A New Year’s Eve restaurant package is a set offer for 31 December: a menu, a seating time, a price and clear terms, so guests know what they are booking and you know what you are cooking. The night only works if the price covers your food, extra labour and any entertainment after fewer table turns, and if a deposit or prepayment protects you when someone does not show up. For 2026, New Year’s Eve falls on Thursday, 31 December, and New Year’s Day is Friday, 1 January 2027.
Quick answer
- Choose a format that fits your room: a seated set menu, two seatings, a ticketed countdown, or a simpler early dinner for guests heading on to a party.
- Price the package from the most expensive combination of dishes, plus holiday labour, the toast, entertainment and the fact that late tables often stay until after midnight.
- Say exactly what is included: courses, drinks, tax, service or tip, and the time guests need to leave if you are running two seatings.
- Take a deposit or full prepayment, write the cancellation terms in plain language, and confirm every table a day or two before.
- Publish the rota early, check late-night licensing, and set special hours on Google for 31 December and 1 January, including hours that run past midnight.
This is general information, not legal, tax or licensing advice. Rules on late opening, alcohol, deposits and cancellations differ by country, and often by city, so check the rules where you operate. This article does not contain affiliate links.
What kind of New Year’s Eve event should you run?
Start with the room you have, not a nightclub you cannot staff. The best New Year’s Eve restaurant ideas are the ones your kitchen and floor team can repeat for a full house without losing the plot at 11 p.m.
| Format | Who it suits | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| One seated set menu, arriving for a late dinner and staying for a midnight toast | Most restaurants that already do a strong Saturday night | Fewer turns, so the price has to carry the whole evening |
| Two seatings: an earlier, shorter dinner and a later seating that includes midnight | Rooms that can turn tables cleanly and want two different prices | The early sitting must leave on time; print the times on the booking |
| A ticketed bar or countdown party, with canapés or a short menu | Bars, restaurants with a lounge, or a room that is better standing than sat down at 12 | Capacity, door control, and a licence that covers the format |
| An early family or pre-party dinner, then a close before midnight | Neighbourhood restaurants whose team or neighbours will not thank you for a 2 a.m. finish | Say clearly that you will not be open for the countdown, so nobody arrives expecting it |
| A takeaway or pick-up New Year’s Eve feast | Kitchens that can prep ahead, and guests who want to stay in | A hard pre-order cut-off, and a collection window you can actually meet |
You can mix these. Many restaurants run a quieter early sitting and a late package with the toast. A small bar area can be ticketed even if the dining room is fully reserved. What you should not do is leave New Year’s Eve as a normal à la carte service and hope walk-ins fill the gaps. Tables that stay late cannot be replaced, and no-shows on this night are hard to refill.
If Christmas marketing is still open, keep the two calendars together; the week-by-week plan is in Christmas marketing ideas for restaurants.
How should you set seatings and the menu?
If you run two seatings, make the split obvious. The early sitting is usually a shorter menu, a lower price and a clear leave-by time, for families, older guests and people going on to a party. The late sitting is the night: more courses or a slower pace, the midnight toast, and a price that reflects a table held until the early hours.
Put arrival times, kitchen last orders and, for the early sitting, the time the table is needed back, on the booking page and the confirmation. Brief the floor team to mention it again when guests sit down. A late early-sitting is how the second service starts behind and never catches up.
Keep the set menu short. A few starters, a few mains including a vegetarian option you are proud of, and a dessert you can plate quickly is enough. Collect main-course choices and allergens in advance for the late sitting especially. Supplements for a luxury dish are fine if they are optional and printed, not sprung on the table.
Decide whether drinks sit inside the package or as add-ons: a welcome glass, a pairing, a bottle of sparkling wine for the table, or a midnight pour. Whatever you choose, cost it, and do not quietly assume a full bar spend on top if the invitation already sounds all-inclusive.
How do you price a New Year’s Eve restaurant package?
Build the price from your costs, then check it against similar rooms in your city. Do not start with a number you saw on another restaurant’s website and work backwards. Prices vary widely by city, concept and what is included, so somebody else’s package is a reference, not a target.
Work through the package in this order:
- Cost the food at the most expensive combination of choices. On New Year’s Eve, guests often pick the premium main. If the menu lets someone choose the costly dish at every course, that is your plate cost. Use the food cost calculator for the dishes, then the menu price calculator to see whether the package price still leaves a sensible margin.
- Add labour for the actual night, not a normal Thursday. That includes extra hours after midnight, any public-holiday pay or time in lieu your local law or contracts require, and perhaps a stronger floor and kitchen than a midweek service. In Thailand, 31 December 2026 is a national holiday on the official 2026 holiday list, which can change both demand and staffing rules. Check the labour cost guide and your scheduling and contract basics.
- Add the extras that only exist this night: the toast, decorations, party favours, a musician or DJ, security if you need it, and any higher produce prices at the end of December.
- Be honest about table turns. A late sitting that stays for the countdown is often one turn. If you only have one sitting, the package has to carry the whole evening. If you have two, the early sitting can be priced as a shorter meal, but only if those tables really leave.
- Write the price the way a guest will read it. State what is per person, whether tax is included, and whether service, tip or a suggested gratuity is on top. Hidden extras on 31 December create arguments at the end of a long night.
Then look at the total and ask a simple question: after food, labour and extras, is the contribution worth opening, compared with closing and giving the team the night? If it is not, change the format, raise the price, or close. Do not open as a favour to a handful of regulars and hope the bar spend saves you.
Should you take a deposit for New Year’s Eve?
Yes, unless the table is prepaid in full. A no-show on 31 December is rarely replaced, and the food for a set menu is often already prepped. A deposit per person, a deposit per table, or full prepayment of the package can all work. Choose the method your booking system or payment link can actually collect, and use it for every reserved table, not only large groups.
Write the terms in the same words on the booking page, the confirmation and the reminder:
- How much is due now, and when the balance is due.
- When a cancellation is refunded, partly refunded or kept, and how a guest can change the headcount.
- Whether the deposit is deducted from the bill, which it should be if they attend.
- What happens if you have to cancel, including how you will refund them.
Keep the policy firm and fair. Confirm every booking a day or two before, by phone or message, and release the table if you cannot reach them and your terms allow it. Local rules on deposits, refunds and no-show charges are not the same everywhere, so have yours checked if you are unsure.
How should you staff New Year’s Eve, and what else do you need to check?
Publish the rota early and be clear about the finish time, transport home and the pay for the night. A ticketed late sitting needs enough of the team to still be sharp at midnight, which may mean a later start for some and a proper break. Do not run a celebration service one person short because it looks busy on paper.
Check the practical permissions before you sell the last ticket:
- Your alcohol licence and closing time, including any extension you need if you will serve after your usual hours or past midnight.
- Capacity, if you are mixing a seated dinner with a standing countdown.
- Music, recorded or live, and any neighbours who will hear a countdown.
- Special hours on Google for 31 December and 1 January. If you stay open past midnight, Google’s special hours help says a single block cannot exceed 24 hours, so you split the hours across the two dates, for example until midnight on the 31st and from midnight on the 1st.
Tell guests the useful details up front: dress code if you have one, arrival time, whether children are welcome at the late sitting, and how the midnight moment will work. A short, accurate event page prevents a lot of messages on the day.
If you close on New Year’s Day, say so at the same time. Friday, 1 January 2027 will be a public holiday in many countries. A New Year’s Day brunch can be a good second product if the team has the legs for it, but it should be planned as its own service, not a leftover of the night before.
Checklist
New Year’s Eve restaurant package checklist
Use this before you put the package on sale, then again the week of the event.
The offer
- Format chosen: one sitting, two seatings, ticketed party or early close
- Set menu costed at the most expensive combination of dishes
- Labour, toast, entertainment and fewer turns added into the price
- Inclusions, tax and service stated clearly on the booking page
- Deposit or prepayment set up, with cancellation terms in writing
The night itself
- Arrival, leave-by and kitchen times printed on the confirmation
- Pre-orders and allergens collected for set-menu tables
- Rota published, with finish time, pay and a way home agreed
- Late-night licensing and capacity checked
- Special hours set on Google for 31 December and 1 January
- Every table confirmed a day or two before
Opens as a plain text file you can print or paste into your own document.
Frequently asked questions
How do you price a New Year’s Eve restaurant package?
Cost the set menu at the most expensive combination of choices, then add holiday labour, the toast, entertainment and the effect of fewer table turns. Check the number against similar rooms in your city, and state clearly whether tax and service are included.
Should restaurants take a deposit for New Year’s Eve?
Yes, or take full prepayment. A no-show on 31 December is hard to replace. Put the amount, the cancellation rules and how the deposit comes off the bill in the booking confirmation, and confirm every table before the night.
How many seatings should you run on New Year’s Eve?
One late sitting is enough if tables will stay for midnight. Two seatings work when the early sitting is shorter, cheaper and has a firm leave-by time. Do not add a second sitting unless you can actually turn the room.
What should be included in a NYE package?
At a minimum, the set menu and the seating time. Then decide whether a welcome drink, a midnight toast, entertainment or party favours are inside the price or sold as add-ons. Write the inclusions down so the bill matches the invitation.
When should you start selling your New Year’s Eve restaurant package?
As soon as the menu, price and terms are ready, ideally several weeks ahead. If you are starting in mid-November 2026, you still have time, but the package should go live now, not in late December.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help: how to set special hours, including hours that run past midnight
- Permanent Mission of Thailand to ASEAN: official holidays B.E. 2569 (2026), including New Year’s Eve as a Thai national holiday
