If you haven’t made your
reservations for Valentine’s Day, which lands on a Friday this year, what are
you waiting for? Restaurants in Louisiana are reporting strong bookings, and
many are planning to also host diners for the special occasion on the following
Saturday night.
Valentine’s Day is the second
busiest day for restaurants, behind Mother’s Day, and nearly 70 million
Americans are planning to treat their significant other to a romantic meal to
commemorate the occasion. That’s one quarter of the nation’s diners planning to
spend their evening in restaurants, according to the National Restaurant Association (NRA).
Diners surveyed by OpenTable
last year said they were prepared to spend an average of $139 on dinner out,
about two-thirds more than the typical OpenTable check average of $85 per
couple. Collectively last year, diners spent $4 billion on meals out on
Valentine’s Day.
Restaurants use the
opportunity to make the evening special with prix fixe menus with celebratory desserts,
champagne, flowers and music. Thirteen percent of diners surveyed by the NRA
said they select a restaurant that offers a special menu or promotions.
"We're offering a four-course Valentine's Day dinner for $40 and Moet Chandon Brut Rose for $8 a glass, said Scott Callais, general manager at Juban's Restaurant in Baton Rouge. "We are also featuring dancing with Ned Fasullo and the Fabulous Big Band Orchestra.
When choosing where to dine
out for Valentine’s Day, the NRA’s research revealed that 42 percent of diners
say they pick their favorite restaurant or their companion’s favorite
restaurant for the their special meal, as opposed to 11 percent of diners who
said they select a restaurant they have never visited. Twenty-two percent of
diners said they seek a restaurant with a romantic atmosphere.
The biggest challenge for
restaurants on Valentine’s Day is finding enough two-top tables. In a Nation’s
Restaurant News article, Cornell University professor of services operations
management Sherri Kimes provides a formula for calculating what restaurant
owners can expect. She urges restaurateurs to use data from the prior-year
holidays and encourages renting the two-tops needed to maximize revenue
opportunity.
When given a list of six
Valentine’s gift options that they’d like to receive, a NRA survey found that 31 percent of adults favored restaurant gift
cards, followed by jewelry, clothing, flowers, chocolate and perfume. When
broken down by gender, 46 percent of men favored restaurant gift cards over the
other gift options.
Reservations will no doubt be
difficult to come by if not made in advance. Take the time today and make your
reservation for that special someone in your life.
The NRA's research also shows that nearly one-third of American adults would like to receive a restaurant gift card as a Valentine’s Day gift. Men show a much stronger preference for restaurant gift cards as a Valentine’s Day gift than women do at nearly half.