Restaurant events can be an excellent opportunity to showcase your space, menu, and hospitality. For customers, spending hard-earned cash for a night out is something that should always feel special. The experiences you offer is crucial when it comes to racking up points on customer satisfaction. That’s where special events come in.
A well-planned and executed event can boost your restaurant’s regulars, reputation and revenue. In 2023, 44% of customers spent on events, merchandise and more outside of standard meals at venues. That number will continue to grow—restaurants today already make 21% of their revenue through non-food spending, while the $7.6 billion event catering industry is seeing real competition from restaurants, cafes, and bars.
Streamline your event planning and create memorable experiences for your guests with our essential guide to getting in the events game.
Choosing the right event
We’ve broken down the different types of events you can organise throughout the year to give you a head start, but don’t let these limit you in your ideas for a unique event that reflects your personality, strengths and customer base.
Theme nights
Themed nights can be a great way to showcase your versatility and create a lively, engaging atmosphere. Think decade-themed nights like the 80s, or your favourite television show, like The Office trivia nights at the bar, and even cuisine-based themes such as pizza or steak nights.
The more elaborate themes can help introduce novelty and excitement and get new guests through the door, while the latter is great for putting value on the menu if you know your customer base loves that dish.
Seasonal events
There’s no passing up the opportunity for special events on holidays! With Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day coming up in the calendar, putting extra effort into creating festive holiday dinners or a themed menu will keep you on par with competitors.
Chef’s table
Offering this type of intimate, exclusive dining experience is great for fostering interactions between chefs and guests. In the era of Chef’s Table (Netflix) and The Bear (FX) , this will feel like an all-access backstage pass that avid foodies and industry enthusiasts will be willing to fork out premium cash for.
For more event ideas: Event Ideas for Restaurants & How Technology Comes into Play
Best practices for planning your event
1. Define your goals
It’s important to set the ground rules before you go trigger happy on event planning. Your specific goals will allow you to quickly and efficiently plan a successful event.
To make sure your goal is solid, make sure it’s aligned with your venue’s brand and audience. Are you looking to celebrate a special occasion, promote a new menu item, or attract a corporate crowd with after-work parties? That all works, as long as it’s relatable to your customers.
Your goal will also make it easier to come up with a budget. Know how much you’re willing to invest, and keep in mind that the underlying aim is always to turn a profit. Break down the budget into categories such as food and beverage, entertainment, decor, staffing, and marketing to make it easy to approve expenses in the process.
Timing is also key for restaurant event planning. A well established timeline and checklist provides you and your staff a clear representation of what needs to happen and how. Think about potential hiccups, contingency plans, and any other necessary fallbacks.
2. Design the menu, layout and ambience
The experience you provide during a special event should be memorable, and much of that depends on the menu, layout, and ambience.
Menu: When building a menu for your event, think about the theme and who you want booking those tickets. For a fancy dinner, consider creating a sophisticated multi-course meal or a wine pairing. For a casual family-friendly event, you might opt for buffet-style or fun, shared plates. Some events will do better with structured course meals, while others will shine with a more relaxed approach. If your event will happen hand in hand with regular service, make sure your menu is built around the flow of what you have going on in the kitchen.
Drinks are the life and soul of just about every event. Whether you’re a bar, winery, brewery, or a more traditional restaurant, you’ll also want to think about cocktails, wines or a nice brew — perhaps even curate these as beverage pairings for your menu.
Layout: Your venue layout has a direct impact on the flow of your event. Not only will it inform how many you can sit, but it’ll affect how your staff moves across the floor to provide service. Draft a floor plan through your booking software, print a run sheet for your staff and if there is time, run a test night to ensure it’s a functional layout. Your staff can never be too prepared.
To accommodate event goers, the layout should allow for both comfort and functionality. Round tables are great to encourage socialising and group conversation, while smaller set ups may be great for a date night event. Ensure there’s enough space for guests to mingle.
Ambience: The right atmosphere will set the tone for the event. Lighting, music, and decor all contribute to creating the desired vibe for the big night. Dimmed lights, soft music, and elegant centrepieces can create a more intimate feel, while bright lights and festive trimmings can uplift the space for a holiday event.
3. Spread the word
The biggest fear for an event planner? No one showing up! So, getting the word out is crucial to the success of your restaurant event. Use a mix of marketing channels to get the word out and maximise event bookings.
Leverage your restaurant’s social media platforms to promote the event. Post engaging content like sneak peeks of the menu, behind-the-scenes preparation, or exciting giveaways leading up to the event.
Send out invitations to your existing customer base, regulars, or loyalty program members and encourage them to RSVP early.
4. Pre-event prep
As the event day approaches, the number one rule is ensuring your staff is trained for a seamless event experience. First things first, make sure you have enough staff on hand to handle the additional guests. A quick pre-event brief can help ensure your servers are clear on their tasks and the event specifics such as menu items, promotions and flow.
Don’t forget to double check your reservations list against your seating plan. A smooth check-in process helps set the right tone for the event and avoid delays.
5. Follow up with guests
The event doesn’t end even after the last guest leaves. Reaching out to guests to thank them shows you value their presence and can turn new customers into loyal ones. Plus, it’s a great way to gather feedback and sow seeds for a future event.
Post photos of the event on your social media channels, tagging guests if you can. This keeps the event alive in your customers’ minds, encouraging them to return.
Tips for managing an event with your restaurant reservation system
Wouldn’t it be great if you could manage your event and reservation in one place? With Now Book It, you will! Using the one restaurant reservation system power-packed with integrated event and function features ensures you’re not constantly playing catch up between two (or more) systems in the heat of event planning.
Drawing from our own leading online booking solution, here are tips on making your restaurant event a success with a solid system.
Take event enquiries & bookings 24/7
With all the work that goes into event planning, the last thing you want your staff to worry about is fielding phone calls. Our AI assistant Sadie can help. All you have to do is train her on the upcoming event and let her do the rest — from answering enquiries about the event to logging reservations directly in the system.
Master your event floor plan
Floor plans are crucial to your event planning, whether it’s because you’ll need to put in blockouts for certain areas or rejig your entire venue layout to accommodate the event. Now Book It’s seamless floor plan feature lets you create an event-specific view, so your team gets full visibility of what event day looks like while keeping daily services in place.
Maximise event revenue with upsells
Penny-smart venues never sleep on upsells! Customers attending events are typically more willing to spend on the experience. The option to arrive to a bottle of champagne or get first dibs on appetisers while waiting on the rest of their party will come in handy at the point of reservation.
Let guests book your event with ease
There are many ways to do this, but our top tip is making the event visible on your existing booking widget. Not only does it make it easy for regulars to book the event, but it may also sway new guests towards discovering the event and deciding to give it a go. Once you’ve locked in the event on your Now Book It reservation system, you can also grab the dedicated event booking link and share this on your social media platforms and customer newsletters to get guests straight to the booking page.
Making magic of restaurant events
The world is your oyster when it comes to restaurant events, but try to focus on what best suits your brand, venue, team, and customers. With a bit of creativity, planning, and the right tools, your business will be underway to perfecting the art of event and experiences that your customers (and your bottom line) won’t forget.
Want a visual version of this blog to share with your team? Download the cheat sheet below!
