Skip Mother's Day brunch, chefs warn

Mother’s Day brunch sounds foolproof. You book a nice table, order pancakes and mimosas, and let someone else do the work. But the catch is that almost everyone else has the same idea. This year, the restaurant industry is openly saying what cooks and servers have known forever — Mother’s Day is one of the most punishing services on the calendar, and the “special brunch” can be the worst version of dining out. ### Why is Mother’s Day brunch such a mess? Because demand bunches into a tiny window. OpenTable says 12:00 p.m. is still the most popular Mother’s Day dining time, and Toast’s 2025 data shows huge spikes in brunch-specific orders, reservations, and overall sales compared with a normal Sunday. That means every table wants to sit at once, every kitchen is firing eggs at once, and every delay compounds. (nrn.com) ### How big is the rush this year? Very big. Restaurant Business, citing National Restaurant Association and OpenTable data, says 80 million American adults are expected to dine out on Mother’s Day 2026, up from 75 million in 2025. OpenTable also says large parties keep growing — reservations for groups of six or more rose 13% last year. Big tables are great for celebration, but brutal for pacing. (opentable.com) ### What does that do to the food? It pushes restaurants toward simplification. On a slammed holiday service, many places run limited menus, batch prep more aggressively, and lean on dishes that can be plated fast. That does not automatically mean bad food. But it does mean the dreamy, leisurely brunch people imagine often turns into a high-volume operation built around turnover speed. Toast’s numbers hint at that pressure — transactions rose 18%, same-store sales jumped 57%, and check sizes climbed 32% on Mother’s Day 2025 versus an average Sunday. (nrn.com) ### So are chefs saying don’t go out at all? Not exactly. The real warning is about expectations. The old HuffPost chef advice that keeps resurfacing is less “restaurants are bad” and more “this is the hardest possible day to judge them.” A favorite spot on a random Saturday is one thing. That same spot serving a packed holiday room, fixed-price brunch, kids, grandparents, and a line at the host stand is another. (pos.toasttab.com) ### Is brunch even what moms want? Usually, yes — but not always in the stereotypical way. OpenTable says 42% of moms and mother figures would rather go out to eat with family than get breakfast in bed, and 62% of Americans say dining out matters to the celebration. But the same data shows early dinner is rising fast, with 5:00 p.m. bookings up 14% last year. Basically, the smart move may be to celebrate Mom at a less chaotic hour. (huffpost.com) ### What works better than peak brunch? Three things. Book early, go later, or skip dine-in altogether. The restaurant association says dinner now attracts more Mother’s Day traffic than brunch, and takeout remains a meaningful part of the holiday. If you still want restaurant food without the dining-room crush, ordering a prepared meal or picking up from a place that does holiday packages is the obvious compromise. (opentable.com) ### Why does this story keep coming back? Because the contradiction is real. Mother’s Day is exactly when people most want a restaurant to feel smooth, generous, and special. It is also when restaurants are most likely to be stretched thin. The holiday is great for the business — Toast shows wine sales, premium entrées, and overall spending all jump sharply — but that same surge can make the experience feel rushed. (restaurant.org) ### Bottom line? If you already have a good reservation, don’t panic. Just don’t expect a quiet, normal brunch. The better play is to treat Mother’s Day like a travel weekend — avoid the peak, plan ahead, and remember that the nicest meal may be the one that asks the least of a slammed kitchen. (nrn.com) (pos.toasttab.com)