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From Festive Flavors and Holiday Toasts to New Year’s Eve Celebrations: Your December Restaurant Marketing Calendar
Restaurant owners and operators have been making their marketing lists and checking them twice, knowing that holiday shoppers and festive diners are actively searching for seasonal deals and memorable dining experiences. As the year draws to a close, December delivers one of the busiest and most lucrative stretches on the hospitality calendar. Between office parties, family reunions, and winter nights out, operators have prime opportunities to promote catering packages and holiday gift card incentives. Month-long designations like National Eggnog Month, National Pear Month, National Fruitcake Month, and Worldwide Food Service Safety Month also give restaurants a strong foundation to roll out limited-time menus and highlight operational excellence during peak volume.
December’s culinary lineup is packed with rich comfort foods, decadent sweets, and celebratory pours across every daypart. Savory features can highlight crowd-pleasing favorites ranging from appetizers, fritters, and fried shrimp to roast suckling pig, bouillabaisse, and bacon. Sweets and baked goods take center stage with holiday indulgences like cookies, brownies, peppermint bark, gingerbread houses, Sacher torte, and pumpkin pie. Meanwhile, beverage programs can drive high-margin bar and cafe sales by featuring peppermint lattes, cortados, hot cocoa, craft lagers, Cabernet Franc, sangria, coquito, and New Year’s Eve champagne.
Beyond food and drink features, December offers plenty of community-driven observances and lighthearted themes to engage guests on social media and in the dining room. Celebrate major seasonal milestones like Hanukkah, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve alongside fun promotional hooks such as National Christmas Lights Day, National Bartender Day, Go Caroling Day, and Make A Gift Day. Operators can also lean into charitable initiatives on International Volunteer Day and Safe Toys and Gifts Month, or use Write A Business Plan Month to map out growth goals for the year ahead.
Leveraging these national observances gives your restaurant a turn-key framework to keep marketing messaging fresh and engaging through the final weeks of the year. Whether you are promoting holiday catering, running a gift card bonus campaign, or hosting a festive countdown event, tapping into December’s seasonal energy will help keep your dining room full and set your business up for a strong start to the new year.
Here’s your restaurant marketing calendar for December:
National Eggnog Month
National Fruitcake Month
National Pear Month
Worldwide Food Service Safety Month
Write A Business Plan Month
National Tie Month
Safe Toys and Gifts Month
1 – National Pie Day
1 – National Peppermint Bark Day
1 – National Christmas Lights Day
1 – Eat A Red Apple Day
2 – National Fritters Day
3 – National Peppermint Latte Day
3 – National Green Bean Casserole Day
3 – Make A Gift Day
4 – Hanukkah begins
4 – National Cookie Day
4 – Cabernet Franc Day
4 – Santa’s List Day
4 – National Bartender Day
4 – Wear Brown Shoes Day
4 – World Wildlife Conservation Day
5 – Comfort Food Day
5 – National Sacher Torte Day
5 – International Volunteer Day
6 – National Gazpacho Day
6 – National Miners Day
7 – National Cotton Candy Day
7 – Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
8 – National Brownie Day
9 – National Pastry Day
9 – Christmas Card Day
10 – National Lager Day
10 – National Appetizer Day
11 – National Noodle Ring Day
11 – National Have a Bagel Day
12 – National Ambrosia Day
12 – Gingerbread House Day
12 – Poinsettia Day
12 – National Ding-a-Ling Day
13 – National Cocoa Day
13 – Worldwide Candle Lighting Day
13 – Violin Day
14 – National Bouillabaisse Day
14 – World Choral Day
15 – National Cupcake Day
15 – National Lemon Cupcake Day
15 – Cat Herders Day
16 – Chocolate Covered Anything Day
17 – National Maple Syrup Day
18 – National Ham Salad Day
18 – National Roast Suckling Pig Day
18 – Bake Cookies Day
18 – Ugly Christmas Sweater Day
19 – National Oatmeal Muffin Day
19 – Underdog Day
20 – National Sangria Day
20 – National Cortado Day
20 – Go Caroling Day
21 – National Fried Shrimp Day
21 – National Kiwi Fruit Day
21 – National Coquito Day
21 – Humbug Day
21 – Crossword Puzzle Day
21 – Look on the Bright Side Day
22 – National Date Nut Bread Day
22 – National Cookie Exchange Day
22 – Forefathers Day
23 – National Pfeffernüsse Day
24 – Christmas Eve
24 – National Eggnog Day
25 – Christmas Day
25 – National Pumpkin Pie Day
26 – National Candy Cane Day
26 – Thank You Note Day
27 – National Fruitcake Day
28 – National Chocolate Candy Day
28 – Card Playing Day
29 – National Pepper Pot Day
30 – National Bacon Day
31 – New Years Eve
31 – National Champagne Day
31 – No Interruptions Day
31 – Make Up Your Mind Day
RestaurantNews.com offers an affordable restaurant marketing solution for owners and operators. Make the most of this holiday season by putting your restaurant news on the menu.
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