25 Father’s Day restaurant specials: Fun ideas to draw dads in

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Besides a dad’s birthday, Father’s Day is one of the best days of the year to show how much dear ol’ Dad means to you. And while Father’s Day is not as busy of a holiday as Mother’s Day for restaurants, it’s still an opportunity to make fathers feel special when they walk through your doors. Let’s look at some Father’s Day restaurant ideas to get an idea of how your establishment can help families celebrate Dad.

25 ideas for Father’s Day restaurant specials

From special menu items to gifts, events, and more, we’ve got tons of restaurant marketing ideas to make this special occasion easier. Special Father’s Day offers help drive traffic, drawing both regulars and new customers looking for a good way to celebrate the father figures in their life. So, check out these ideas—mix and match at your leisure.

1. Serve BBQ and grilled food

The image of a dad tending a grill is a long-standing stereotype. In fact, if there were a Dad’s Union logo, it may well be adorned with a grill, a spatula, and tongs. And yes, while it is a stereotype, many dads do indeed look forward to grilled meat on Father’s Day.

So, offering a wide variety of grilled meats and veggies can be a popular menu option and one sure to please both dads and the whole family. After all, grilled meat is popular worldwide no matter what day it is.

You can tap into classics like steak and burgers, but consider alternatives like grilled fish, shrimp skewers, or even Vietnamese-style grilled scallops with cream cheese (which are surprisingly amazing).

You don’t have to be a steakhouse to treat dad to a good bit of beef, either. Offering prized pieces of meat like ribeye, tenderloin filet, a tomahawk steak, New York Strip, or even prime rib as a Father’s Day special will make meat-eaters melt with joy. Wagyu beef is especially popular right now and makes for great marketing opportunities.

2. Serve vegetarian and vegan food

In all the grilling and meat excitement of Father’s Day, don’t forget vegetarian or vegan dads. Smart restaurateurs are making plant-based items a staple on their menu, as this trend is set to stay. Because group dining is a big deal on this special day, too, families can all enjoy their meal even if there’s one lone vegan in the group.

Grilled or smoked meat alternatives like grilled seitan and marinated tofu can be big hits with non-meat-eating dads and other family members alike.

3. Offer all-you-can-eat specials

You’ll want to make sure Dad leaves your restaurant full. Offering all-you-can-eat options as a restaurant special is a good way to make sure any dads with a big appetite are just as full as they want to be.

This option can come in a few forms. A buffet is a solid option in such circumstances: Dad can load up on his favorites and walk away from his Father’s Day celebration ready for a nap. Another alternative is what’s done with family-style meals at The Salt Lick in Austin: The plates keep on coming until diners say “enough.”

There are lots of directions you can take this. Imagine an all-you-can-eat DIY taco bar, endless chicken wings or boneless wings, refillable fondue, no-limit trips to the carving station, or even endless refills on beer for dad.

4. Brainstorm alcohol pairings

Drinks can make for a happy Father’s Day for all, and June is the perfect time to put together some refreshing drink specials. While wine flights have long been popular, similar cocktail items like martini flights have jumped 162% in searches. This leads to a world of ideas that can work well for Father’s Day: tastings of your liquor selection with room for creativity for your bartenders. Just how many varieties of an old fashioned are there? Hint: There’s no limit on what you can do with it.

If you have a good beer selection, make sure to share it on social media as a marketing tool long before the day. The same can be said for cocktails, wine, and high-quality liquor selections. Consider including cocktails, high-quality beers, whiskeys, and other liquors into your promotion ideas that you can share with suppliers.

5. Partner with a craft brewery

Brewhouse visits are a popular Father’s Day weekend activity, especially as American craft beer has exploded in recent years. If you’re not a brewhouse yourself, partner with a local brewer to serve up a special Father’s Day draft beer that’s exclusive to the big weekend.

6. Have fun with mocktails

Being sober-curious is a huge trend right now, so don’t assume all your guests will be ready to drink. Cater to the non-drinking crowd so that everyone feels special and included.

Because Father’s Day falls in the warm part of the year, consider refreshing options like homemade lemonade or limeade, agua fresca, horchata, non-alcoholic beer, mocktails, or specialty coffee beverages.

7. Put together a prix fixe menu

Foodie dads will love a prix fixe menu for their Father’s Day dinner. They can work especially well at more upscale restaurants and can help families plan their expenses in advance. Prix fixe essentially means a set menu, and usually works as a traditional multi-course menu including an appetizer, main course, dessert, and a paired drink.

A classic steak frites is sure to be a big hit with fathers around the world as it’s one of the most famed combos in restaurant history. Pairing wines with the menu can help show off your wine list and attract diners for future meals.

Of course, depending on what your restaurant is, you’ll want to lean into your niche. But making Father’s Day restaurant deals like a prix fixe three-course meal can work in any restaurant environment. In that case, you’re looking at a classic appetizer, entrée/main course, and dessert.

8. Serve Father’s Day brunch

Father’s Day is a whole day, not just one meal. So offering options that the whole family can enjoy to plan around work schedules is a wise idea. Offering a brunch menu in addition to the dinner menu can attract customers throughout the day and really boost revenue.

What you serve for Father’s Day brunch will, of course, depend on your typical offerings. But it’s an opportunity to get creative, too, and unleash ideas your chefs may have. Whether you decide to do a brunch buffet, a decked out bloody mary bar, or a classic brunch menu with waffles, fancy eggs, and endless bacon, cater to your typical diners’ tastes.

Consider brunch a good opportunity to tap into sandwich trends. Sandwich culture has been rapidly evolving, with the Italian chopped sandwich, pickle sandwich, Caesar salad sandwich, and raclette sandwich all blowing up social media feeds. Make your own version of these newly minted classics or slap your name on a new creation, market it, and create your own trend.

9. Get snacky

Diners are loving snack food, and this family holiday could be the perfect time to explore the trend. Food flights have taken off, and come in many varieties: egg flights, cookie flights, pasta flights…you get the drift. So what could work well for Father’s Day? How about taco flights? Fried chicken tastings with different sauces? Take concepts from your regular menu, add some variations, and let diners tell you what their favorite is. Who knows—you could come up with a new favorite item.

10. Remember the kiddos

Many families will be coming with young children. While we wish kids could get into a gochujang fried chicken slider like the grownups can, the reality is restaurants will want to have something simple and straightforward available for picky eaters.

This can be quite simple: chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, French fries…the classics are classic for a reason. Many families will be satisfied with having their kids fed rather than struggling with them to try new flavors—and that’s OK.

11. Satisfy a sweet tooth

Serving desserts is a must no matter what kind of eatery you operate. And consider showing dad that sweet side for real: A free dessert is a nice way to say “thank you” to dine-in customers while showing dads some love.

Homemade ice cream is always a winner, as is New York cheesecake, though group-friendly desserts like ice cream cake can be a solid idea as well. If you run an Italian restaurant or anything like it, cannoli is hard to beat.

If you want to latch onto dessert trends, burnaway cakes have lit up social media feeds this year. The cakes are topped with wafer paper that’s lit, burning away to reveal a special picture or message underneath. These cakes have serious potential draw: Searches for them are up 12,276% year over year. Consider partnering with a local bakery to plan ahead and accommodate requests (and be sure to shout the availability from the rooftops).

12. Put together a takeout menu for new families

There’s a decent chance families will want to celebrate Father’s Day at home rather than do a dine-in experience. New dads especially might prefer to be at home with the baby instead of chance it with a day out. That’s not a bad thing for restaurants—instead, it’s a significant opportunity for an uptick in online orders.

Consider: What food packages can you provide that would make an at-home Father’s Day memorable? Make a special new dad takeout menu and put out some promo appealing to brand-new fathers with a baby at home and no time on their hands.

13. Promote large-group dine-in specials

Group dining is back in a big way. Yelp user searches for restaurants with a private dining room are up a stunning 6,541% year over year, while searches for large group restaurants are up a still-whopping 1,461%. The takeaway? Diners increasingly want large social gatherings, and restaurants that can accommodate them will reap the rewards.

Interestingly, millennials spend the most of any generation on Father’s Day. Also, consider the most popular way to celebrate dad is with a special outing like brunch or dinner, and you’re looking at a busy day with large tickets. So, when designing special offers and writing marketing copy, keep the millennial demographic in mind and write as if they were your audience. Promote group dining options and watch your reservations fill up. Be sure to keep some slots open in your dining room for last-minute diners to increase table turnover as well.

If you have a private dining room, great. If you have an outdoor space—also great, as Father’s Day is famously an outdoors-friendly day. Promote large group gatherings with group discounts or special deals via your social media platforms and by email to lock in customers early. A large party can make the difference between a decent business day and an excellent one.

14. Offer large-group catering specials

Imitate the Super Bowl packages restaurants offer, with enormous platters of crispy chicken wings, BBQ, and more. Catering can be a huge event for restaurants on this day.

15. Lean into baseball season

There are a number of ways to include sports and games into your Father’s Day celebration. If you run a sports bar or have televisions, note that Father’s Day falls squarely in the middle of baseball season. So, if you’re in a baseball-friendly town, tap into your town’s baseball fanbase by advertising what games are on that day.

16. Bust out the lawn games

Father’s Day doesn’t just have to be about food. It can—and should be—fun for the whole family. It’s what Dad would want, after all.

Games of any variety—both indoor and outdoor—can be popular on Father’s Day. This can mean your pool table, dart board, or other bar games become a big hit. Alternatively, if you have outdoor space, making room for horseshoes, bocce ball, or other lawn games can make fun for the whole family.

17. Host some live music

If you’ve got the space and clientele for it, live music can go a long way towards making Father’s Day fun and festive. Think dad rock or jazz—something mellow that families can enjoy in the background while still being able to hold a conversation. That is, unless you know your clientele are metalheads—in that case, look for a Slayer cover band.

18. Host a dad joke contest

Some families are super competitive, so making a competition of something fun can work well. Imagine a dad joke competition that dads get to prepare for: Who can tell the best (worst) joke? Give prizes to the winners to make it enticing.

19. Give out Father’s Day freebies

Providing gifts to Father’s Day customers can be a great way to endear yourself as a restaurateur. Gifts can be something as simple as a gift card or bonus card, a koozie, or a mug. Coupons to future visits are a simple and straightforward gift as well. Many dads don’t need that much to feel appreciated—just something to remind them that they matter to people.

Branded freebies with your logo on them can be a good way to cement yourself in diners’ minds and remind them to come back to your restaurant. A good beer mug is an excellent gift for many fathers, as is a simple T-shirt or hat.

20. Include grandpas and father figures

When you’re advertising, make sure to note that all father figures are welcome. That includes grandpas, uncles, legal guardians, and mentors. Give customers as much an opportunity as possible to show the men in their life they matter, whether they’re biologically related or not.

21. Post photos of food all social media platforms

Social media is your friend here. You’ll want to post at least weekly about your specials, events, and gifts for dad on all relevant social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Yelp Connect. Sharing beautiful pictures and enticing videos of the food you plan to serve is a solid idea.

22. Sprinkle in straightforward ads

The food is just one aspect. You may also be running events like those mentioned above.

Potential customers need to know as much as possible about your Father’s Day event—especially the price. That’s one reason all-you-can-eat and prix fixe specials work so well in this scenario: You can put the price in the ad and it’ll clearly stick in customers’ minds.

23. Tap into booking links

Yelp Guest Manager users can create unique booking links that take customers directly to your reservation page. Share these links across all your social media posts to drive reservations and remove yet another layer of friction separating customers from your reservation book. There’s literally no downside.

24. Run a gift card special

To boost sales, offer some free merch for Dad with the purchase of a gift card, or offer a discount on gift cards for the month of June.

To encourage people to come dine with you on the big day, try a pre-Father’s Day social media competition with a gift card as the prize. Make it large enough that it can feed a few family members.

We recommend allowing this for in-store purchases only, and not for takeaway or pick up.

25. Promote Father’s Day all weekend long

Finally, it may be wise to run your event starting on Friday for Father’s Day weekend. Many people work weekends, and may not have Sunday off to celebrate with Dad. So, giving people options can help make your whole weekend busy. It’s considerate to your customers and can help boost your overall sales.

Make Father’s Day run smoothly

So, you’ve done the legwork and your Father’s Day restaurant promotions prepped and on social media. Great! Next, you’ll need to make sure your front of house (FOH) is working smoothly for the best possible guest experience. You’ll also want to ensure that guests can make reservations, get a table on the fly, or order delivery via third-party apps.

Enter Yelp Guest Manager! Using Guest Manager ensures the smoothest possible FOH service for a memorable day. With all those options mentioned above plus customizable floor plans, smooth POS integrations, and more, you can be sure your customers will be pleased and want to come back for yet another meal.

Want to see how it works? Curious if it’s right for you? Reach out to us for a free demo.