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How to Fill Your Restaurant - Part 4 Organising Special Events to Promote Your Restaurant
Yesterday we had a look at targeting promotions. Today we are “Organising Special Events”,. These can be fun and profitable.

The Idea!

Organise special events to bring back your regular customers and tempt in new diners. A well thought out event can really pull in the crowds.

Winning Tips


  • Choose special events which are in-keeping with your style of restaurant.


    • At Valentino’s Restaurant, Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight a Football World Cup in 2006 party targeted at regular customers added to the strong community spirit fostered by this restaurant.

  • Consider choosing times to organise these events when your restaurant would normally be moderately busy. At busy times you may not have room to bring in extra customers. An event organised when your restaurant would usually be very quiet may flop.


  • Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and, of course, Christmas are times when most restaurants organise some kind of special event. But why not consider the following special dates:



    • the start of Wimbledon – 25 June 2007

    • St George’s Day – 23 April

    • Midsummer’s Day – 24 June 2007

    • National Organic Food Fortnight – 1 – 16 September 2007


    Always double check your dates before committing to an event.

  • Events not linked to a date include:


    • Belgium Beer tasting evenings

    • Chocolate Lover’s Extravaganza

    • Design Your Own Pizza

    • Casino evening
    • The anniversary of the opening of the restaurant


  • Unless it is a very informal event, take bookings (preferably with a deposit) to help you to plan.


  • Really go to town on cheap and effective ways to publicise your event. Your publicity need not cost a great deal of money.


    • Give a copy of a leaflet about the event to everyone who comes to your restaurant in the weeks before the big day. Ask waiting staff to draw diners attention to the information

    • Ask regulars to pass on copies of your leaflet to their friends – encourage them to do some with a free starter or other small reward if a group of their friends book and mention their name

    • Put details of the event on Local Service Guide. www.LocalServiceGuide.com. Call us on 01962 856000

    • Send details to your e-mail list

    • Put a poster in the window of your restaurant

    • Deliver leaflets to local residents and local businesses

    • Send out a press release to your local paper with a story about the planned event – include a photograph


  • Your event should represent value for money. Having said that, do look at ways to encourage your customers to spend e.g. you may have a set three course meal (rules out people choosing not to have a starter or pudding), have a special feature on cognac or champagne.


We’ve Done It

Ewan Black, landlord of the Bishop on the Bridge, Winchester, UK organises special events throughout the year. Recently these have included:

  • Burn’s Night with a bagpipe player as a star attraction

  • a Gangster Theme Night on New Year’s Eve with the “best dressed table” getting free drinks all night

  • Hog Roast Sundays in the summer where a whole pig is roasted over a fire


The Bishop on the Bridge, Winchester, UK.

Ewan’s top tips for hosting events are:

  • Make your event a talking point – every time a customer tells a friend about your event, that is free and really effective publicity. To get people talking about you, you need to put on a show. “The Hog Roasts,” says Ewan, “create a fantastic show – they look and smell really great. To enhance the smell, I choose woods which give off a great aroma as they burn.”

  • Organise well in advance – at least one or two months. The Bishop’s Christmas menu is published on 1 August each year.

  • For events such as Valentine’s Day or Bonfire Night, it is essential to hold your celebration on the correct day. Don’t be tempted, for example, to move your celebration to a weekend – it doesn’t work.

  • The best publicity for the event is putting up information in your pub and getting your regulars to talk about it to their friends. If you have booked entertainment use their fan base to create free publicity e.g. get your event listed on the band’s website.



Well, we are nearly there! Just Part 5 – Banish Monday and Tuesday Blues. Hope that you are inspired by the ideas from other restaurateurs and our team. The next challenge is to go and implement your favourite one. Set yourself a deadline and go for it!

And consider the financial returns. Even if you only bring in ten new customers from one low cost promotion, it can be overwhelmingly successful in terms of increasing profitability.



Already, it’s looking a like a good return from just one small promotion. Gradually build up the number of special events which you organise and increase the profits from your restaurant.


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