New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest party nights of the year and can be an extremely profitable time to host a restaurant event. You’ll want to start your promotions early and make sure there are plenty of specials and entertainment to draw in a crowd. Here are a few tips to make your New Year’s restaurant event profitable.

Create A 2020 Themed Menu

Since New Year’s Eve celebrations can bring large crowds, it’s a good idea to condense your menu a bit to take the stress off of your kitchen staff. This also offers an opportunity to get creative with your dishes as well as your menu design. Finger foods and dishes that can be carried around easily are more conducive to a celebratory environment. Appetizers will likely be your most popular items during such an event and deserve added attention prior to finalizing your menu.

Offer A Variety Of Drink Specials

Few phrases get party-goers more excited than “drink specials”. Along with a few new additions to your drink menu, you’ll also want to offer specials on wells and draught beer. Coming up with a few original cocktails or offering discounts on top shelf liquor can also be a big draw for potential customers. Having a drink special menu can also help your staff. If most people are choosing from a smaller selection of drinks, your bartenders will be able to serve customers more efficiently, even if it’s crowded.

Have A Restaurant Wide Champagne Toast

Champagne is the traditional drink of New Year’s Eve and offering a free glass for a communal toast at midnight can add a touch of class to your event. While it may not be a good idea to break the bank with top shelf bubbly, offering a free glass of moderately priced champagne is a nice gesture and can bring your guests together. Restaurant events are all about creating memories. Those memories can translate into loyal customers and valuable word of mouth advertising.

Hold Several Interactive Contests

Sure, raffles and drawings for cash and prizes are a fun idea, but coming up with contests that encourage your guests to mingle with each other will make for a more fun environment. These can range anywhere from trivia contests to drinking games or even an eating contest. Anything that encourages your guests to interact with each other will make for a much more memorable event.  When new friends and relationships are established, they’re sure to remember where they were and are likely to come back in the future.

Promote Your Event Through Social Media

Getting the word out about your celebration is an important part of creating a profitable event.  Social media can be leveraged through the use of pictures, videos and graphics that outline what your event has to offer. Your promotions should start early and run right up until event time.  While traditional means of promotion such as signs, flyers and word of mouth can bring in a healthy crowd, social media can turn your event into the talk of the town. Be sure to specify whether or not your event is child friendly.