6 Ways to Prep Your Restaurant for a Profitable Thanksgiving Eve (aka ‘Drinksgiving’)

The night before Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and you know what that means—a massive revenue opportunity for your restaurant.

Often called “Drinksgiving” or “Blackout Wednesday,” Thanksgiving Eve has become one of the single busiest nights of the year for bars and restaurants. It’s a night of reunions, where friends and family gather in their hometowns and head out for drinks, casual dinners, and celebrations.

How can you ensure your establishment is prepared to handle the rush and capitalize on this opportunity? Here are six essential steps to prep your restaurant for a bountiful pre-holiday evening.

1. Open Up Reservations and Pre-Orders Now

The key to a smooth night is knowing who is coming. Secure your group reservations and catering packages as early as possible to streamline operations.

• Secure Group Bookings: This is the night for large group reservations and impromptu reunions. Actively promote your event spaces or large-table availability. Offering a simple pre-set appetizer package for parties over 8 can be an easy upsell that also helps your kitchen.
• Streamline Catering & Takeout: Many guests will want to grab food for their at-home gatherings. Promote catering options and ensure you have a clear, dedicated system for handling these orders (and their payments) in advance. This prevents your dine-in service from getting bottlenecked by takeout traffic.

Simplify Thanksgiving Eve with TripleseatDirect

Thanksgiving Eve is one of the busiest nights of the year for restaurants — packed with group reservations, pre-holiday gatherings, and last-minute catering requests. TripleseatDirect makes managing it all easy. With instant online booking for large parties and catering orders, you can fill your space efficiently, minimize back-and-forth communication, and keep your team focused on delivering a seamless guest experience. Let TripleseatDirect handle the logistics so you can focus on creating memorable moments.

2. Prepare Your Space for a Crowd

On Thanksgiving Eve, flow is everything. A crowded, chaotic bar is a turn-off and a safety hazard.

• Optimize Your Floor Plan: Evaluate your floorplan layout to create clear pathways between tables, the bar, and entryways. Designate a specific, out-of-the-way area for waiting guests and takeout pickups to minimize congestion.
• Set the Scene: Your space should be clean and inviting for in-house events. Organize bar workstations to streamline drink prep, ensuring bartenders have easy access to ice, glasses, and garnishes. A few simple fall decor items can make the space feel festive and encourage guests to stay longer.

3. Create a Simplified, Shareable Menu

This is not the night for a complex, multi-course dining experience. Guests are looking for casual, social, and fast.

• Focus on Shareables: A simplified menu focusing on crowd-pleasing, easy-to-prepare dishes is your best bet. Think sliders, flatbreads, loaded fries, and sampler platters. These items are ideal for groups and keep your kitchen moving.
• Create Themed Drinks (and Pre-Batch Them!): This is a bar-centric night, so your drink menu is a star. Feature 3-4 festive, themed cocktails like cranberry margaritas or spiced old-fashioneds.

Pro-Tip: Pre-batch as much of your cocktail menu as possible. One bar manager told us they pre-batch 80% of their “Drinksgiving” specialty cocktails, cutting drink ticket times in half and letting their bartenders serve more guests.

4. Stock Up on Key Food & Beverage

Running out of a key ingredient is a nightmare on a high-volume night.

• Beverage Inventory: Thanksgiving Eve sees huge spikes in liquor sales, particularly vodka, rum, and tequila. Thanksgiving Eve is one of the busiest nights of the year for bars and restaurants, with liquor sales alone increasing by as much as 156% compared to a typical Wednesday​. Double-check your inventory of these, as well as popular mixers, garnishes, beer kegs, and wine. And order extra ice—you’ll need it.
• Food Supplies: Review your simplified menu and ensure you are fully stocked on all high-demand ingredients. Coordinate with suppliers for early deliveries to avoid any last-minute shortages.

5. Prepare Your Staff for a High-Volume Shift

Your team is your most valuable asset. Set them up for success, not stress.

• Hold a Pre-Shift Huddle: Schedule an all-hands meeting to take place before service. Outline the night’s flow, review the simplified menu, assign specific roles (like a dedicated takeout runner), and discuss crowd control measures.
• Reinforce Teamwork: Remind your staff to communicate and support each other. Ensure that barbacks, servers, and hosts are collaborating effectively. A positive, high-energy attitude is contagious, so boost morale with breaks, snacks, and post-shift perks to keep everyone focused.

6. Monitor Your Data (and Learn for Next Year)

Once the rush is over, don’t just guess what worked. Use your data to refine your strategy for the next big holiday.

Using event management platforms, you can gain valuable insights into your performance.

• Which promotions were most effective?
• What was your most popular drink special?
• What was the average group size?
• When were your peak reservation times?

This data helps you pinpoint what drove revenue, allowing you to optimize your menu, staffing, and marketing for the next high-volume night. (Learn more about tracking the right event metrics in our complete guide to event data.)

Your Thanksgiving Eve Prep Checklist

Use this simple checklist to make sure you’re ready:

• [ ] Promote large party reservations and pre-orders.
• [ ] Optimize your floor plan for crowd flow.
• [ ] Design a simplified, shareable food and drink menu.
• [ ] Pre-batch your specialty cocktails.
• [ ] Confirm all F&B deliveries and stock levels.
• [ ] Schedule and brief your staff for a high-volume shift.
• [ ] Set up a dedicated area for takeout and waiting.

Tripleseat Will Make You Thankful All Year Long

Scheduling large group reservations, private bookings, and catering orders for the holidays doesn’t have to be stressful. With the right planning and tools, you can turn Thanksgiving Eve into a wonderful experience that leaves both your guests and your team thankful.

Say goodbye to the stress and hello to a successful, profitable holiday season with Tripleseat. Learn more and book a demo today.