The Restaurant Mother's Day and Easter Brunch Plan

By Rob Bruni, founder of OpsEdge Hospitality, twenty years running restaurants, bars, clubs and resorts. Updated November 2026.

Easter and Mother's Day are the two biggest brunch days of the spring, and Mother's Day is usually the single biggest day of the year for full service restaurants. They are also two of the hardest days to run well: large family tables, everyone wanting 11:30, a kitchen built for dinner cooking eggs for six hours, and guests who will remember a forty minute wait on their mother's day. This guide covers the 2027 dates, what the days are worth, how to pick a format, a free capacity planner, and a countdown that uses Easter as the dress rehearsal for Mother's Day.

The 2027 dates

Easter falls six weeks before Mother's Day. Treat it as the rehearsal: run the same menu, the same pacing and the same staffing plan, write down what broke, and fix it before May 9. Father's Day follows on June 20, with a meatier, more casual crowd.

What the days are worth

• Mother's Day is the biggest day. OpenTable named Mother's Day the biggest dining day of 2023, with the Saturday before in second place, and found 43% of Mother's Day dining happened during brunch hours (11 am to 3 pm). (OpenTable)
• Bigger checks, bigger tables. Toast's data for full service restaurants on Mother's Day 2025 showed sales 57% above an average Sunday, transactions up 18%, the average check up 32% and reservations up more than 300%. (Toast, 2025 data)
• Guests trade up. On the same day, steak orders rose 93%, seafood 90%, pasta 81% and brunch platters 72%. Cocktails rose 71% and wine 56%, while beer and whiskey were flat to down.
• It starts early. In 2024, sales at 8 am were up 36% over an average Sunday, the biggest jump of the day (Toast, 2024 data). OpenTable has reported 10 am as the fastest growing reservation time.
• Guests plan to go out. In the National Retail Federation's 2026 survey, 63% of people celebrating Mother's Day planned a special outing such as brunch or dinner, about $6.4 billion in spending. (NRF)
• Easter is a family day. Black Box Intelligence ranks Easter among the top three holidays by sales for family dining restaurants. Many independents close; the ones that open and do it well pick up families who could not get in elsewhere. (Black Box Intelligence)

Pick the format

Whatever you choose, use the same format for both days. A menu that works on Easter will work on Mother's Day; a new menu on the busiest day of the year rarely does.

The brunch capacity planner

Most bad Mother's Days start with a reservation book that took more covers than the room and the kitchen could serve. Start from capacity.

The pacing number matters more than the total. If the kitchen can put out 17 covers every 15 minutes, a book with 60 guests at 11:30 and 4 at 9:00 will fail even if the daily total is right. Block the popular times, open the early and late slots, and let the host stand fill gaps from the waitlist. The host stand guide covers pacing and turn times by party size.

Reservations and pacing

• Open early, but cap each slot. Many guests book weeks ahead for Mother's Day. Set covers per 15 minutes from the planner and close each slot when it fills.
• Sell the edges. 9 am and 2 pm are easier to serve than 11:30. Fill them first by showing them first, and consider a small incentive such as a complimentary pastry for the first seating.
• Hold large parties to a plan. Parties of eight or more get set times, set tables and, if you allow them, a set menu. Do not let three twelve tops land in the same 15 minutes.
• Take card holds or deposits for six or more, state the cancellation window and the table time on the confirmation, and confirm by text two days out.
• Keep a real waitlist. Late cancellations happen. A waitlist and a few deuces held for walk ins keep the room full without overbooking.
• Sell the Saturday too. Families who cannot get Sunday will happily book Saturday dinner. Market both.

The menu and pricing

• Short and fast. Build the menu from what the kitchen can produce at volume: dishes that cook in one step, hold well and plate quickly. Leave the made to order soufflé for a slow Tuesday.
• Feature what guests trade up to. Steak, seafood and a signature brunch platter earn the bigger checks Toast sees on Mother's Day. Cost each one with your recipe costs and price it with the menu price calculator.
• Price the prix fixe from cost. Cost every course at your highest cost choice, add the kids' price and the add-ons, and check the blended food cost before you publish.
• Make the bar a brunch bar. Mimosas, a spritz, a bloody mary and a zero proof option, batched where you can. Cocktails and wine rose sharply on Mother's Day while beer stayed flat. The cocktail menu guide covers batching for speed.
• Feed the kids fast. A short kids menu fired first keeps the whole table happier and the table time shorter.
• Sell dessert and gift cards. Desserts and pies rose more than 60% on Mother's Day. A dessert to share and gift cards at the host stand both add to the day.

The kitchen: prep, holding and food safety

• Prep to the book. Turn covers and the expected mix into prep quantities two days out, and order to that, with a buffer for walk ins. The par level calculator helps set the order.
• Set up the line for eggs. A dinner line is not an egg line. Add an egg station, preheat flat tops early, and stage plates, toast and garnish so a brunch ticket goes out in one motion.
• Hold safely. Hollandaise, eggs and buffet items are the riskiest foods of the day. Keep hot food at 135°F or above and cold food at 41°F or below, time stamp anything held by time, and check temperatures every hour. The health inspection readiness guide covers the rules.
• Watch allergens. Large family tables bring more allergies. Make sure every server knows the allergen process. The allergen management guide has the routine.
• Plan the turnover to dinner. If you serve dinner too, schedule the line change, the restock and the cleaning between services so dinner does not start late.

The floor: staffing and service

• Everyone works. Block time off around both Sundays well ahead. Schedule your strongest servers for the peak and pair new hires with veterans rather than giving them a section alone.
• Staff the support roles. Food runners, bussers, a dedicated host for the waitlist and a second on the door, and a bartender or service bar just for brunch cocktails. Support staff are what keep table times down.
• Schedule to the pacing. Build the schedule from covers per 15 minutes with the scheduling guide, and check the cost with the labor cost calculator.
• Run a real pre shift. Walk the menu, the allergen process, the pacing plan and how to handle a late or over seated table. The pre shift meeting guide has an agenda.
• Use the steps of service. Greet within a minute, drinks and kids' food first, and a check presented when the table is ready, not chased. The steps of service keeps it consistent when the room is full.

Avoiding the worst reviews of the year

An older analysis by Venga of more than 70,000 reviews found Mother's Day to be the worst reviewed day of the year, reported by Restaurant Hospitality. The reasons are predictable: long waits, rushed tables and kitchens that fall behind. Most of them are fixed before the day.

• Quote honestly. A true twenty minute quote beats a ten minute promise that turns into thirty.
• Tell guests the plan. Table times on the confirmation, the set menu if there is one, and the parking situation.
• Put managers on the floor. Every table touched by a manager, and authority for servers to fix a problem on the spot.
• Small touches count. A flower, a card or a dessert for every mother costs little against a $55 check and shows up in the reviews.

The countdown

1. FebruaryPick the format, write and cost the menu, set the prix fixe price, and decide seatings and table times. Block staff time off for March 28 and May 9.
2. Early MarchOpen Easter reservations with slot caps and deposits for large parties. Run the planner and set covers per 15 minutes.
3. Sunday, March 21Palm Sunday. Run the brunch menu as a test and time the tickets.
4. Sunday, March 28Easter, the dress rehearsal. Record covers by slot, ticket times, what ran out and what slowed down.
5. Early AprilFix what broke at Easter. Open Mother's Day reservations and push the Saturday dinner. Order flowers or the small touch for mothers.
6. Week of May 3Confirm large parties, finalize prep quantities and orders, post the schedule, and hold a full team pre shift on the menu and the pacing.
7. Saturday, May 8Big dinner night. Receive and count, prep the long items, set the egg station and the brunch bar after close.
8. Sunday, May 9Mother's Day. Stations set before the first seating, pacing held, managers on the floor, and every mother leaves happy.
9. The week afterRecord covers, check average, ticket times, no shows and reviews, and write down the three things to change next year.

Next on the calendar: Memorial Day, Father's Day and patio season come right after Mother's Day. See the full 2027 restaurant and bar calendar for every date, with what to do each month.

FAQ

When are Easter and Mother's Day in 2027?

Easter Sunday is March 28, 2027, and Mother's Day is Sunday, May 9, 2027. The Saturday before Mother's Day, May 8, is usually one of the busiest dinner nights of the spring as well.

Is Mother's Day the busiest day for restaurants?

For full service restaurants it usually is. OpenTable named Mother's Day the biggest dining day of 2023, with the Saturday before in second place. Toast's 2025 data showed full service sales 57% above an average Sunday, with checks 32% larger and reservations up more than 300%.

How many reservations should I take for Mother's Day brunch?

Work from capacity, not demand. Seats times the share you can realistically fill, times the number of turns in your service hours, gives the covers you can serve. Pace them in 15 minute slots so the kitchen gets an even flow, and only overbook by your own no show history.

Should I do a buffet or a menu for Easter and Mother's Day brunch?

It depends on the building. Hotels, clubs and large rooms often do well with a brunch buffet or stations, which handle volume with fewer cooks. Most restaurants do better with a short a la carte or prix fixe brunch menu built around items that hold well and come out fast.

What should a Mother's Day brunch menu include?

Keep it short: a few brunch classics, a steak and a seafood dish, a lighter plate, a kids option and two or three desserts. Toast's 2025 data showed steak orders up 93%, seafood up 90% and brunch platters up 72% compared with an average Sunday, with cocktails up 71% and wine up 56%.

Should I take deposits for Mother's Day?

For large parties, yes. A card hold or deposit for parties of six or more, a clear cancellation window and a confirmation text a day or two out cut no shows on the one day you can resell every table.

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