Christmas Marketing Ideas for Restaurants (2026 Plan)

Christmas marketing ideas for restaurants work best as a week-by-week plan, not a last-minute burst of posts. From mid-November to Christmas, the job is to publish a clear festive offer, fill group bookings, sell gift cards, keep your hours accurate on Google, and decide whether you will open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This plan runs from 16 November through Christmas Day on Friday, 25 December 2026.

Quick answer

Publish a short Christmas set menu and two or three group packages this week, with prices, dates and a way to book.
Write to last year’s party bookers and nearby offices, and take a deposit with a plain cancellation policy.
Sell gift cards now, with a January bonus if you can, rather than deep Black Friday discounts on food.
Set special hours on your Google Business Profile for Christmas Eve through to New Year, and pin the same hours on your door and social posts.
Decide early whether you will open on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 December, then market those days clearly, or close them and sell the days around them.

This article does not contain affiliate links.

Is mid-November too late to start Christmas marketing?

It is late for some office parties, especially in markets where groups book in October. It is not too late for December dining, takeaway festive meals, gift cards, last-minute tables and the nights around Christmas itself. Guests are still deciding where to eat, and many only look once the date is close.

If you have not published an offer yet, do that first. A simple set menu and a booking link will do more than a week of festive photos with no price and no next step.

What should the week-by-week plan look like?

Use this as a working calendar for 2026, then drop anything that does not fit your room. The dates below are Mondays to Sundays, except the last week, which ends on Christmas Day.

Week	Dates (2026)	Main job
1	16–22 November	Publish the menu, packages and booking page. Write to regulars and last year’s group bookers.
2	23–29 November	Loy Krathong (24 Nov, in Thailand), US Thanksgiving (26 Nov), Black Friday (27 Nov) and Small Business Saturday (28 Nov). Push gift cards, not cheap food deals.
3	30 November–6 December	Fill mid-December group dates. Start a steady gift-card push. Shoot real photos of the room and the menu.
4	7–13 December	Lock group numbers and pre-orders. Publish the Christmas-week rota. Confirm who is open on the 24th and 25th.
5	14–20 December	Put special hours live on Google. Sell remaining Christmas Eve and Christmas Day seats, and keep selling New Year’s Eve.
6	21–25 December	Run the days you said you would run. Keep hours and last-minute gift cards easy to find. Thank the team.

If New Year’s Eve is still unplanned, work on that in parallel. See our guide to planning and pricing a New Year’s Eve restaurant package.

What should you do in the week of 16–22 November?

Finish the offer and put it where guests already look.

Write a short Christmas set menu. Two or three courses at a fixed price per person is easier to book, prep and staff than a long à la carte list. Include a vegetarian main, and a vegan one if you can do it well. Price it from your actual dish costs, not from a guess; the menu price calculator will help.
Offer two or three group packages, for example a festive lunch, a December dinner, and a dinner with a welcome drink. Keep the differences obvious so a party organiser can choose quickly.
Open a single booking page or form with dates, times, the price, what is included, how the deposit works and a space for allergens. Use that same link on your website, Google profile, Instagram bio, email and, in markets such as Thailand, LINE.
Message people who already know you. Last year’s party bookers, regulars on your email, SMS or LINE list, and nearby offices, hotels and gyms. A printed menu with a QR code still works if you walk it to the offices around you.
Take a deposit for groups, and say in plain language when final numbers are due and when the deposit is kept. Confirm large bookings again a few days before the date.

This is also the week to draft your hours for 24 December through to 1 January, even if you do not publish them yet. Once the manager and chef agree, you can load them into Google and brief the team.

What should you do in the week of 23–29 November?

This week is crowded with dates, and they are not the same in every country. Pick the ones your guests actually celebrate.

Loy Krathong falls on Tuesday, 24 November 2026, the full moon of the twelfth Thai lunar month, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Some cities are already holding events from mid-November. If you are in Thailand, this night may matter as much as anything later in the month: a riverside or late menu, a clear last order, and a Google post for the date.
US Thanksgiving is Thursday, 26 November 2026, the fourth Thursday of the month. If American guests, expats or tourists are part of your trade, a Thanksgiving lunch or dinner needs to be on sale now, with a set menu and a cut-off for pre-orders. If they are not, do not force a turkey special onto a room that will not book it.
Black Friday is 27 November. Deep discounts on food in a busy season rarely help you. A gift-card offer does: cash now, covers later, often in the quiet of January. “Buy a gift card this week, get a January bonus credit” is clearer than 30 percent off a main course.
Small Business Saturday is Saturday, 28 November 2026, as listed by the US Small Business Administration. If you are in the United States, say you are open, thank regulars, and make it easy to buy a card or book a December table. Elsewhere, treat it as an optional extra, not a global event.

Through all of this, keep the Christmas menu in view. One weekly message to people who asked to hear from you is enough. Daily sales messages wear people out.

What should you do from 30 November to 13 December?

The first half of December is when remaining group dates fill, and when last-minute organisers start to panic. Call the offices that have not replied. Hold a few midweek lunch slots for them if that is your quiet time.

It is also when the room should look and photograph like Christmas. Decorate if that suits the restaurant, then shoot the actual menu and the actual tables, in daylight if you can. Use those photos on Google, your booking page and social posts. A 12-day series of real dishes can work if you already have the pictures. Do not invent a content plan you cannot shoot.

Hanukkah in 2026 begins at sundown on Friday, 4 December and ends at nightfall on Saturday, 12 December, according to Chabad. If you serve a community that marks it, say so with a specific menu or by being clearly open on those evenings. If you do not, you do not need a token post.

In the week of 7–13 December, lock the operational side:

Final numbers and pre-orders for booked groups, including allergens.
The rota for 21–26 December, published in writing, with a fair plan for who works the public holidays in your country. Our guide to scheduling, contracts and breaks is the place to check the basics.
A firm decision on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, signed off by whoever pays the wages.

What should you do in the last two weeks before Christmas?

From 14 December, guests search hours as much as they search menus. Set special hours on your Google Business Profile for each date from 24 December to 1 January, including the days you are closed. Google also flags many public holidays and may warn people that hours could differ, so confirming the date is useful even when you are open as usual. Special hours cover closures of up to six days in a row; if you will be closed for seven days or more, Google says to use temporarily closed instead.

Make one simple hours graphic for 24 December to 1 January and use it everywhere: a Google post, your Instagram pin, your website banner and a sign on the door. Then sell what is left. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day seats, takeaway festive meals, last-minute gift cards, and New Year’s Eve, which should already be on sale.

From 21 December, run the plan you published. Keep the phone answered. If a table frees up, say so once, clearly. After service, thank the team properly: food, time off in lieu where the law allows it, or the pay you promised, not only a group photo.

Should you open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

There is no single right answer. Some restaurants find Christmas Eve one of their strongest nights of the year. Others close and are busier on the days before. The only honest test is your own numbers, your staff, and whether the day is a public holiday where you operate.

Christmas Day 2026 is Friday, 25 December. Christmas Eve is Thursday, 24 December. Boxing Day, Saturday 26 December, is a holiday in some countries and an ordinary Saturday in others. Work through a short decision:

Look at covers, average spend and labour cost from the same days in previous years, if you have them.
Check whether the day is a public holiday, because that can change both demand and what you must pay or offer in lieu.
Ask, early, who on the team is willing to work, and what you will pay them.
If you open, sell a set menu with a deposit or prepayment, not an open à la carte in a half-empty room.
If you close, say so early, set the Google hours, and point people to the 23rd, the 26th or a takeaway offer.

A closed day that is clearly communicated is better than a poorly staffed service that leaves guests and the team unhappy.

How should restaurants in Thailand and Southeast Asia use this plan?

Christmas is a public holiday in some countries in the region and not in others, so the staffing cost and the shape of demand are not the same.

In Singapore, Christmas Day on Friday, 25 December 2026 is a gazetted public holiday, as set out in the Ministry of Manpower’s public holidays for 2026. In Indonesia, 25 December is also listed as a national holiday on the Permanent Mission of Thailand to ASEAN official holiday list for 2026. On the same official list, Christmas Day is not a Thai national holiday. New Year’s Eve, Thursday 31 December 2026, is a Thai national holiday.

That changes the plan in a few practical ways:

In Thailand, Loy Krathong on 24 November may be a bigger local night than Christmas Day. Plan it as its own event, not a footnote.
Tourist areas and hotels often get a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day dinner anyway, even where the day is not a public holiday. A set menu, a clear price and a booking cut-off still matter.
Company year-end parties are a large part of December trade in many Southeast Asian cities. Mid-November is not too late to call the offices near you.
LINE, WhatsApp or another app your regulars actually use will outperform an email they never open. Ask permission, then send one useful message a week.
New Year’s Eve is the bigger night in much of the region. Do not let Christmas planning push it aside; build both calendars at once.

The rest of the plan still holds: a clear offer, deposits on groups, accurate Google hours, and gift cards that bring people back in January.

Which Christmas promotions are worth doing?

Start with the work that is close to a booking, then add atmosphere. A longer list of low-cost ideas sits in our guide to restaurant marketing on a small budget.

Idea	Why it is worth it	Watch-out
Festive set menu	Easier to book, prep and price than a long list of specials	Keep it short, with a genuine vegetarian option
Group packages and office lunches	Fills midweek and mid-December seats in one booking	Take a deposit and a pre-order, including allergens
Gift cards or vouchers	Cash now, covers in January, when trade often slows	State the expiry and what the card can be used for, and check local rules
Takeaway festive meals	Serves guests who are staying in, without filling the dining room	Set a pre-order cut-off so the kitchen can cope
One real event, such as a carols night or a lunch with a visiting Santa for families	Gives people a date to book and gives you something true to post	Only run what you can staff; do not invent a circus
Google posts and special hours	Free, and it is where many guests check before they leave the house	Wrong hours on Christmas Day will follow you in reviews

Complete your Google Business Profile before you spend on ads: current menu, real photos, the booking link and a post for the festive offer. Keep asking for honest reviews after good meals; see how to ask within Google’s rules.

Checklist

Christmas marketing checklist for restaurants

Work through this from mid-November. Download it and tick the items off each week.

Offer and bookings

Christmas set menu written, costed and priced
Two or three group packages with clear inclusions
One booking link used on the website, Google, social and messaging apps
Deposit and cancellation terms written in plain language
Last year’s group bookers and nearby offices contacted

Hours, team and January

Decision made on 24 and 25 December
Special hours set on Google for 24 December to 1 January
The same hours posted on the door, website and a pinned social graphic
Christmas-week rota published, with holiday pay or time in lieu agreed
Gift cards on sale, with January use explained
New Year’s Eve package on sale in parallel

Opens as a plain text file you can print or paste into your own document.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best Christmas marketing ideas for restaurants?

A short set menu, group packages with a deposit, gift cards that can be used in January, a takeaway festive meal if your kitchen can handle pre-orders, and accurate Christmas hours on Google. Events and decorations help once the offer is easy to book.

When should restaurants start Christmas marketing?

As soon as the menu and prices are ready, ideally several weeks before the first party date. Mid-November 2026 is late for some office bookings, but it is still a good time to publish the offer, sell gift cards and fill December tables.

Should restaurants open on Christmas Day 2026?

Only if the numbers and the team support it. Christmas Day is Friday, 25 December 2026. Check whether it is a public holiday where you operate, look at previous years, and either sell a set menu with a deposit or close early and say so clearly on Google.

Are Black Friday discounts a good idea for restaurants?

Heavy discounts on food in late November often cut the margin just as you get busy. A gift-card offer, a January bonus voucher, or a small extra with a booking usually protects the week better than a deep menu discount.

How do I show Christmas opening hours on Google?

In your Business Profile, edit Hours, then Special hours, and add each date. Google’s help page on special hours also covers overnight opening and closures of up to six days. Confirm closed days as well as open ones.

New Year’s Eve at your restaurant: event ideas and how to price a NYE package

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Christmas marketing ideas for restaurants: a week-by-week plan