How to Dine Out for Christmas

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 28, 2022

Though you may enjoy spending time with your family and friends at Christmas, you may not enjoy spending hours in front of a stove. You may not know how to cook, or you may not see the point in cooking for only a few people. No matter your reasons, you can choose to dine out for Christmas. To do this, figure out which restaurants are open, determine if you will need a reservation, and decide what type of meal you would like.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Finding the Right Place to Eat

1
Research which restaurants are open. If you plan to eat out on Christmas Day, you should first figure out what restaurants will be having holiday hours. Some restaurants will be open on Christmas Eve, others will only be open for a set number of hours on Christmas day. Some restaurants will not be open at all on Christmas Day.
- You can do an online search for restaurants in your area that will be open on Christmas Day.
- You may also consider calling your favorite restaurants ahead of time to check their Christmas hours.
2
Determine if you need a reservation. Some restaurants require you to have a reservation on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This means you must decide ahead of time which restaurant you would like to choose and how many will be in your party.^{[1]
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- Check the restaurant’s website or call them to determine if you need a reservation.
3
Check the price. Due to the day of service, many Christmas dinners or buffets may be more expensive than a normal dinner. These prices may run anywhere from $20 per person to over $50.^{[2]
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- Before you decide where to eat, you should check the price of the Christmas meal.
4
Determine what kind of food you would like to eat. The restaurants that are open may influence the kind of food you eat. You may find only nice, expensive restaurants open, or you may find buffets or restaurants with special Christmas menus. Look at the options in your area and decide what is right for you.^{[3]
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- Some restaurants may have a Christmas menu with traditional foods like turkey, dressing, ham, and casseroles. They may also serve Christmas desserts, like sugar cookies, gingerbread, and pies.
- Some people love foods such as Chinese or Indian for Christmas. You may consider something like that.
5
Consult your guests for preferences or restrictions. If you are entertaining guests, you should ask them what they would like to eat. You may want to choose a type of food everyone will enjoy, or order everyone a dish they want.
- You also may want to ask if anyone has any food allergies or dietary restrictions. This will ensure you have food everyone will eat.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Enjoying Your Dinner

1
Dress up for the occasion. Even if you are going to a local restaurant you eat at often, treat the dinner like a special occasion. Christmas dinner can still be special even if you are going out. Put on nice clothes and make the meal a fun, festive, nice occasion.
- If you don’t want to wear dress clothes, you may consider wearing festive clothes. Consider wearing Christmas sweaters or sweatshirts, socks, or even festive jewelry.
2
Find ways to ensure a good time. While you are eating, you should think of a few things to do to make sure you and your guests have a great time. Think about some discussion topics ahead of time that everyone would enjoy. Stay away from controversial topics, such as politics and religion. These topics may be uncomfortable for some people.
- Consider any activities your dining party can do. This may be something like a movie afterwards, either at the theater or at your home.
3
Tip your wait staff. You may be dining out, but the people serving you are spending their Christmas Day working. Even if the meal is expensive, tip your server. Christmas is a time for giving and spreading cheer, so make sure to give back by taking care of the wait staff.^{[4]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Determining if Dining Out on Christmas is Right For You

1
Go out if you do not want to cook. Many people do not want to go through the trouble of creating a large meal. They may want to relax instead of spending hours in the kitchen. If this describes the way you feel, you may choose to dine out on Christmas.^{[5]
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- You may want to talk to your family. If someone else would like to cook, let them. Not everyone is comfortable with going out to eat on Christmas.
2
Base dining out on the size of your family. You may choose to dine out because of the size of your family. If it is just you, or you and one or two others, you may choose to go out instead of cooking a large dinner.
- You may also choose to go out if you have a large family. Cooking for a large family can be a lot of stress at the holidays.
3
Consider dining out if you have picky eaters in your family. Some families are easy to cook for because everyone likes the same thing. Others are more difficult because they contain people who are allergic to foods, don’t eat meat, refuse to eat certain foods, or have cut out a specific food group. Eating out can make the dining experience easier for everyone.^{[6]
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