Are you looking for fun and profitable restaurant event ideas? Having the same events and parties week after week at your restaurant can get boring for your customers and make them less excited to dine there. It’s time to put on some new events to generate more interest. Here are just a few ways to attract new customers with special evenings.
Decade Nights
Do you remember the bell bottoms of the ’80s? Encourage your guests to dress in their old wardrobes as they enter a roomful of soft disco light and dine on pineapple chicken and cheese logs. You can do the same with other decades, too.
Charity Event
Give back to the community with a charity event. You’ll attract locals with the promise of supporting a good cause, and you can also get creative with appropriately-themed dinners and drinks. For example, if you’re donating part of the evening’s proceeds to breast cancer awareness, you can serve pink daiquiris at a discounted price.
Love Is In The Air
You don’t have to wait for Valentine’s Day to create a romantic tradition. You can say that the first Friday night of every month is your official Love Night, and before you know it, couples will be flocking to your candlelit tables and special deals for two.
Sports Arena
Go fanatical for an evening to support local sports teams. For one, you’ll be guaranteed the business of all the players, coaches, cheerleaders and fans; you’ll also have the opportunity to challenge your chefs to create fun dishes that epitomize the game at hand.
Celebrity Encounters
Can you persuade a local celebrity to tend the bar for an evening? Not only will they draw a crowd, but you can also reflect their latest movie or album with themed decorations or special menu items. It’s one of many restaurant event ideas that will pay off in spades.
Deal Of The Day
If you don’t already have special dishes depending on the season, now is the time to create them. For example, you might feature seafood in the spring or thick, meaty stews in the winter. It will keep your menu exciting and your ingredients fresh, and customers will have something to look forward to every month.
Wine Tastings
People will turn out in droves for wine tastings. You don’t even have to close the restaurant as a special occasion; simply advertise good deals on wines during specific nights or make it easy for customers to sample multiple bottles at a discounted rate.
Live Music
People love live bands playing music while dining at your restaurant. Even more so when it’s a local musician that they want to support. Consider booking local musicians, who are always looking for their next show, at least a couple times a week. While it’s OK to have the same band playing regularly if they bring in the customers, try to mix things up a bit every once in a while to keep things fresh.
Singles’ Night
Consider hosting a singles’ night to help singles meet new people at your restaurant. Speed dating can be a fun spin on this event to get more people in your restaurant.
Theme Nights
Whether it’s 80’s, 90’s, Christmas, Halloween, Mardi Gras or Hawaiian, people love theme nights. Think of something fun and original that people can dress up for.
Buy One, Get One
Offer buy one get one free appetizers or desserts on your slowest night of the week. It’s a great way to get new customers in the door on what otherwise would have been a low profit night.
Ladies’ Night
You’ve heard of this one before at the local bars. However, it can work at your restaurant as well. Once a week, offer ladies specials on drinks, appetizers or desserts. For example, a free dessert with every main course. This one is a plus for the guys too if they’re picking up the tab.
Men’s Night
It’s not all about the ladies. Hosting a guy’s night can be a great way to increase interest in your restaurant. Guy’s are already heading out with their friends to watch the game, so why not give them that extra reason to choose your restaurant over your competitors.
Karaoke
A lot of restaurants and bars do karaoke. Try to make this one a little more unique to stand out. Put on a karaoke competition for an hour or two once a week with the winner getting their meal paid for. Your customers will love it and the quality of singing will be a little better when a free meal is on the line.
Comedy Night
Host a local comedian to do some stand up at your restaurant. You don’t always need just live music performers. Plus, when people are laughing and happier, they’re more likely to stay longer and order more.
Open Mic Night
Don’t just let the professionals run the show, consider having an open mic night. Anyone in your local area that’s looking to get practice and more exposure would jump at the opportunity to play at your restaurant. Whether it’s music, comedy or poetry, your customers will enjoy the authenticity of the local talent.
VIP Only
Treating your most loyal customers like VIPs will ensure they come back time and time again. It will also make new customers want what they have. Create a VIP club where members get 10% off their orders. Once a month, host a VIP only event with live music and new menu items for your loyal customers to try out first.
Happy Hour
Let’s face it, if everyone else it doing it so should you. People leaving work are often looking for a place to go with their coworkers. If you’re competition offers a happy hour and you don’t, how are you going to get those customers in your door? It’s a great way to get people in the door. Once they see what you have to offer, they’ll be back for more.
Guest Chef Night
Your chef is the best, but it doesn’t hurt to freshen things up a bit. Once a month, have a guest chef night where a new chef comes in with a couple new items on the menu. Bonus points if you can get a well known celebrity chef.
Guest Bartender Night
Same as the guest chef night, but host a new bartender. Most good bartenders will be able to create a few new one-time drinks to add to your menu. They can even put on a bit of a show behind the bar teaching people the best way to make these cocktails.
Cooking Classes
People love your food, but they can’t eat at your restaurant every night. If you host cooking classes and teach people how to make your dishes, while giving them a cookbook to take home, your restaurant will constantly be on their mind. Their next night out is more likely to be at your establishment.
These are just a few restaurant event ideas that can shake things up at your establishment. Hosting events and parties regularly will have a positive impact on your restaurant with more tables filled each night. Have fun!
