Getting creative with New Year’s Eve bookings

There’s good news if New Year’s Eve creates more demand for dining room reservations than your restaurant can accommodate. The recent ascendance of bar food, bar-specific menus and craft cocktails has elevated the notion of barroom dining to the point where some operators are now able to market their bars separately on New Year’s Eve. They’re booking reservations to eat in their bars and charging a bundle for the privilege.

One of the best strategies we’ve seen comes from chef Charlie Palmer’s Aureole in New York City. Palmer is making the most of his space by offering customers multiple options.

At the early seating, from 5-6:30 p.m., patrons pay $95 for a three-course dinner if they eat it in Aureole’s bar or in the Halo Room, a private dining area. For $125, early-arriving guests can have the same meal in the restaurant’s main dining area. Think of it: a $30-per-person premium based solely on which room the guest sits in.

The late seating, 8-9:30 p.m., features the chef’s five-course tasting menu in the Halo Room for $395, with optional wine pairings for $125.

These late diners also gain admission to the restaurant’s “Fête After Party” that runs from 10 p.m-1 a.m. in the bar. Everyone else pays $238 to enjoy a package that includes an open bar, a DJ, dancing, hors d’oeuvres and a champagne toast.

If you’re wondering how to create multiple revenue streams in a single restaurant, this is a good example to follow. So is the simpler strategy employed by another high-end New York City restaurant, chef Geoffrey Zakarian’s The Lamb’s Club.

This restaurant offers a 9 p.m. prix fixe diner in its dining room for $375, with guests staying on for cocktails, a DJ and dancing to ring in the New Year. Separate admittance to the restaurant’s bar is $200 per person. Starting at 10 p.m. guests there will enjoy hors d’oeuvres and “stiff drinks.”

Aureole and The Lambs Club are well-known New York City restaurants located relatively close to Times Square, the epicenter of New Year’s Eve revelry. But restaurants elsewhere can also refine their New Year’s Eve strategy to optimize sales results.

Perhaps the most innovative approach we’ve seen comes from Tavern Downtown, a sports bar/pub in Denver. This establishment is known for having the largest rooftop patio in Denver, which it makes the most of on New Year’s Eve. That’s when the restaurant puts on its annual NYE Tavern Olive Drop and Fireworks display. Here’s how Tavern Downtown describes the moment:

“NYE revelers will have a front row seat to fireworks on Denver’s largest rooftop patio.  At the 60-second countdown to midnight, Tavern’s Olive Drop will begin to descend.  The 2-foot illuminated olive will drop 20 feet into a 15-foot tall/7-foot wide illuminated martini glass on top of the Tavern’s rooftop.  At the signal of midnight, the Tavern will kick off a grand fireworks display shot from above the rooftop bar.”

The result: a smaller-scale version of New York City’s Times Square.

Tavern Downtown has tiered pricing for this event. Guests who arrive between 7 and 9 p.m. pay $45; it’s $50 after that. The restaurant provides a complimentary champagne toast and party favors, but food and drink are extra.

Don’t get us wrong. There’s still plenty of money to be made in restaurant dining rooms on New Year’s Eve. But figuring out how to generate incremental sales from underused spaces—your bar or private dining area, even your rooftop—can make this night an even bigger winner than it already is.