Know Your Food Cost Percentage. Know Your Restaurant Profits.
Calculate Food Cost Percentage
It’s that time of the year when people go shopping, eat out, and exchange gifts. And guess what? It's a golden opportunity for your restaurant to shine with creative Christmas decorations and boost those holiday vibes (and your revenue)!
This article offers a curated list of restaurant holiday promotion ideas to help you stand out. We’ll help your restaurant capture the season's joy and create a delightful dining experience.
Let’s begin!
Winter is here. And so is the festive season. As the year comes to an end, people are ready to celebrate. Encouraging them to dine out is easy. Let's explore some fun restaurant holiday promotion ideas to capitalize on seasonal festivities.
Did you know nearly half of the people (48%) use social media to find places to eat and drink? With Christmas almost knocking on the door, you must prime your social media campaigns.
Here’s what you can do to get yourself on the top pages for a “Christmas-themed restaurant near me.”
Holiday reservations can accelerate restaurant operations. They also serve as valuable tools for targeted and personalized promotions. Not only does it help you manage the crowd, but it also allows customers to reserve tables in advance. It ensures they get a guaranteed spot even if the restaurant is busy.
Table reservations increase the chances of guests showing up, often coming in groups. Further, the necessity of pre-booking prompts customers to secure their reservations. (You can consider offering a 5% - 10% discount on table bookings to increase the excitement.)
That is how it is a hit deal for customers. Now, how will it help you? Knowing the expected customers enables better staff scheduling and preparation. It will also prevent long queues outside your restaurant and ensure the tables are filled.
A holiday menu is a must-have. It allows your customers to savor rate delights not easily found throughout the rest of the year. A unique menu drives direct reservations.
Holiday-themed desserts and appetizers are a great place to start. For main courses, you can explore specialties featuring sweet potatoes, pumpkin, succulent prime rib, pasta, or roast turkey. And don’t forget the drinks. Add mulled wine, spiked eggnog, peppermint milkshake, and some mocktails.
While curating the holiday menu, don't overwhelm your diners with too many options. Crafting menus can be a time-consuming task. The good news is you don’t have to shoulder the entire burden. OneHubPOS's menu management feature can help you quickly roll out new menu combinations. You can control your restaurant inventory, out-of-stock updates, pricing, images, and dish descriptions on the go and manage orders.
Transforming your restaurant into a festive wonderland for the Christmas season is a simple yet effective way to create an inviting atmosphere. Christmas decorations can help set the mood, allowing customers to unwind and truly enjoy themselves.
Start with candles or twinkle lights in the interior; you can not have too many. Place poinsettias or other seasonal plants near the entrance for a warm welcome. Wrap your table settings and standard centerpieces with holiday-themed place cards, tablecloths, and napkins. Add soft holiday music in the background to complete the look.
Introducing innovative takeout and dining options can expand your offerings and cater to diverse preferences. For instance, you can offer Festive Takeout Packages that bundle various holiday dishes so families or friends can enjoy current flavors at home. You can also implement self-service kiosks to provide customers with a seamless, contactless ordering option.
To ensure your orders run smoothly and fulfilling orders isn’t cumbersome, you can explore the Kitchen display systems (KDS) from OneHubPOS. It allows your kitchen staff to prioritize orders based on their preparation time. This will ensure that dishes are cooked and plated in the correct order.
A well-organized holiday contest can boost brand visibility during the holiday season.
Say you hold a “Festive Flavor Fusion” and ask people to invent and document a mouth-watering holiday-themed dish. Later, you can ask them to submit their entries on your social media platform. The winner gets a private dining experience featuring a specially crafted menu inspired by their dish.
Such contests can encourage participants to share their achievements on social media platforms. People may engage with such posts by liking, commenting, and sharing, which will be a free promotion for your restaurant.
Holiday giveaways are a clever strategy to add an extra dose of festive excitement. Customers can win prizes like a complimentary holiday feast for two, a gift basket filled with seasonal treats, or a VIP dining experience.
These giveaways create buzz, capture potential customers' attention, and spark interest among your existing clientele. The allure of freebies not only attracts guests but also instills a sense of goodwill and positive associations.
However, ensure you have a quick and efficient system to manage the entries.
As a restaurant owner, the holiday season is a time to seize the day and ensure a pleasant experience. However, the holidays bring challenges as your customers and staff are pulled in many directions. The biggest of these is attracting more customers.
Hence, you must understand and determine solutions that facilitate recognition and appreciation to shine among customers. Introduce Christmas menu ideas for restaurants, use bounce-back offers, and preview New Year promotions to foster warmth and nostalgia.
Most of all, use a customizable and user-friendly solution that helps you navigate the festive crowd with ease. Always remember that a good restaurant POS system can make a big difference in your bottom line. OneHubPOS is a modern, user-friendly POS software built to streamline all sales transactions and restaurant operations on a single dashboard.
Explore OneHubPOS today if you’re ready to make the holidays your most profitable—and fun—time of the year.
Federal law allows including only employees who customarily and regularly receive tips. This typically excludes back-of-house staff like cooks and dishwashers. However, some states might have different regulations.
Tips are typically collected throughout the day and pooled at the end of the shift. The pool is then distributed among eligible employees based on the chosen method.
In some states with allowed tip credits, employers can take a portion of the minimum wage based on tips received by employees. This essentially allows employers to pay tipped employees a lower base wage.
Non-compliance can lead to fines and penalties from the Department of Labor, wage-and-hour lawsuits from employees, and employee morale issues.
Tip sharing is voluntary. An employee might choose to share some of their own tips with colleagues. Tip pooling is a mandatory system where all tips are collected and then distributed among eligible employees based on a predetermined method.
No, managers and supervisors cannot participate in the tip pool.
There are no standard percentages by law. However, 15-20% is a common tipping range for good service in the USA. Tip pooling eliminates the need for individual tip calculations.
Tip pooling can be beneficial for restaurants of all sizes. It can foster teamwork, ensure everyone benefits from good service, and simplify tip distribution.
Yes, tip pooling is legal under federal law (FLSA) with some key restrictions. However, some states might have additional regulations. Always check your state's Department of Labor website to ensure compliance.
Pricing is a balancing act! You need to cover your costs (including the food cost per portion) while offering a price point that feels valuable to your customers. Consider factors like competition, target audience, and the overall dining experience you create.
Food cost calculators are great for initial estimates, but consider restaurant management software for ongoing success. This software tracks inventory, automates cost calculations, and generates reports to identify cost-saving opportunities.
Absolutely! Many online food cost calculators can handle various cuisines. Look for tools that consider ingredient types, portion sizes, and even regional pricing variations.
Consider your food cost percentage your restaurant's financial fitness tracker. It's the total cost of recipe ingredients divided by your total menu sales. Ideally, calculate this regularly, like weekly or bi-weekly, to monitor profitability and adjust pricing or portions as needed.
The standard costing model is like a recipe for consistent pricing. It uses historical data and market trends to predict ingredient costs, allowing you to budget, purchase, and maintain profit margins even when prices fluctuate.
Food cost per portion is the actual cost of creating a single serving of a dish. It considers all ingredients, including spices, garnishes, and even waste! This number helps you understand your profitability and set menu prices effectively.
Sahana is a seasoned GTM leader with a passion for building startups. She excels in crafting GTM strategies for tech products, driving revenue growth.
