The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is “one of the most extraordinary ventures in the entire history of catering” (98). Since it exists at the end of time, one of the major problems associated with the restaurant is grammar: A special tense has been developed to discuss the restaurant that will be built at the end of the universe.

Zaphod and Ford drink heavily, with Zaphod insisting that everything is “cool and froody” (101). The restaurant is very popular since it claims to offer “the greatest show in the universe” (105).

Ford recognizes an old acquaintance, Hotblack Desiato, who is now a member of the loudest rock band in the universe. Ford approaches Hotblack and tries to engage him in conversation. Hotblack remains quiet, however, and his bodyguard eventually explains that he “speaks to no one” (109).

Hotblack Desiato is a member of the band Disaster Area, whose pyrotechnic stage show is so destructive that it’s banned on many planets. Ford returns to Zaphod and explains that Hotblack is silent because he’s “spending a year dead for tax reasons” (111). Meanwhile, the restaurant’s host, Max Quordlepleen, runs through his familiar show by welcoming the diners to “a fabulous evening’s apocalypse” (114).

Arthur is horrified by the arrival of a large dairy animal that has been deliberately bred to consent to being eaten. The talking animal describes its various offerings and assures the diners that it wishes to be eaten. The house band plays on as the evening builds toward “a stupefying climax” (117).

Max praises the various groups in the restaurant as part of his usual routine. Ford drunkenly tries to explain the nature of the universe to Arthur through a complicated analogy. Zaphod receives a phone call from Marvin. Since Marvin didn’t transport with them, he has been waiting for them for “a considerable number of millennia” (125). He now works as a valet at the restaurant, which is built in a place that was once known as Frogstar World B. The characters were sent many millions of years into the future, but they’re technically in the same geographic space, making this the nearest restaurant to them, as Zaphod had requested.

Zaphod decides that they need to leave, so he urges the characters out and signs Hotblack Desiato’s name on the bill. Behind them, the universe begins to end.

Zaphod is no longer interested in returning to the Heart of Gold, so he suggests that they steal another ship. After inspecting the luxurious spaceships in the parking garage, he eventually settles on a “wonderfully hideous” black ship that belongs to Hotblack.

With Marvin’s help, they gain entry to the ship, but since everything inside is black, they can’t work the controls. Meanwhile, Hotblack and his bodyguard leave the restaurant so that Hotblack can perform at a concert. They board their own limousine and then set the black ship to autopilot.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy includes many “statistic[s] relating to the geo-social nature of the Universe” (141). Due to the infinite nature of the Universe, the guide lists the exports, imports, population, monetary units, art, and sex of the universe as “none.”

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe continues to exist due to “temporal relastatics” that protect it and allow the staff to prepare for the next sitting. Meanwhile, the characters are trapped aboard Hotblack’s ship since they can’t disengage the autopilot. They’re leaving the end of the Universe and “plummeting backward through time” (148), which makes them feel sick.

Marvin observes that, since Arthur is a survivor of Earth just before it was destroyed, the valuable Question to the Ultimate Answer is actually encoded in his brainwave patterns. Before they can decipher the Question, they realize that they’ve traveled too far into the past. The ship stops suddenly and knocks the characters down as the control panels light up.