As the world’s most romantic holiday approaches, restaurants ’round the world are getting their V-Day menus ready and reservations are in-the-making. After Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day is the most popular holiday for dining out. According to the National Restaurant Association (NRA) research, it’s expected the one quarter of Americans will dine out this Valentine’s Day and that “nearly one-third of American adults would like to receive a restaurant gift card as a Valentine’s Day gift.” Read the entire article here One-quarter of Americans dine out for Valentine’s Day.
Here are some more interesting stats –check out this infographic from OpenTable from 2012 regarding restaurant reservation trends. Some rather interesting factoids include:
- 53% of OpenTable diners state they plan on making their restaurant reservations a week in advance
- 35% of diners believe that Italian cuisine is the most romantic cuisine to eat on Valentine’s Day followed by 25% who think French is
If you operate a restaurant, we’ve got a couple of tips that can drive sales on this holiday:
- Have a server show up to the table with a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses for a complimentary taste with the hope to sell a premium glass of wine
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Serve up Caesar salad tossed table side
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Offer a delectable Bananas Flambé done table side
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Special chocolate truffle and champagne dessert is a great way to end a meal
- Create a special, economical prixe fixe menu just for Valentine’s Day and advertise on social media outlets
- Live music is always a winner — free entertainment for your guests!
We hope your sales will go through the roof this Valentine’s Day!