Blog / December 3, 2020
Reimagine Your Restaurant’s Holiday Season with These 7 Tips
Stephanie Schalow
While the holiday season might look a little different this year, restaurants can still meaningfully connect with their guests and maximize revenue while keeping safety top of mind. Take time to reimagine what your revenue streams will look like during the holidays as you welcome some guests in your dining rooms and serve others off-premise. We’re sharing actionable tips for reinventing your restaurant experience for a pandemic-proof holiday season. Here’s a sneak peek at those tips:
- Repurpose your private dining rooms
- Make the most of your outdoor space
- Meet guests where they are: at home
- Expand your brand with holiday-themed packaging
- Use targeted marketing to promote virtual events
- Show appreciation to loyal guests with holiday incentives
- Promote gift cards
1. Repurpose Private Dining Rooms
Section off areas of your private dining rooms with festive greenery and allow groups to book micro holiday parties. These intimate gatherings can be COVID-safe when abiding by local rules and regulations, and let you provide guests with the same level of service they know and appreciate. Take reservations for these intimate holiday gatherings to ensure you follow capacity restrictions across your space. Outside of reservations, you can also minimize no-shows during the lucrative holiday season by selling tickets for private room bookings through customized event landing pages that secure revenue deposits in advance. By taking bookings, you can also set time limits on private dining reservations to maximize revenue. Just make sure to leave enough time between seatings for proper cleaning between parties. After the booking, the fun begins! Make things merry and bright with exclusive menus for your private dining guests. Offer guests the option to choose from seasonal drinks paired with warm bar-style snacks or extravagant charcuterie boards. The sky’s the limit when it comes to offering creative event packages that drive more dollars.2. Optimize Your Restaurant’s Outdoor Space
If budget and space permit, invest in socially-distanced outdoor structures. Temporary sidewalk patios and awnings are optimal for creating large outdoor dining rooms, while tents, igloos, and cabanas are popular options for seating individual parties. Winterize your outdoor space with partitions and heat lamps to maximize covers and keep guests coming back all season long. Don’t forget to deck out your outdoor space with seasonal decor and festive lighting. Turn outdoor dining into a special treat by creating a prix fixe experience that’s bookable with tickets. When reserving these spaces in advance, guests can make personal requests, list allergies, or note if they’re celebrating a special occasion. Honoring these requests will delight first-time guests and turn them into regulars.
Mr. Purple in New York City is making the most of their outdoor space with a festive igloo
3. Meet Guests Where They Are: At Home
Go beyond your delivery menu by recreating the full restaurant dining experience at home. Craft a curated menu available for takeout and delivery that features your most popular — and most profitable — dishes as part of multi-course meals, or in a large-format for family-style meals. Offer an upgraded takeout experience with deluxe add-ons like elevated plasticware, printed menus, cookbooks, candles, desserts and more.
New York City’s Portale offered whole pies for pickup for Thanksgiving
One such example is Portale in New York City, who seasonally rotate their menus for guests. They recently offered takeout guests a Thanksgiving dinner box for two, with whole pies as add-ons.
Some guests may prefer to dine at home but are still craving a guided dining experience beyond the traditional à la carte takeout model. Cater to these guests’ holiday wishes with elevated takeout and delivery offers.
4. Expand Your Brand with Holiday-Themed Packaging
Holiday packaging is a staple for many retail brands, and with good reason! Festive, branded shopping bags turn heads wherever customers take them. Similarly, your to-go bags, beverage containers, and takeout menus can be walking billboards for your restaurant.
Ai Fiori’s red takeout bags make a statement
Take, for example, NY-based Ai Fiori’s bright red take out bags. They feature the restaurant’s iconic logo and website to order directly. From updating your font in seasonal colors to writing a festive message, there are endless ways to make your packaging Instagram-worthy!
Creating highly noticeable packaging for the holidays that showcases your brand aesthetic will exponentially increase brand awareness and gives you an item that can be used year after year.