New Years Day

Should a Restaurant be open on New Years Day?

That's a tough question. Many are closed I believe and quite a few are open. Seems like a business decision of whether you can be profitable and have staff that do not mind working. I would think if you didn't get the word out that you were open and entice folks to visit then it could be a slow day. I think if you just open and don't get the word out many would assume you would be closed. Further, a lot of people do not think about dining out on New Years Day but if they have a good reason then they might.

I know many of the Chinese restaurants advertise that they are open and do quite well because a lot of diners know they will be open.

There are a lot of bowl games on that day. If you did a New Years Day special of corned beef and cabbage, black eyed peas and had some good drink specials you might be able to get some folks in to watch the games.

I would think staffing would be a bigger issue than getting customers to come. With the limited options on that day you should at least recoup operating expenses for the day.

In my experience restaurant employees are revered partiers and asking them to function properly on the day after the biggest party of the year occurs may prove challenging. Unless the majority of your staffers are in A.A. then I expect sunglasses, slow walking and alot of cigarette smoking by your employees.

I've hosted out-of-towners over New Years and have enjoyed having options when it comes to dining out on New Year's Day. The more Louisville independents the better. I could be wrong about this, but last time I was in this situation, we dined at BBC St. Matthews.

I find it very hard to find anyone willing (and able) to work on New Year's Day-- so Browning's is closed on the 1st. We will probably enjoying Chinese food, as several people have noted , are almost always open on holidays.

Unless you are offering some sort of brunch then I would avoid opening on New Years Day.
I've worked in restaurants that were ghost towns on that evening.
Also, unless you have a sports bar, I would also close on Super Bowl Sunday as well. The last Super Bowl I worked (XXXIV1999 Rams vs. Titans) was at the long gone Zephyr Cove. We did a total of THREE covers during my nine hour shift. Super Bowl is almost as big of a food holliday as Thanksgiving for people buying stuff at the grocery and hosting parties at home. Here's an interesting article about that......
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/8231 ... he-numbers

We opened last year for the first time in years on New Years Day (for dinner only) and had a fairly successful night. We were overstaffed but the sales were definitely worth it. We will be open again this year but will have a few less on staff than a normal Saturday. If anyone wants to come join us I will probably also have a few wine and champagne specials going for that night and Sunday as well.