8 tips to avoid long restaurant waits on Mother’s Day

698517_dancing Mother’s Day is the busiest day of the year for any restaurant, thanks to the popular tradition of taking Mom out to dinner so – for one day of the year – she won’t have to cook and clean up.

The problem with this nice idea is that everyone in the US has it, so when you get to the restaurant, a wait time of two hours is pretty normal. This can be frustrating, especially if you have small children or older people in your party. There are several ways to plan ahead and avoid this, though.

Get a reservation? Many restaurants will not take them on Mother’s Day. If you find one that will, this should cut your wait time down to almost nothing.
Wait until dinner time. A lot of people choose midday for the Mother’s Day restaurant dinner. At dinner time – 4pm or later – it’ll still be a long wait, but possibly half what it was at midday.
Book a private room at a hotel. If you can get a big group together – and it doesn’t take much extended family to get that going – a banquet room might be worth the expense. It doesn’t have to cost that much, and once you factor in the included meals, it can even be pretty economical. And memorable.
Make a family meal. Everyone can pitch in by bringing a dish or helping to cook, set tables, clean up, or arrange other activities to make a whole day of it. A backyard barbecue could be perfect and easy this time of year, depending on your weather. This is a great and relatively inexpensive way to do something nice for all the moms at once, because you can put together tons of food with a nice range – fancier for adults, hot dogs for the kids – and still pay less than you would at a restaurant.
Order in! Get to go food from a nice restaurant, or just get some pizza or a nice assortment of deli food or fast food for a backyard gathering without even bothering to barbecue.
Reschedule your own private Mother’s Day. Celebrate it on a different day, when restaurants aren’t so hectic. Chances are, the mothers you’re celebrating will appreciate this too, since no one adores sitting in a restaurant for two hours and being waiting on by people who look like they could drop from exhaustion any minute now.
Plan for the long wait. If you really want to go to a restaurant at midday, just expect a two hour wait and be prepared for it. Bring along something to keep the kids busy. You can also choose to wait in the bar area where you can order appetizers and beverages (doesn’t have to be alcohol) and even kids’ meals.
Hire some caterers for your family meal at home if you want to take it easy and/or add a touch of elegance. Remember to assign someone to look after the kids so the moms can really get a break. And if you want to lay out something really nice, send the moms in the family to a day spa until mealtime.