Christmas remains the key trading period for hospitality businesses, and it can make or break whether a restaurant has a good year or not. Crucially, Christmas is not represented by a single event but by multiple high performing days clustered together, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and the run up to the main day, which is prime office party season.
Last Christmas, data from The Oxford Partnership found that consumers stayed longer than at any other point in 2025, with the average dwell time reaching 150 minutes. Venues were also fuller, with occupancy rising to 63.9%. Average spend per head, meanwhile, rose to £26.53, supported by food, premium drinks and group-led visits.
These metrics underline the importance of December as a volume and engagement month, it says, with hospitality playing a central role in social and celebratory occasions.
However, while festive trading delivered some clear gains for businesses, cost pressures remain, with high energy and staffing costs having a negative impact and hampering the ability to convert higher sales into improved margins. As a result, Christmas trading helped stabilise performance rather than bring in greater profitability. “December reinforced a familiar theme: strong demand improves utilisation, but sustainable profitability still depends on managing costs as effectively as driving volume,” the report concludes.
Getting your Christmas offer right, then, is crucial because wafer thin margins mean that any gains in terms of footfall and higher average spend can be easily eroded by the higher costs of doing business at this busy period. We’ve identified 14 areas to which businesses should play close attention this festive period to help the season go with a bang rather than a fizzle.
1 Market your menu in good time
Time is running out to market those Christmas menus, with most festive party bookers looking to get things locked in well before the clocks go back. The majority of venues start taking Christmas bookings before September, and those that plan well ahead are less likely to struggle to fill their tables. An obvious step, still neglected by a surprising number of venues, is to ensure websites and online profiles reflect the full Christmas offer. That means up-to-date menus and perhaps photographs showing the space dressed for the festivities (judicious use of AI can help here). Don’t forget about marketing as the big day draws closer, either. People taking time off or heading out to do their Christmas shopping may not have made dinner plans, so keep reminding them what’s on offer and when you have availability – many will assume you’re booked up. If you can, harness AI so that your Christmas menu crops up in generic or localised searches in Google’s AI Overview, and make sure that your menus are easy to find on your website. Also, now is the time to be mining your database and reaching out to your regular customers to let them know what you have planned.
2 Perfect your group offer
While many restaurants focus on the menu for the Big Day itself, the group menu that attracts work Christmas parties from the start of the month up to 25 December will most likely prove to be the most lucrative for your business should you get it right. It is with the group menu that you can be expansive but also mix up the traditional with the less obvious, with sharing options and canapes sitting alongside starters and mains. Turkey should feature but use the group menu as an opportunity for serving different cuts of meat and fish for people who don’t want to ruin the turkey meal of the day itself. Flexibility is also key here. Offer a range of menus and price points, with the option to add premium ingredients such as oysters and caviar for those looking to push the boat out. And don’t forget the non-meat-eaters (see point number 3).
3 Forget non-meat eaters at your peril
With turkey and all its meaty trimmings – pigs in blankets, pork stuffing – vying for space on the menu with roast beef and even goose, Christmas can be a time when vegetarians and vegans get overlooked. Yet with the occasion appealing to families and large groups, the chances of serving a non-meat-eater jumps sharply at Christmas, and your offer could be the difference between whether that group of 10 (or more) come to you or go elsewhere. Restaurants all too often over index on seafood or dishes such as cheese souffle as meat alternatives – neither of which are vegan friendly – and assume that all vegetarians love mushrooms (they don’t) with the all-too-common wild mushroom and chestnut wellington often the only veggie option. Other wellingtons are available – with the key ingredient ranging from squash to beetroot – and having more than one meat (and fish) free option shows that you take your diners’ dietary preferences seriously. Also, make sure that if you’re making pastry or serving roast potatoes, avoid animal fats where possible to give vegans the best possible chance of enjoying some traditional Christmas fare.
4 Pick your protein wisely
Turkey can be a bit of a faff to serve in a restaurant setting and is also prone to drying out. Obvious alternatives include fattier poultry - namely duck and goose - and beef and gammon. Yet really anything that feels indulgent and celebratory and matches well with Christmas flavours - such as whole suckling pig - is worth exploring. A Premier Foods survey of 2,000 UK adults who dine out in December, conducted by OnePoll in October 2025, found that 45% preferred traditional festive flavours, while 35% wanted a combination of classics and a modern twist, and 11% favoured a modern twist. Turkey and gravy were the foods most associated with Christmas dinner, chosen by 62% of respondents, followed by pigs in blankets at 43%. Younger diners were more open to innovation: 18% of 25-34-year-olds favoured a modern twist, compared with 5% of those aged 65 and over. So, tradition remains a big draw for diners eating out at Christmas, but there is also an appetite for something different.
5 Be creative with desserts
While there’s a big chance that the most popular dessert on your festive menu will be Christmas pudding and brandy sauce, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive to be more creative with your dessert offer. The Coal Shed in Brighton’s dessert menu is a good example of a pastry chef flexing their culinary muscles, with options that include a Christmas pudding treacle tart with Pedro Ximénez Anglaise; pavlova with pistachio crema, fig and clementine; and a chocolate Christmas bread and butter pudding. Other options could include spiced winter trifles, winter spiced apple tarte tatin; and a chocolate tart of fondant but with a seasonal garnish or ingredient.
6 Get your cocktail list in order
The Christmas period can bring out the cocktail drinker in people looking for something that little bit different or festive. While it might be tempting to give your bartender carte blanche to create festive drinks and go big on the eggnog and snowballs and spiced options don’t lose sight of the fact that people will often stick to tried-and-tested classics, whether they be a pre-meal Negroni or post-prandial Espresso Martini. Festive customisations of the classics can go down well without much additional effort on a bartender’s part, whether that be grating nutmeg on an Espresso Martini or adding a hint of spice to an Old Fashioned. And don’t forget to stock up on Baileys.
7 Don’t forget the kids
Nothing spoils a family Christmas meal out like an unhappy kid for whom turkey and roast potatoes carries no allure. While it might be tempting to use the period as a way of streamlining menus and sticking to classic dishes only, this is done to a children’s menu at your peril. Yes, there will be plenty of the little darlings happy to tuck into a traditional roast (or at least enough components of it to make it a worthwhile order) but there will always be those that want a hamburger, fried chicken or fish. In most cases, creativity is not welcome here, so don’t be tempted to give your children’s menu a festive twist (although sausages could be replaced by pigs in blankets). And by all means put Christmas pud on the kids menu but expect most to choose ice cream (preferably with the option of loads of sauces and sprinkles to make it more special). It may not be festive, but happy children equal happy customers all round.
8 Say yes to low-to-no drinks
The market for low or non-alcoholic drinks is booming, and Christmas offers the perfect opportunity to ensure that people cutting back or abstaining from the source can still feel like they have something to celebrate with. Charge your bar team with coming up with some Christmassy mocktails, with some suitable for adults (ie those made with more botanical spirit alternatives) but also more juice-heavy ones that will appeal to children (the more colourful the better for the younger generation). Also look at creating mid-strength mixed drinks for people looking to cut down or who may be driving. Diageo’s new range of mid-strength 20% spirits for its Gordon’s, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan brands are a good way of offering classic cocktails that carry less of a punch.
9 Think carefully about decorations
To decorate or not to decorate? This is a question that restaurateurs wrangle with each year – on the one hand, making your restaurant feel super festive can attract large groups and help create an ambience to upsell, on the other hand if you put the decorations up to early it can create an uncomfortable environment for people not wanting to get into the festive spirit on 1 December. Either way, there is an expectation among diners making festive bookings that some effort will be made from the venue, so use crackers and festive table settings to create the festive feel without having to go overboard. If you are enthusiastic about putting up decorations, ensure that same enthusiasm is applied to the taking down of them – there a few more depressing spectacles than sitting in a restaurant in mid-January surrounded by holly and tinsel.
10 Consider giving people a break from Christmas
As anyone who has ever eaten a turkey and cranberry sushi roll will tell you, some cuisines are better suited to the Christmas treatment than others. Creating a festive menu can be a stretch for restaurants whose food has little connection to the traditional Christmas spread. Shoehorning turkey, stuffing and sprouts into otherwise perfectly good dishes risks pleasing nobody. For many venues, the better approach will be to make a virtue of offering something different. By their third Christmas lunch, even committed turkey enthusiasts might welcome aromatic curries, grilled fish or a bowl of noodles. Group menus and sharing dishes can still help attract Christmas parties without requiring the kitchen to abandon what it does best. The same thinking can extend to the dining room. If tinsel, crackers and a Christmas soundtrack feel at odds with your restaurant, there’s a case for keeping decorations understated or ditching them completely. Some diners will actively welcome somewhere they can have a meal without hearing Fairytale of New York.
11 Give your wine list a festive upgrade
Christmas is a time when diners may be more willing to push the boat out, so make sure your wine list gives them the opportunity to - there’s little point in hoping people will trade up if there’s nothing for them to trade up to. This doesn’t mean tying up cash in cases of expensive wine: a small stockholding of premium bottles can be enough to cater for those looking for something special. Use your own sales data to identify the styles and regions that are likely to appeal to your customers and give your team a chance to taste any additions so they can confidently explain why they’re worth the extra spend. Hallgarten Wines’ Festive Trends Report 2026, which surveyed 500 UK-based wine buyers in hospitality and retail settings, backs up the opportunity. Some 32% of people expect to drink wine in hospitality settings more often over the festive period than in the previous three months, with a further 53.4% expecting to do so about as often. When choosing wine in a restaurant during the festive season, 28% ranked a premium or special occasion setting as the most important influence, narrowly ahead of price at 27.8%. Giving people a reason to spend more is key. A seasonal wine list was ranked the most important incentive to trade up by 27.4% of respondents, followed by set menu wine pairings at 23.6% and the story behind a wine or producer at 22.6%. Build these opportunities into your festive menus, with a clearly signposted upgrade, a suggested food match and a straightforward explanation of what makes the bottle worth the extra money. Familiar regions and producers can help give guests the confidence to move up a price point. Given the season’s celebratory nature, sparkling wine is a good place to start. Put a glass of premium bubbles in a prominent position on the food menu as well as the drinks list, making it easy for diners to kick off their meal with something festive. Keep value in mind, however: prices feeling too high topped the report’s list of festive wine frustrations, while unfamiliar wines with little explanation came second.
12 Get your festive staffing right
Getting Christmas rotas right means balancing service, wage costs and the pressure on your team. Ned Gammel, head of UK and Ireland at workforce management specialist Quinyx, says operators need to look beyond last year’s figures when predicting demand, factoring in weather, local events and the timing of bookings. “Demand doesn’t arrive in convenient hourly chunks; it more often comes in pulses. Restaurants should be forecasting at a granular level that catches the moment a rush starts,” he says. “There also needs to be enough of a buffer to allow for no-shows and attrition.” Previous peak periods can help identify where seasonal recruits are needed but start hiring early: competition for temporary staff can be fierce. For shifts that prove difficult to fill, consider higher rates, seasonal bonuses, transport or first choice of future shifts. “Creating flexibility that works both ways is also essential, covering demand without leaning on the same few people until they burn out,” Gammel says. Giving employees a say in shift preferences and a way to request changes can help. Workforce management tools can help analyse demand, build rotas around employees’ skills and availability, and handle late changes, yet Gammel believes managers should retain oversight, ensuring that flexibility for staff still delivers the cover the restaurant needs throughout the festive period.
13 Plan a team Christmas do to remember for the right reasons
A team Christmas party can be a welcome reward after a demanding December, but organisers need to think beyond the food and drink. At the risk of being party poopers, a work celebration can still count as an extension of the workplace, even when it takes place elsewhere and outside normal working hours. Law firm Pinsent Masons’ guide to trouble-free Christmas parties advises employers to make attendance optional. Some staff may not want to celebrate Christmas for religious reasons, while others may simply prefer to avoid the hangover by sitting it out. Talking of alcohol, employers are advised to make expectations clear beforehand by reminding everyone that normal standards of behaviour apply, including policies on alcohol (not to mention drugs, harassment and discrimination). Managers should ensure they set the tone. Pinsent Masons also advises including the party in sexual harassment risk assessments, learning from previous incidents and ensuring training and policies are up to date. Finally, plan how people will get home.
14 To open or not to open? That is the question
With most people in the UK spending Christmas Day at home, or someone else’s home, there isn’t enough business to support every restaurant opening. And, at the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, don’t bank on walk-ins. Operators need to weigh up whether advance bookings and a premium menu price justify the operational headache. Staff costs are likely to be high, and many team members would understandably prefer the day off. Diners’ expectations will also rise with the price: if they’re paying a premium for Christmas lunch, they’ll expect the food, service and atmosphere to deliver. For some restaurants, opening will make commercial sense. For others, giving the team a break might well be the better investment.