20 Ways to Increase Restaurant Holiday Sales, Week by Week

To increase restaurant holiday sales, sell in the right order: parties and catering in early November, gift cards before Black Friday, take-home feasts and last-minute cards in December. Here are 20 ways to do it, each with a launch date, a channel and the exact visual it needs.

Quick Summary: The 2026 holiday season runs on fixed dates: Thanksgiving on 26 November, Hanukkah from 4 December, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve on Thursdays. The fastest way to increase restaurant holiday sales is to book big-ticket parties first, launch cards by 16 November and have every visual ready a week before launch.

Week-by-week plan to increase restaurant holiday sales (Nov 1 to Dec 31)

The marketing strategies below are scheduled against the 2026 calendar. Each row tells you when to launch, where to announce it and which visual to have ready before it goes live, so you never hunt for a photo in the middle of the rush.

Total: about 30 visuals, mostly an eight-dish holiday set, four drinks and six posters or flyers.

Nov 2 to 15: book the big tickets first (tactics 1–5)

Parties, catering and prepaid set menus are the most valuable covers of the season, and people book them weeks ahead. OpenTable's 2024 research found 55% of Americans planned to dine in groups over the holidays, with parties of six or more up 8% year over year.

1. Corporate party tiers. Three packages, say $45, $65 and $85 a head, drinks allowance printed. Email office managers on 2 November, then call your top 20 customers. Our food flyer ideas cover the layout.

2. Private-dining calendar. List every open December Friday and Saturday on your events page; mark dates as they book. Borrow the deposit terms caterers and event venues use.

3. Office catering trays. Email past clients one overhead tray photo on 9 November. Toast data in FSR Magazine put 35% of 2023's same-store catering orders in Q4, at a $160 average ticket. Caterers: see our catering marketing ideas and large DoorDash orders.

4. Holiday set menu, live early. Put three festive courses on your website and Google Business Profile by 9 November, each with a photo and a line; our dish descriptions guide helps.

5. Ticket 24 and 31 December. Sell two prepaid seatings each night, an early family one and a later, pricier one, so a no-show costs the guest, not you.

Nov 16 to 30: sell gift cards before Black Friday (tactics 6–10)

Cards are the cheapest way to increase restaurant holiday sales, because the cash arrives before the guest does. In the National Restaurant Association's November 2024 survey, 59% of adults planned to give a restaurant gift card this holiday season, rising to 74% of Gen Z.

6. Bonus card, January window. Buy $100 online, get a $20 bonus valid 4 January to 28 February. The Cheesecake Factory ran a $15-per-$50 bonus from 14 November 2024, Restaurant Dive reported. Under Regulation E, paid value can't expire for five years; a labelled promotional card can expire sooner.

7. Card on every check. 48% of adults surveyed planned to buy straight from the restaurant, Restaurant Business reported. Put a tent on every table; the server who sells most by 20 December wins paid time off.

Kraft gift-card envelopes tied with red string on a restaurant host stand, a holiday gift card promotion before Black Friday

8. Experience cards. Sell a chef's-table dinner for two or a cocktail class at a fixed price. Photograph the experience, not the plastic.

9. Flyer in every Thanksgiving bag. Pickup day, 25 November, puts your food on family tables the week people plan December. The tray and pie offers are in our fall restaurant promotion ideas.

10. Black Friday to Cyber Monday. Paytronix counted $17.5 million in restaurant card purchases over the 2024 Thanksgiving weekend, up from $15.8 million, with full-service cards averaging $66. Email the bonus on 27 November, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.

Dec 1 to 6: give weeknights a reason (tactics 11–13)

Early December is when office parties begin and families go out together. These three tactics increase restaurant holiday sales on the weeknights you still have open by giving diners a dated reason to visit: one drinks list, one charity dish, one Hanukkah menu.

11. Holiday drinks list. Four festive cocktails and two zero-proof versions, live 1 December. Drinks are the easiest upsell for bars and lounges; shoot the drinks on a dark background.

12. Giving Tuesday dish. Pledge $2 from every order of one dish to a local food bank, then announce it on social media and to local press.

13. Hanukkah, 4 to 12 December. Run latkes, brisket or sufganiyot as specials for all eight nights, photographed without trees, tinsel or red-and-green props.

Overhead of restaurant Hanukkah specials: latkes with applesauce, brisket and sufganiyot beside a lit silver menorah

Dec 7 to 23: catch take-home and last-minute buyers (tactics 14–18)

By mid-December most diners have booked their nights out, so the last big chance to increase restaurant holiday sales sits in take-home feasts, edible gifts and last-minute cards. The NRA's 2023 survey found 48% of adults planned takeout or delivery during the holidays.

14. Christmas Eve feast pickup. Dinner for six, collected 24 December, with online ordering closing 20 December. You buy against a known count.

Christmas Eve restaurant takeout feast for six unpacked on a family dining table, a pre-ordered pickup that boosts holiday revenue

15. Pastry gift boxes. A $30 box of house cookies by the register sells to customers who need a host gift tonight. Bakeries can pre-sell boxes to offices.

16. Geo-targeted ads. Reach diners within a few miles through Instagram ads and Facebook ads, and bid on "holiday party" searches in Google Ads. Never boost a blurry photo.

17. 12-day social media countdown. One dish, drink or offer a day from 13 to 24 December, cut from your set. Our Instagram routine keeps it under two hours a week; invite local food creators for day one.

18. Last-minute e-cards. Paytronix data shows 23 December is typically the season's best day for gift card sales. Text loyalty members on 21 and 23 December with an online link that delivers instantly.

Dec 24 to 31: turn the rush into January (tactics 19–20)

The final week is your last chance to increase restaurant holiday sales and your first chance to fill January. These two tactics help you seat families with relatives in town, and give customers a dated reason to come back in a slow month.

19. Family table for eight. A fixed-price long-table lunch from 26 to 30 December for customers with family visiting. Post it on your Google profile.

20. January bounce-back card. Hand every guest a $10 card valid 4 to 31 January, and email it to your loyalty list. Toast reported card redemptions 76% above the annual average in January 2021.

Make every visual on the calendar from photos you already have

You don't need a December shoot to increase restaurant holiday sales. Take one window-light phone photo of each dish, then restyle it in FoodShot with Christmas food photo styles or Thanksgiving food photo presets. The dish stays yours; the table, light and props change.

Poster Mode turns them into the counter poster, party flyer and New Year's Eve poster; My Styles keeps your brand's look. FoodShot makes artwork only; print wherever you usually do. Commercial use needs a paid plan, since free images are watermarked, and 30 visuals fit in one month of the Business plan's 100 credits. More year-round tactics: restaurant marketing ideas.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should a restaurant start holiday marketing?

Start party outreach by the first week of November. Have card offers live by mid-November: Paytronix saw 2024 card buying surge up to two weeks before Black Friday, and customers who book early help you staff the holiday season.

What is the fastest way to increase restaurant holiday sales?

Gift cards. They cost almost nothing to launch, bring cash in ahead of time and, with a January bonus, boost a quiet month. The NRF's 2025 survey found gift cards were the most-wanted gift of the holiday season, named by 50% of shoppers.

Should restaurants open on Christmas Day?

Only if prepaid tickets cover the cost. Christmas falls on a Friday in 2026: easy to fill, hard to staff. If you close, sell the feast for pickup instead.