Mother's Day in your restaurant: increase your reservations

March means Mother's Day: an event no restaurant should miss. It’s the perfect occasion to boost your reservations and attract families to your restaurant, especially if you create a unique set menu. We’ve outlined some tips to help you best capitalise on the potential of Mother's Day.

How to create the perfect Mother’s Day ambience in your restaurant

• Offer a custom Mother's Day menu

A three-course prix-fixe menu is essential for families celebrating their brilliant mums. Work with your head chef to create a unique offering for the day, and consider including a kids' menu for families with younger children. You could even pay the mums extra attention by presenting them with a free glass of champagne or a special mocktail.

• Create a welcoming atmosphere

There's nothing like celebrating Mother's Day in a cosy, family-friendly atmosphere to make the occasion extra memorable. Add elegant table settings, relaxing background music, and candles to create a sweetly scented interior. Dot some flowers around the restaurant to add a touch of springtime to your customers’ dining experience.

• Find an opportunity for a distinctive concept

Many customers like to celebrate different seasonal events with exceptional experiences that are out of the ordinary. We suggest offering your customers a distinctive concept for the day. It could be a brunch or an afternoon tea, or you could hire a live musician to create a lively ambience for the day. Offering entertainment can also justify increasing the prices on your Mother’s Day menu to improve your profit margins.

Fill more tables in your restaurant on Mother’s Day 

• Share your Mother's Day offering on your restaurant's social media channels

Make your social media followers aware of your Mother’s Day festivities by promoting your menu in advance and advertising any special offers. Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are great places to do this, as they’ve become some of the most popular platforms for customers looking for new restaurant recommendations, helping you to reach users who don’t currently follow you. You could even offer an extra special deal for your followers, such as asking Instagram users to send you a DM to receive a free drink on the day, or running a competition where guests can win a free meal for their mum.   

• Invite your email subscribers

Personally inviting your regular customers is a good way to fill up your dining room on Mother's Day. To do this, you can send customers signed up to your mailing list a newsletter announcing the event and the menu you've created for the occasion. This email could include a newsletter-exclusive offer to drive a sense of FOMO and nurture further loyalty from your best customers.

• Offer a discount on your TheFork page

Offer a Mother's Day discount on your listing on TheFork to drive more reservations on this special day. Make sure you’ve added your exclusive Mother’s Day menu — bonus points if you add extra photos of any new dishes available on the big day.

Once you've done all the work to attract customers, you want your service to be flawless. We recommend hiring additional staff for Mother's Day weekend to keep things running smoothly, so you can focus on helping families create special memories with their loved ones. 

Mother's Day is the perfect occasion for you to offer a unique and unforgettable experience to families, leaving them with a positive impression of your restaurant that makes them want to come back again and again. So, is your restaurant ready to celebrate Mother's Day? Get in touch to find out how TheFork can help you drive even more reservations on the special day.