How to Fill Your Restaurant’s Midweek Nights This Holiday Season (Using Toast)
The fastest way to fill slow restaurant nights this holiday season is to invite guests to book a midweek holiday party now: one email, one offer, one date range and one booking link. Toast’s own data shows guests are already booking the quieter nights. Your job is to make sure they book yours.
Most independent owners start thinking about holiday parties in December. By then Fridays and Saturdays are full and Tuesdays are empty. The weeks before December decide which nights you fill, and today is October 23, so those weeks are here.
This guide covers the five-step build, the numbers behind it and how to check that it made money. Everything uses features most Toast restaurants already pay for.
Why is midweek your holiday opportunity?
Because guests are already moving toward quieter nights, and most restaurants are not asking them to. Toast’s own data shows the following reservation growth:
Tuesday reservations: up 15% year over year (Q3 2025)
Thursday reservations: up 12% year over year (Q3 2025)
Those are the nights most owners worry about. Demand is building there. What is missing is a reason to choose your restaurant and a specific date.
Someone organising a party for eight often has a flexible date. A clear Tuesday offer gives them a reason to use that flexibility. It also keeps your Friday and Saturday tables free for higher-spend walk-ins and regulars.
How do you get holiday parties on slow nights?
Send an early invitation by email with one offer, one date range and one booking link. You can build all five steps inside Toast Email Marketing.
Pick the nights. Choose two or three slow nights between late November and the third week of December. Write the date range in the email so guests can see the dates are open.
Build one offer. Use a value-add your food cost supports: a welcome drink, a shared starter for the table or a set menu at a fixed price per head. Avoid straight discounts. They train guests to wait for the next one.
Choose the audience. Pull guests from your Toast guest list who booked a group, ordered catering or visited for a celebration. Add anyone who visited in the last 12 months.
Write a short email. Put the offer and the dates in the subject line. Keep the body to three or four lines and one button that goes straight to your booking link.
Send it early, then remind. Send the invitation by mid-November. Send a short reminder in the first week of December to the same list.
One email with one clear action will outperform a newsletter that tries to cover the whole season.
Why do catering numbers matter for dining rooms?
Because a holiday party is a catering order that happens to be eaten in your dining room. Toast’s own catering data shows how heavily the season leans on the fourth quarter:
About 37% of 2024 catering orders landed in Q4
Same-store catering transactions: up 26%
Average ticket: up 9%
Group bookings behave like catering. The ticket is larger, the date is planned ahead and one person makes the decision for the table.
Treat every party inquiry like a catering lead. Reply the same day, offer a set menu with a per-head price and make the headcount and date easy to confirm. The restaurant that answers first and makes the choice simple usually wins the booking.
Should you sell gift cards?
Yes, if you treat them as a January traffic plan and not only as December cash. Toast’s own data from December 2022 shows the pattern:
December 2022 gift card purchases: up 210% versus a normal month
January redemptions: 62% above the annual average
That data is from 2022, so read it as a pattern and not a forecast for this year. The useful part is the second number. Cards bought in December bring guests back in a quiet month.
Put your gift card link in the holiday email and on your website by late November. Add a small January value-add to cards bought in December, such as a bonus card valid for the next visit. That gives the buyer a reason to purchase and the recipient a reason to book a slow night in January.
How do you let guests book direct?
Put a booking link where guests already look: your website, your Google listing and every email you send. Two Toast data points explain why:
65% of surveyed diners go directly to a restaurant’s website to book (Toast survey)
45% of reservations are made the day of (Toast Tables data, Q3 2024)
The first number says your website is the front door. The second says many guests decide late, so a booking link that is hard to find costs you the same-day table.
Run a quick test on your phone. Can you get from your homepage to a booking page in two taps? Does your Google listing show a reserve or order button? Fix what is missing before you send the first email.
How do you know it worked?
Measure covers, average check and prime cost, not opens and clicks. A campaign that fills a Tuesday with tables that lose money has not worked.
After the holiday weeks, ask three questions:
Labour: Did the extra covers fit the staff I had scheduled, or did I add shifts to serve them?
Food cost: Did the offer items hold my target food cost percentage?
Average check: Did the average check on those nights rise, hold or fall compared with a normal Tuesday?
Bookkeeping closes the loop. Your books show labour and food cost by period, which your POS reports cannot. Accountific does this for food and beverage operators, and a bookkeeper you already use can do the same if your month-end closes promptly. Compare the holiday weeks with the same weeks of a normal month.
What should you do next?
Send the invitation before mid-November. If you want help deciding which slow nights and which offer fit your numbers, start with the two free resources below.
The free Toast Marketing Activation Checklist lists the Toast marketing features your restaurant should have switched on and the three that move the needle fastest. The free 30-minute review starts with a call where you tell us what marketing you have running today. Pam then reviews your Toast account and digital presence on her own and follows up with findings and actions you can take yourself.
Free checklist: greatworkonline.com/toast-activation-checklist Free 30-minute review: tidycal.com/pam-pormentilla-monteith/restaurant-growth-session |
Frequently asked questions
How do I fill slow restaurant nights in December?
Invite past guests to book a midweek holiday party early, by email, with one offer, one date range and one booking link. Toast’s own data shows Tuesday and Thursday reservations are already growing year over year.
What is the best offer for a midweek holiday party?
A value-add your food cost supports, such as a welcome drink, a shared starter for the table, or a set menu at a fixed price per head. Straight discounts teach guests to wait for the next deal.
Do restaurant gift cards help in January?
They can. Toast’s own data from December 2022 shows gift card purchases 210% above a normal month and January redemptions 62% above the annual average. Plan the card as a January traffic driver, not only December cash.
How early should I send holiday party invitations?
Send the first one by mid-November, while your December and early January dates are still open, then send a short reminder in early December.
How do I know a holiday campaign made money?
Compare covers, average check and prime cost for the campaign nights against a normal week. Your bookkeeping gives you the labour and food cost side of that comparison.