Keep in mind that many restaurants (outside London) that are open late usually have last meal orders taken around 10 to 10:30. If you're landing between 9 - 9:30 PM and heading away from London you're probably out of luck if you want something better than road service centers or fast food.

It is pretty grim immediately around heathrow. Eat in the airport if you can. You won't find a nice restaurant open after 11.

Fabulous! thanks for the tips, I really appreciate it!

Plenty of places in London are open all night, but you'll struggle to find anything (other than motorway service stations) with all night or late night food outside London.

In London, if you'll really feel like it after your flight, you'll find cafes open in Soho (famously Bar Italia on Greek Street), Beigel Bake (bagel bakery in Brick Lane) open 24 hours, Tinseltown (burgers etc) in Farringdon, Duck and Waffle (top of Heron Tower - this would be a very cool place to go after a long flight, actually)...

If arriving from the US and landing after 9 PM surely they should feed you dinner on the plane?

By the time you clear customs and collect the car it will likely be closer to 11 PM or even later (don't underestimate how long it may take to collect rental cars at airports).

I would grab something to eat at Heathrow. There's a few coffee shops outside customs in Terminal 5 where you can grab a quick sandwich (have them warm it up). By the time you collect the car and leave the airport, any decent restaurant will be closing down as the UK doesn't do continental hours, especially outside London.

Maybe Carluccio's or the Sofitel, both in Terminal 5. If you can do with sandwiches and so on, there's also an M&S there.

No we are planning to rent a car and head out of the city....

Are you going into London via Heathrow Express? It is very quick - 15 minutes - and there are a ton of places inside and immediately outside Paddington Station that will surely be open.

Getting a flight to Heathrow, London that arrives after 9pm, once through the customs and passport control figure we should be out around 10ish - any places still serving a hot meal at that time of night or are we out of luck?