All-night diner: Edmonton teen documents his 16-hour visit to Denny's
Hayden Anderson's overnight food foray garners attention online
Anyone know how long it's possible to eat at a Denny's?
It's a simple question that garnered one Edmonton teen a lot of online attention Monday evening.
Hayden Anderson, 17, asked the question Monday evening on Reddit, starting any odyssey that ended with a 16-hour visit to the Denny's location near MacEwan University on 104th Avenue.
"Basically I came here with someone and after she left, I just kind of like, didn't want to leave," he said Monday evening, seven hours into his stay at the 24-hour diner.
"So I just was like 'Alright, you know, I'm just going to stay here.' And then I stayed here for a while and they didn't seem to mind me, so I was just like, 'I wonder how long I could stay here?'"
Anderson said when his friend left, he hadn't finished his food and wanted to take his time. He quickly theorized that as long as he ordered food intermittently he'd be able to stay as long as he wanted and take advantage of the free coffee refills.
Anderson's all-night dining journey quickly jumped to the top spot in the Edmonton subreddit as questions and words of encouragement poured in.
On Reddit, other users shared similar tales of all-night dining, as well as tips about what he could do to pass the time and how to avoid being kicked out.
"It's [been] surprisingly supportive, I've been getting a lot of people that are cheering me on," he said.
Between orders and documenting his story on Reddit under the username sexy-snickers, the Grade 12 student spent most of his time studying. He said he felt the diner was a better place to study than his home, because there are fewer distractions.
"We've got some diploma tests at the end of the month and I want to make sure I'm completely ready for that," Anderson said. "[But] that's kind of more an excuse. I more just wanted to sit at Denny's."
After berry banana pancakes, a French toast breakfast, meatloaf and plenty of coffee, Anderson's enduring eatery exploration ended at 8 a.m. Tuesday when he had to leave for school.
"I didn't expect this many people to be interested in me just sitting in a Denny's, but here we are," he said.
With files from Pippa Reed
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