suppose we could eat later, but we're both usually starving by 5 and I get really cranky when I'm hungry, so we eat then. My grandmother (who mostly raised me) always, without fail, every weekday had dinner on the table promptly at 6pm. Grandad got home from work at about 4:30, had a drink while he read the paper, then dinner.

On occasion we invite our friends over for dinner on a Friday night and they can't get here before 8...so we snack at the usual time and have a late dinner. They don't normally eat dinner until around 8 though, so it works just fine for them.

Around 7 or 8, but in my house it was usually around 9. I grew up in Minnesota where most of my friends would eat at like 5 or 5:30 which seemed ridiculously early to me. In India, I would sometimes leave for dinner parties at 9 pm, as my cousins went to bed--we would finally eat dinner around midnight!

A Persian friend of mine who was living in Sweden said this to me: "White people eat around 5pm and the rest of the world eats about 5 hours later." While not obviously not true for all, it's was funny for someone raised in Scandinavian Minnesota.

First dinner is around 4:30. Second dinner is closer to 8, or whenever I finish my evening workout. (Dinner 2 is usually the larger of the two, but dinner 1 is way too substantial to call it a "snack.") Whaaat? Don't look at me like that! Doesn't everyone eat multiple dinners?!

Between 5 and 6. DH gets up waaaay early, and if we ate late, he'd be going to bed right after. Not such a good idea. He's home early and I work from home, so an early dinner is no problem.

The difference between going out to dinner at 6 or at 7 could be more than just the hour. At 6, you probably get seated right away. At 7, there could be a bit of a wait. If the people who invited are used to eating at 6ish, if the 7pm arrival meant an 8pm meal, they might have been gnawing on their shoes by then.

And people who are used to eating at the same time every day can have bad reactions to eating at any other time. My dad came home at 5pm every night and dinner was on the table shortly afterward. If we went to someone's house and dinner was at 7, he'd be headachy and cranky.

Somewhere between 5:30 and 11 pm.

Never earlier than 7 (usually when we invite somebody over for dinner), often later (when it's just us). When we eat out, we never eat before 7:30, so I guess time-wise, there is no real difference if we eat at home or at a restaurant. When I was single, working a full time job, running a small business and working on my degree, I'd routinely meet friends for supper/dinner round 9 pm.

Strange - I always find myself making dinner and eating at around 5 to 5:30pm and I have a small snack in the evening. Sometimes I'll even eat earlier... perhaps my lunch just isn't big enough.

On a related note, does anyone eat earlyish like me/ even earlier? :)

@jazzinx... I also usually eat dinner around 5 to 5:30. Pretty much as soon as I walk in the door from work. I am always starving by then.

Then around 8 or so, I'll have a small snack of some kind.

Sara
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Most nights between 7:45 and 8:00 pm. DH and I both work until 7:00 pm most nights, so by the time we get home and he fixes supper (NOT a typo, he really does fix the suppers), it generally is in the 8:00 pm range.

If we are eating before the sevenses, it is a sure bet that we are out with friends who have children with them (nothing worse than children who are cranky because they are being fed well after their usual time), we have 8:00 pm theater tickets, or it is Sunday. We even have an understanding with the couple that we dine out with regularly that the "customary" dinner time is 7:30 pm, unless it is Sunday when it shifts to 7:00 pm. I do not know who can meet for dinner out at 6:00 pm during the week. Don't people have jobs?

Some time between 4:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m., depending on the day of the week and what we're doing.

I usually am not home much before 6 pm, and by the time I get dinner on the table it's around 7:00 or later. My kids are usually prostrate on the floor, whining and clutching their tummies, claiming they are starving and cannot wait another minute....sigh.

Man, at 7:00 or even 7:30 pm I'm usually still sitting here at my desk at work. Sometimes my wife (no kids) ends up eating without me because I'd be home too late. Maybe if I didn't waste so much time surfing food sites during the day I could finish my work earlier. Hey, gotta go ....

Left to my own devices, it would be no later than 5:30. I get up at 5 in the morning for school and generally get home around 4-4:30 and am starving. Unfortunately, BF often doesn't get home until 7:30 at the earliest. Sadly, this means wasted calories having a snack so I don't die of hunger. I try to keep it as healthy as I can, but I really detest snacking. Since I think it's important to eat the evening meal together, I try to hold dinner until 8pm. After that, he gets to reheat it. I have to be in bed by 10-10:30 and I'm not going to bed with undigested food in my stomach.

7:30 - immediately following jeopardy!

Sometime between 7:00PM and 9:00PM

I've noticed that since society went to an overworked, hectic, have no time lifestyle, that a lot of people tend to eat late. It's a shame we've allowed ourselves to get this way. I remember a skid, most everyone ate sometime between 5:00PM and 6:30PM.

It varies. We work from home, so some days we eat our "dinner" meal early afternoon. Other days, we eat between 6:30PM and 7:30PM. I like eating earlier in the day and having a snack in the evening.

Because by the time we get home from work, we usually don't eat until between 8 and 9. Sometimes even later. Sometimes on weekends or days we both work from, we eat at 6p or so, which sometimes feels a little weird.

Usually at 6. Occasionally a little llater, like 6:30-7, but rarely later.

DH and I play scrabble almost every afternoon (yes, we are THAT old) so dinner is around 7-ish.

I eat between 5:30-6:30 and again around 11 PM. It's a wonder I'm such a stick person.

glad to see we're not the only ones on a european style schedule. i get home from work by 6 but dinner is rarely before 8, usually around 9. on the weekends we eat around 10. if we go out dinner reservations are usually at 8 to account for the cocktails/order taking/food delivery delay. growing up though, dinner was at 4:30 every day.

Whenever the food is good and ready for me to eat it.