The Holiday Rush Is Coming. Is Your Restaurant Ready?
Office parties, catering trays, gift cards, and the 9:45 p.m. call asking if you're open Christmas Eve. Guests want restaurants during the holidays: in the National Restaurant Association's latest holiday survey (2023), 63% of adults planned to eat out and 48% planned to order takeout or delivery.
The challenge is meeting that demand with higher costs and leaner teams. Here's where things stand, and the practical steps that help.
Where things stand
Costs are up and staffing is still hard:
- Food and labor: Wholesale food prices are up 35% and restaurant wages up 41% since February 2020 (National Restaurant Association).
- Turnover: Restaurants and hotels had the highest quit rate of any industry in August 2026: 3.5% a month, versus 1.9% overall (BLS).
- Hiring: 47% of operators have openings that are hard to fill (Restaurant Business).
The good news: sales are forecast to grow 4.3% this year, quits are down from 3.9% a year ago, and restaurants added more than 125,000 jobs over the past year. The winners this season will get more from the team and the demand they already have.
Why the holidays turn up the volume
- The phone rings most during the rush, when no one can answer it.
- Catering and large-order inquiries arrive after close, and voicemail loses them.
- Guests pick close and convenient: 94% choose a restaurant near home (National Restaurant Association, 2022).
- Teams run thinner as staff take their own holidays.
None of this shows up on a report, but it adds up fast.
Six moves to make now
- Trim the holiday menu to high-margin features and bundles.
- Set holiday hours and order cutoffs early, and post them everywhere guests look.
- Push pre-orders and catering with set pickup windows.
- Staff to last year's peaks, and cross-train for call-outs.
- Protect the team you have with clear schedules and fair time off.
- Take repetitive work, like answering the same calls, off their plate.
Where AI and voice AI fit
Most restaurants are still cautious about AI: 39% use it in some form, and complexity, cost, and guest acceptance are the top concerns (Nation's Restaurant News, November 2026). The phone is a practical place to start, because the problem is clear and setup is simple. Voice AI can:
- Answer every call, even several at once
- Handle repeat questions like hours, gift cards, and dietary needs
- Take orders and send them to your POS
- Text links for online ordering, catering, or reservations
- Capture after-hours catering inquiries
- Transfer to staff based on your rules
The goal isn't fewer people. It's fewer interruptions, so your team can focus on the guests in front of them.
How ReachifyAI helps
ReachifyAI Voice AI answers questions, takes orders, texts links, and routes calls 24/7 in 50+ languages, across more than 1,000 locations and 6 million calls a year. It integrates with Toast, Square, Clover, Shift4, Olo, and more, lets you keep your current number, and comes with white-glove setup and flat per-location pricing with no per-minute or per-order fees. Customers have reported roughly 70% fewer calls handled by staff and up to 50% more online orders.
We also offer ReachifyAI Kiosk, the same conversational AI at the counter, and Ops IQ, which brings sales, labor, reviews, and cost into one view for multi-location groups.
Holiday readiness checklist
- Holiday hours and order cutoffs posted everywhere
- Menu trimmed to high-margin features
- Pre-order and catering path with pickup windows
- Schedule built around last year's peaks
- Every call answered, including after hours
- Text links ready for ordering, catering, and reservations
Start with the phone
Guests are coming and the industry is growing. Make it easy for guests to reach you and easy for your team to focus on hospitality.
Want to hear how it sounds? Request a demo and we'll walk through your holiday hours, menu, and call flow.
ReachifyAI customer outcomes are customer-reported and not guaranteed.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quits rate 3.5 percent in accommodation and food services, August 2026
- National Restaurant Association, Restaurants remain resilient despite challenging business conditions (July 22, 2026)
- National Restaurant Association, Holiday restaurant dining a merry alternative to cooking (2022 holiday survey)
- Restaurant Dive, 63% of adults plan to eat out during the holidays (2023 holiday survey)
- Restaurant Business, Restaurant and foodservice sales are expected to reach $1.55T in 2026
- Nation's Restaurant News, Restaurants are still taking a cautious approach to AI (November 10, 2026)