It seems like there’s something to celebrate every day because it’s “National Something or Other Day.” From a marketing standpoint, this is the perfect opportunity for your restaurant to offer some sort of promotion that connects with whatever upcoming food holidays there might be. So we’ve compiled all the major food and beverage holidays in 2022 and some ideas on how you can celebrate them.
January
January 1 - National Bloody Mary Day
January 2 - National Buffet Day
January 4 - National Spaghetti Day
For Italian restaurants, this might as well be a second Christmas. Put your spaghetti dishes at the forefront of any promotional materials and watch them fly off the shelves.
January 6 - National Bean Day
January 16 - International Hot & Spicy Food Day
January 20 - National Cheese Lover's Day
National Cheese Lover's Day sounds like a pizza lovers' dream; this is the perfect time to make a temporary special including your cheese pizza, cheesy breadsticks, or whatever other delicious cheesy products you offer.
January 26 - National Pistachio Day
January 27 - Chocolate Cake Day
January 31 - National Hot Chocolate Day
February
February 3 - National Carrot Cake Day
February 4 - Homemade Soup Day
February 9 - Pizza Pie Day
It’s literally a day to celebrate pizza. Need we say more? Whether you offer a discount or promotion on specific or all pizzas, either way, you should shout about it on your social media to spread the word.
February 18 - National Drink Wine Day
With restaurants typically selling wine at a 200-600% markup, it gives you plenty of room to knock down the price to celebrate this beverage holiday and gives your customers another reason to buy more wine.
February 23 - National Banana Bread Day
February 24 - National Chili Day (Last Thursday in February)
February 29 - Surf and Turf Day
March
March 3 - National Cold Cuts Day
March 9 - National Crabmeat Day
For the restaurants that offer seafood pizzas, this is a fantastic opportunity to spotlight any dishes you might have that involve shrimp, crab, or other types of seafood.
March 9 - National Meatball Day
March 17 - National Irish Food Day
March 19 - National Poultry Day
BBQ chicken pizza is a go-to for many people nowadays, especially in California, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Utah, and Virginia. So promote whatever pizzas you have with chicken or other poultry toppings.
March 20 - National Ravioli Day
March 25 - International Waffle Day
April
April 1 - National Sourdough Bread Day
April 7 - National Burrito Day (First Thursday in April)
April 12 - Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day
April 16 - National Eggs Benedict Day
April 19 - Garlic Day
Any good pizza sauce will include a hefty portion of garlic. But other types of pizza go above and beyond to have garlic as a topping as well. April 19th is a great time to make a special deal for any of your dishes that include large amounts of garlic.
April 27 - National Prime Rib Day
May
May 5 - National Hoagie Day
May 9 - National Foodies Day
May 10 - National Shrimp Day
May 11 - Eat What You Want Day
While pizza might not be the healthiest option, this won’t be an issue on Eat What You Want Day, making it the perfect time to promote the unhealthier items on your menu.
May 16 - International Pickle Day
May 20 - National Pizza Party Day (Third Friday in May)
Every third Friday in May is a party for both your customers and your restaurant because it’s National Pizza Party Day, and each pizza party you serve means several large pizzas out the door.
May 25 - Carb Day
June
June 2 - National Rotisserie Chicken Day
June 3 - National Egg Day
June 4 - National Cheese Day
There are few dishes in the world that are as synonymous with cheese as pizza. Therefore, it’d be a shame not to celebrate this day by promoting your pizzas, lasagnas, cheesy garlic bread, or whatever other cheese-covered items you might offer.
June 15 - National Lobster Day
June 16 - Fresh Veggies Day
Only a month after Eat What You Want Day, you’ll have the chance to celebrate the healthier side of your menu with any salads or veggie-loaded pizzas to prove that you don’t have to be as unhealthy as everyone thinks you are.
June 22 - National Onion Rings Day
July
July 6 - National Fried Chicken Day
July 7 - Chocolate Day
July 13 - National French Fries Day
If you offer any french fry or poutine side dishes, then this holiday will make it easy to bundle these together with every meal for the day at a favorable price.
July 14 - National Macaroni and Cheese Day
July 17 - National Ice Cream Day (Third Sunday in July)
July 20 - International Cake Day
July 20 - National Hot Dog Day (Third Wednesday in July)
July 28 - National Hamburger Day
July 29 - National Chicken Wing Day
July 29 - National Lasagna Day
A popular side dish for pizzerias is lasagna, which means July 29th is the perfect time to recommend this is as an addition to every order made on this day.
July 30 - National Cheesecake Day
July 30 - National Chicken and Waffles Day
August
August 16 - National Bratwurst Day
August 19 - Potato Day
August 20 - National Bacon Lovers’ Day
Who doesn’t love bacon? It's a staple of any meat lovers' pizza, or take it to the next level to include bacon on nearly every part of the pizza.
August 24 - National Waffle Day
September
September 3 - International Bacon Day (Saturday before Labor Day)
With National Bacon Lovers’ Day being only two weeks earlier, you could extend any specials for your bacon-topped dishes to last up until the Saturday right before Labor Day.
September 5 - National Cheese Pizza Day
Cheese pizza is one of the easiest and cheapest pizzas to make. So even if you offer it at a discount to celebrate this holiday, you’ll still be able to make a nice profit off of it. Or spruce it up with different types of cheese on the pizza.
September 7 - Salami Day
September 18 - National Cheeseburger Day
September 29 - National Coffee Day
October
October 1 - World Vegetarian Day
After the many meat-based holidays in August and September, it’s important to remind your customers that you can adequately service your loyal vegetarian or vegan customers as well. So prioritize your vegetarian pizzas, salads, or whatever other meat-free dishes you offer.
October 4 - National Taco Day
October 8 - National Pierogi Day
October 8 - National Salmon Day
October 9 - International Beer and Pizza Day
This holiday allows you to promote not only more pizza but also more beer, which tends to go hand-in-hand anyway. And a bonus is that the more beer the customers drink, the more pizza they eat.
October 11 - National Sausage Pizza Day
If your sausage pizzas are down in sales, this is your chance to boost the sales. And if they’re already a top-seller for your restaurant, then you can sell even more by offering them at a slight discount on this day each year.
October 17 - National Pasta Day
October 27 - National Potato Day
November
November 3 - National Sandwich Day
November 6 - National Nachos Day
November 12 - National Pizza with Everything Day (Except Anchovies)
It might sound strange, but with 61% of consumers hating anchovies, it makes sense that there would be a holiday to celebrate pizzas with every possible topping other than anchovies.
November 14 - National Pickle Day
November 24 - National Sardines Day
What about those customers who DO enjoy anchovies and/or sardines? Only a couple of weeks later, you’ll have the chance to promote these pizzas and let your customers know that you cater to everyone’s tastes.
December
December 1 - National Pie Day
December 4 - National Cookie Day
December 21 - National Hamburger Day (May 28, July 28, and also December 21)
You might have noticed that National Hamburger Day made this list more than once. That’s because it’s such a beloved dish that it requires not one, not two, but three different days throughout the year. And even if you’re a pizzeria, you can celebrate the holiday by offering a cheeseburger pizza as the latest special for the day.
December 30 - Bacon Day
You don’t need to wait for a holiday to boost your sales. We’ve created an article detailing how you can boost your lunch sales with five simple steps.
