Valentine’s Day promo ideas: Menus, marketing, and more

Skip the article and turn takeaways into action by scheduling a call with our team.

Valentine’s Day is when love is in the air, and hopefully, profits are in the air for restaurants. While Mother’s Day remains the most popular day of the year for dining out, Valentine’s Day sales hold steady in second place, meaning a potentially big surge in clientele.

The idea of a romantic dinner will hopefully never go out of style, so the day offers significant possibilities for restaurants to get creative and make a special valentine’s day menu. Whatever you decide to do, consider that a Valentine’s Day promotion at your restaurant can significantly boost business while making patrons happy.

If you’re looking for Valentine’s Day promo ideas, look no further. In addition to heart-shaped themes and decorations, restaurateurs can consider other valuable options to help bring out their restaurant’s inner cupid. A combination of ambiance and a special menu can go a long way towards making your diners’ experience memorable.

So, read along to find some reliable ideas for the big day ahead and take this opportunity to step up your restaurant marketing abilities too.

Start with your menu for Valentine’s Day promo ideas

From lovebirds to first dates, Valentine’s Day can be a great chance to woo their partner or potential partner with a special meal. As a restaurant, this can be the time for the kitchen to truly shine and show its creative flair. Let’s look at some menu options that can truly make this a feast for Saint Valentine.

Valentine’s Day prix fixe menu

A special prix fixe menu for Valentine’s Day can simplify both your kitchen operations and your guests’ decisions. At the same time, it can help minimize outlays by assisting a restaurateur or head chef in deciding what makes the most sense to serve.

While unique appetizers and free desserts are fairly standard fare on Valentine’s Day, consider including aphrodisiacs in your prix fixe menu, which typically comes in the form of a three-course meal. While the science may not be all there to back up the claims behind the aphrodisiac effects of many popular foods, the placebo effect is one heck of a drug.

Oysters, chocolate, chilies, red wine, and many more common foods can and should find their way onto Valentine’s Day menus. Alcohol is certainly a great friend to restaurants and patrons alike on Valentine’s Day. It helps people relax and get in the mood. Consider offering specials on bottles of wine or providing wine pairings with menu options.

While you’ve probably read plenty of lists of all the usual aphrodisiacs to offer other, less commonly known aphrodisiacs can make their way into a menu. Some examples include maca (a root vegetable), ginkgo biloba, ginseng, pistachios, and saffron. Finding ways to incorporate one or more of these ingredients into an entrée, appetizer, or dessert will allow you to put a fun twist on advertising your Valentine’s Day specials on social media.

Of course, you’ll have to work around the kind of restaurant you operate. Even a sports bar could serve heart-shaped pizzas, for example, and make for a solid component of a Valentine’s Day marketing strategy.

Brunch and Galentine’s Day menus

Valentine’s Day meals don’t only have to happen at night or for couples.

Brunch is an increasingly popular option for Valentine’s Day. If the day falls on a weekday (like it will now through 2025), restaurant owners could consider making a special brunch deal replete with Valentine’s Day specials on the Sunday before, as weekdays are not typically a popular brunch day.

Thanks to an episode of “Parks and Recreation,” the day before Valentine’s Day is now known as Galentine‘s Day. Life imitates art, so female friend groups now tend to celebrate February 13th with fun meals out to celebrate their friendship. Try out rosé flights, special desserts that feed groups, and discounts for parties of six or more that make a reservation on the 13th.

Don’t forget takeout and delivery

Not everyone will want to opt for a dine-in experience, especially with the ongoing impact of the pandemic as of this writing. Consequently, restaurant owners should prepare to offer their special Valentine’s Day dinner for delivery and takeout—and make online ordering as easy as possible for customers. Ensure your website’s landing page and Yelp profile are updated for the special day to emphasize your offerings.

While not all food travels well (delivery steak, anyone?), consider special offers for foods that both suit the day and travel well. You can still offer a prix fixe menu for delivery or takeout. Plus, it’s an excellent idea to throw in some perks or bonuses like miniature bottles of champagne, chocolates, or candies so customers can enjoy a romantic evening at home with their significant other (or their cat).

Valentine’s Day marketing ideas

There’s no shortage of Valentine’s Day promo ideas, no matter what kind of establishment you operate. Besides catching eyes with Valentine’s Day-themed promotions, the day is an excellent opportunity to increase brand awareness. Your small business will be well-served by extra advertising to increase sales, whether you’re offering specials, coupons, or buy-one-get-one deals. Below are a few marketing tips to navigate the day.

Online waitlists and reservations are your friend

Most customers know that Valentine’s Day is a busy day for restaurants. With Yelp Guest Manager, you can let customers know you’re busy but also help them get a seat at your restaurant, so their date night isn’t a bust. Using Yelp Waitlist will keep your customers in the loop, so they get in the door and get settled.

Making full use of your loyalty program

If you have a loyalty program in place, Valentine’s Day can be an excellent opportunity to show your loyal customers how much they mean to you. Repeat customers whose habits you know–thanks to data from Yelp Guest Manager–should be treated extra well, especially if they’re bringing a date.

If you ensure a romantic night for a loyal customer, you’ll earn serious brownie points. You’ll be able to make them look good by noting their preferences and sending them something special on the house.

Offering giveaways of menu items you know your return customers love is one tactic. But you can also earn new customers by offering gift cards to return customers to give to others (or use themselves—a gift shouldn’t come with strings attached). If a repeat customer gives this card to friends or loved ones, you’ve scored a win and potentially new customers. That’s always good news.

Gift cards can also make an excellent idea for last-minute shoppers and can make for a solid marketing campaign. To boost your in-store sales and instill a sense of urgency, impose a limited time to use the cards—ideally on February 14th or just a few days after.

Don’t forget the singles!

For many who are single, Valentine’s Day can feel a bit off-putting and exclusionary—but it doesn’t have to be that way. Your Valentine’s Day promo ideas can include Valentine’s Day gifts for single people, whether they’re dining alone or with a group.

Since “group” can mean any size, you can emphasize that groups of any size are welcome, and the night isn’t just for couples. If you want to take this “singles” idea further, you could include events like speed dating, dance lessons, or even trivia night. One good way to get trivia teams mixed up and encourage meeting new people is random trivia teams via drawings—as long as you think your customers would be on board. Some people just want to play with their friends.

Another option for singles is to advertise an “Anti-Valentine’s Day” deal, in which customers can take themselves or friends out for a “date night” and encourage self-love without all the romantic pressure. Including gift ideas like a meal kit for one or offering miniature bottles of champagne to those picking up single-meal orders could be a good way to show some love to people on their own. You can use holiday marketing ideas for all major holidays, and Valentine’s Day can be a good way to practice for the future.

For those struggling with gift ideas, providing a Valentine’s Day gift guide can be an excellent way to build customer loyalty. Consider a few categories of people receiving gifts: crushes, family, and co-workers, for example. What makes a perfect gift for each would be very different, depending on who the giver is. If your business is artistically inclined, you can hire a local artist to help customers create customized Valentine’s day cards.

Utilize your email list and social media

If you have an email list, let customers know what’s going on at your restaurant for the day. Make sure to include Valentine’s Day in the subject line and probably “specials” or something similar, hinting at what will happen at your establishment. Using email marketing to your maximum benefit is an art, but a popular subject like dinner out on Valentine’s Day can boost success.

Don’t forget, of course, to maximize your social media presence leading up to February 14th. Ideally, like many local businesses, you should have a presence on multiple social media platforms, make full use of hashtags, and follow trends in your area. Social media posts can feature new products like menu items or Valentine’s promotions like our prix fixe or aphrodisiac suggestions above.

Maximize your returns with Yelp

One thing is certain—there’s plenty of software to help restaurateurs manage their businesses, but it’s best to go with tools created by industry experts. That’s where Yelp for Restaurants comes in. Whether using Yelp Kiosk to manage waitlists and check-ins or Guest Manager to manage your dining room seating, Yelp for Restaurants’ suite of front-of-house tools can help streamline your operations.

Want to know how it can work for you? Reach out to us for a free demo–and heart-to-heart. We’d love to hear from you, though our love for our users is strictly platonic, of course.