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Here's a question for today: if you have to work late at the office, what do you eat? Do you have a budget from the office or the client that you can order food through an app like Seamless — in which case, what do you order?
Do you consciously order enough food for leftovers (for the next day's lunch, for example) or snacks (for later that evening)? Do you have a few dinners on repeat or do you order something new every night? Is there a culture of shared food at your office (for example, people eat dinner at a common area and then return to their desk)? Is it easy to get reimbursed for food purchases or is it frowned upon as a “it must be necessary” expense?
I've seen a ton of different approaches here amongst friends and coworkers, from the person who prefers to pick up a fast food sandwich or soup on their own dime, to the person who orders steak dinners every night and bills the client.
(For those of you who are parents who have to leave the office at a set time to do daycare pickup or relieve the nanny, but have to work after the kids are in bed, does it feel like you've lost a major benefit or perk?)
Psst: we've talked in the past about the best energy foods to keep you going on long days, snack ideas for work, taking leftovers from your business lunch, saving money on lunch, and strategic dieting while working a corporate gig.
Picture via Stencil.
Wow
I work in gov’t now so no Seamless for me anymore, but I don’t miss it. The options were generally terrible and unhealthy. The place next to my office was delicious but so unhealthy (mac and cheese, fries, etc.). Now when I work late I just pack leftovers or make a sandwich.
Cb
I’m in academia so this isn’t a thing but remember the wonder of Osha Thai delivery in my San Francisco days.
Anonymous
When I was in biglaw I often ordered seamless and it was always so tempting to order something really unhealthy because i was so tired and miserable and wanted to treat myself because I had to work late. I totally get how people who routinely eat at the office gain a lot of weight. It was always so hard at that time of day to make good decisions. Now I work at a much smaller firm in a smaller city and have never once eaten at the office. I don’t even think anywhere stays open that you could order from.
Marshmallow
Yup, I struggle with this. I just don’t want a salad at 9:00 p.m. with hours in the office still in front of me. I’ve wound up saving a few go-tos that are satisfying but not terribly unhealthy: poke on brown rice, whole wheat pasta with meat and veggies, burrito bowl over quinoa. It’s also beneficial that the really bad food I tend to crave is fries, which are just never crispy and satisfying by the time they reach you from Seamless.
Yup
This is so true. My go to meal was a veggie burger with a gazillion fries on the side.
Anon
Anyone not in law with this perk? I am a consultant (small firm) and working late in the office is pretty normal, but you have to provide your own food (or go home, eat, and work the rest of the night from home).
Real Estate
I’m in real estate. They don’t pay for our food when we work late. We have to fight to keep the lights on at the office and food delivery is near impossible with all the security hoops. We often just leave and go to a diner with our laptops. Super morale booster, as you can imagine.
BB
The big consulting firms have this perk, too.
Baconpancakes
When I worked for a Big Data firm, we had this perk. Didn’t get to pick what we ordered, though; 4/5 times it was pizza.
NY CPA
I’m in public accounting, and we get dinner paid for when we work past around 7 or 7:30.
Sam
Investment banking has this perk too, I used to order seamless a few years ago in this situation (no longer in I-Banking)
Anon
I’m at a tiny consulting firm (but legal consulting, so we work with lawyers) and we bill our clients if we work past like… 7 I think? We don’t order seamless though, we usually leave and get pizza or a sandwich or whatever and just turn the receipt in for petty cash.
Houda
In MBB consulting. Dinner is expensed on the client case code if working at the office.
S
Do people really order extra food to have it for the next day’s lunch and bill it to their company (or worse) client? That seems so needlessly unethical. It’s not enough how much the client is already being billed? That’s like the $10 aspirin folks hate so much in health care. It’s the sort of thing that in itself doesn’t really matter but if someone notices that it throws rest of your impression in doubt.
Legally Brunette
When I was in Big Law we had a $25 or $30 limit for dinner and I think at least $10 of that was for delivery. So with only $15 or $20 left it was difficult to get two meals out of it, not that I would want to anyways. Also the food generally sucked so I would avoid it when I could and bring in a frozen Amy’s entree.
Marshmallow
Ordering extra food for later is certainly unethical. In practice though, I do tend to order types of food that make good leftovers, because most entrees are just more food than I’m likely to eat in one sitting and literally anything I order is going to make lunch or dinner the following day anyway. So I’ll order pasta or shish kebabs etc., but usually won’t order fish or salad because half of it will go to waste. My firm also has a fairly low (for our area) limit on Seamless so it’s not like you could even order two dishes if you wanted to.
Ellen
I am NOT at big law, but do NOT think eating c/o the cleint is unethical. Otherwise, How could I work late w/o eating? Whenever I work late AT the office, I call in for takeout. And then I bring it home if I don’t eat it here. I prefer to eat it at the office b/c then I can bill the time to eat to the cleint. On weekends when I work from home, I order takeout and bill ALL time to the cleint’s, portal to portal. YAY!!
Anonymous
I don’t order an extra meal, I just pick one meal within the cost limits I know will keep. It’s less wasted food not increased spending.
Anonymous
Does it change your mind if there’s a dollar limit, like Legally Brunette said? On a $20 limit, it’s hard to order something healthful and have leftovers, though otoh the portions at some places are so huge you’re always going to have leftovers. Like maybe I ordered chicken alfredo and it ended up being a giant portion that I couldn’t finish in one sitting. Of course I’m going to have the rest for lunch tomorrow, just like I would if I’d bought it with my own money. And from a budget perspective, what does it matter if I got 2 meals out of $20 while my healthy coworker ordered a $20 salad with grilled salmon and finished it all?
cbackson
So your last sentence is what the issue is, I think. To put it in billing terms, it’s a cap, not a fixed fee. The idea is that the client is paying the cost of one meal, up to $20 (a cap), not that the client is paying $20 and you can buy as many meals as you can get with that (a fixed fee).
Houda
I have this weird thing where I only eat food that was made recently so it would never cross my mind to eat leftovers. Also, client is paying for the food eaten to power through night hours, so I wouldn’t use the budget to buy something for myself.
Anonymous
When I was in biglaw, you could order delivery if you were in the office past 6:30. There weren’t many healthy delivery options so I almost always just brought my own food instead.
Anon 2
Were you expected to stay later after eating? At a prior firm, they offered dinner once/week but no rule on how late you had to work to get it. You had to order by 2 pm and it arrived at 6 pm. A lot of people would order, say they had intended on working late but the issue had “cleared up” and take their food home. I would order and stay until 7:30 or 8 but that still seemed like I was leaving too “early” for the dinner benefit, in my own head, even if hardly anyone else was still around. It was from a fairly unhealthy place too. Pizza, burgers, steak tips, that kind of food.
Meg March
At my old firm (now back in school), you had a $25 limit and could order dinner if you were staying until 8. Standard practice was to decide on a place (or a couple places) and then ask anyone else staying late if they wanted to add on. No one thought it rude if you didn’t ask others, so it wasn’t a huge burden, but as a paralegal, I always asked the other paras and the atty I was staying late for.
S
Sushi was my go-to when big law would pay for it. High protein, not fried. It felt like a treat and made 12+ hour days seem bearable, but it filled me up and didn’t come with a side of fries.
biglawanon
Our HQ has dinner served in a conference room every night. The other offices I regularly go to have an email go out, and the receptionist orders from the same place for everyone who want it with a $20 limit. I think it varies based on day of the week. Both are healthy or have healthy options.
Anonymous
I remember the days when I thought this was a perk. Now, the real perk seems to be working in a place that doesn’t expect you to stay past 6pm absent really dire circumstances.
Anonymous
So much this.
NY CPA
+1000
Anonymous
OMG yes.
Oops
When I was in Biglaw I definitely ordered up to my allotted amount. I genuinely didn’t think of it as unethical at the time but reading these comments is making me rethink that! I’d save leftovers in my office mini-fridge and eat them for lunch the following day. Or I’d get a bunch of little things including fruit or yogurt and stock my fridge. FWIW this was completely common in my NY Biglaw office. Just standard practice.
Now if I work late I can raid office snacks but there’s definitely no dinner policy/expense (nor is there anywhere I could order from if I wanted to), which is no fun. But agreed much happier to just go home for dinner!
newbie
My midsize law firm has “dinner” ordered in at 7pm. It alternates between pizza and sandwiches, when I was a summer, it was potbellys and before then people got to order and get it comped. Also food in the cafe area (chips, granola bars, or frozen far ala gas station dining) is comped. I like to stock up granola bars (good stuff with protein like cliff or RX bars) every now and then. I find that on the nights I really need to work late, I don’t usually like to wander over the kitchen if I’m in the zone and can wrap up before 8pm. It’s nice to have the snack there and I feel like I’ve “earned” it.