How to fill your restaurant on Mother's Day?

Mother's Day and Father's Day, which follow each other within a month of each other, have lost none of their popularity. Approximately 66% of French people consider Mother's Day to be an important celebration, with the average Mother's Day budget approaching 50 €. With the return of the terraces after long months of lowered curtains, the French are eager to go out to eat. The ideal opportunity for professionals to target a packed restaurant!

In France, 30% of all restaurant visits are family outings. This figure is even higher during the festive season. End-of-year celebrations prompt the French to visit restaurants 10% more on average in December than during the rest of the year. Family days (Mother's Day, Father's Day and Grandmother's Day) are also naturally a good time for family meals away from home.

For households whose children have already taken off, these special days are an extra opportunity to get together. For those whose children are still young, family celebrations are an excellent reason to share a moment away from their daily routine, far from their habits. In search of a moment of sharing to create good memories, families are on the lookout for places to share a warm and convivial meal. A visit to a restaurant on Mother's Day is ideal.

Restaurateurs therefore have every interest in attracting the attention of this particular clientele and making the effort to communicate on these special occasions. This will enable them to sell out on the big day, boost their deliveries and takeaways, and make a name for themselves with a clientele that tends to consume more than the average. These celebrations are an opportunity to win over a new clientele, one that is more exceptional but also more likely to increase their spending.

They are also an excellent way of demonstrating the dynamism of your establishment: a new experience, new menus or simply a new form of communication to build loyalty among your regular customers.

But how can you stand out from your competitors and capture the attention of families? Here are 8 examples of concrete actions you can implement in your establishment to make the most of Mother's and Father's Day.

1) Offer a special menu in honor of moms

Why not offer a special Mother's or Father's Day menu? Regular customers will be delighted to discover new dishes on the menu of their favorite restaurant, while those discovering the establishment for the first time will be delighted that the establishment takes this lovely holiday into account.

It's also smart to offer a creation designed for the event. Hélène Darroze, chef at Joïa and mother of 2 little girls, had put together a special Mother's Day offer, to be enjoyed on the terrace or available to take away all weekend. A "Menu gourmand" and a "Menu très très gourmand" in 4 courses, including a special festive dish for the occasion: barbecue-roasted half-lobster from Brittany, yuzu butter, salted herbs and salmon roe.

2) Create a special Mother's Day Sunday brunch

Designed to bring families together, family celebrations always fall on a Sunday. A day for sleeping in and relaxing, the last day of the week is also for many synonymous with the weekly brunch. In fact, no less than 10% of French people claim to brunch at least once a month. Many of these gourmets opt for a Sunday brunch with their families on Mother's or Father's Day.

Restaurants offering a brunch are well advised to promote it several days before the key date. To encourage guests to choose your establishment, it might also be worth considering a special Mother's Day offer. It's also a good idea to offer a takeaway and/or delivery service for families who can't make it to the restaurant, but want to leave the ordering to a chef.

La Rôtisserie d'Argent, a charming terrace connected to the famous La Tour d'Argent restaurant, offers a gourmet brunch to say "Maman je t'aime". On the menu: special bread, croissant, brioche, jam, orange juice, poultry fricassee, smoked salmon, white ham, comté cheese... And a made-to-measure dessert for the occasion: the Strawberry Tourbillon. Brunch available for delivery and takeaway, to order from May 11.

3) Treat the lucky ones on Mother's Day

These family celebrations are all about the little touches. In fact 79% of French people give their mothers a little something on their special day. As these cultural habits are so deeply rooted, customers would be pleasantly surprised if the establishment where they lunch or dine played the game and spoiled their mother-guests on the big day. A little attention, such as a flower or a box of chocolates, would be a pleasure for the lucky ones.

For Mother's Day, La Récolte Espace Local, a restaurant where you can discover delicious harvest, local organic and responsible cuisine, has added a mini-bouquet of local flowers by Oursin fleurs to its excellent takeaway menu.

4) Show off your terrace if the sun is out

Restaurateurs with a terrace or, even better but rarer, a garden, have every interest in promoting it on all their communication channels. Many families will be looking for a place to soak up the sun for dinner or lunch.

It's also a good idea to decorate your terrace for the occasion. Flowering your tables is likely to catch the eye of curious passers-by and encourage them to eat in your establishment. A small investment, but one that makes a big difference! Just look at the success of Maison Sauvage, a restaurant with a very flowery facade that has turned the place into an Instagram asset.

5) Choose a snack formula and take advantage of off-peak times

For Mother's Day, two things can't be overlooked:

1. Children have a place in the choice of festivities;
2. Children's favorite time of day is snack time!

Considering these two factors, it might be a good idea to set up a special four-hour offer, which will delight greedy children as much as parents. It's an opportunity for families to take a break during their Sunday stroll, or to enjoy a moment together without having to spend as much as they would on a meal.

Another advantage: it will enable restaurateurs to fill off-peak hours.

As the stars of the afternoon snack, many patissiers take the opportunity to create a new entremet, viennoiserie or chocolate. Hugo & Victor's "Enveloppe d'amour" is just one example. An envelope of almond dacquoise, Madagascar vanilla bavaroise, red fruit compote and vanilla chantilly. A dessert that looks as feminine as it is delicious.

Why not create a sweet in the image of your kitchen and this holiday, or team up with a pastry chef not far from your establishment, to attract families at snack time? Because you've got one advantage over pastry shops: you can enjoy it seated.

6) Communicate on the restaurant's actions and improve referencing

Once these special Mother's or Father's Day offers have been devised, it's important not to forget to promote them to potential customers in advance. They should be placed on all relevant communication channels several days before the event.

It is therefore important to promote your offer on :

• its Google My Business account, with a post featuring enticing photos,
• directories in which the company is listed,
• its website,
• but also on its social media on which it is possible to set a small budget so that the publication reaches as many people as possible.

Contacting relevant journalists (working in the gastronomy sector and for media read by your clientele) and informing them of your restaurant's offer will also help to increase its profile. Journalists will probably include the restaurant in their articles listing the best places to go for Mother's or Father's Day.

7) Organize a special Mother's Day contest on social media

Finally, you can organize a contest on your social accounts (Instagram and Facebook). This makes a lasting impression and encourages participants - including losers - to discover its offer on the big day. Contests, which can be sponsored so that they reach more people, are an opportunity to make yourself known to a wide audience not used to your establishment. Popular with Facebook and Instagram users, they often receive very high participation rates.

The Mama Nissa restaurant has launched a very touching competition, because this restaurant was born of a passion shared by a daughter and her mother! The prize: a chance to win a meal for 2 and a book on Algeria by Reno Marca. A competition in the image of the restaurant.

8) Point out that if its restaurant is child-friendly

Family holidays are, by definition, celebrated... as a family. And parents don't necessarily wait until their children are grown up to enjoy these special days and be pampered. It's not uncommon, then, for parents to be the ones behind the outings planned for the big day. Many of them will favor so-called " kid-friendly" establishments, i.e. those that take into account the happiness of both parents and children.

Some establishments, such as the MOB HOTEL have placed this quality at the heart of their DNA and emphasize it in their communications throughout the year. Every Sunday, the hotel-restaurant offers parents the chance to enjoy a leisurely brunch, leaving their little ones in the care of a babysitter recruited for the occasion. Adults can enjoy the food on the menu while the kids have fun in the next room.

The hotel's restaurant regularly highlights this asset on its social media and Google My Business pages, giving it a good reputation among Parisian parents. It also takes the time to invite influencer moms and dads to promote the brunch to their community. That's howAnaïs from the @parisianavore account, the foodie mom of three, put the MOB on her blog in her selection of kidsfriendly brunches.

In a nutshell,

Family celebrations are a real opportunity for catering establishments not only to build customer loyalty, but also to attract new customers. They are one of those key moments in the year when the French are more inclined to eat out, and to do so with their families, which increases the average bill.

But it's no easy feat to sell out on these festive days! Restaurateurs need to stand out from the competition if they are to win over potential customers. They need to make a communication effort: suggest a new offer to retain their regular customers, propose a new experience especially for the big day... The opportunities to make an impression are numerous, indispensable and particularly effective if they are put forward in the right way!

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