🔥 Holiday Gear-Up Series, Part 15 (Dec 9th): The Christmas Week Survival Plan — Your Step-By-Step Playbook for Dec 20–26

It’s December 9th, and we’re officially entering the runway to the most chaotic, profitable, emotional, jam-packed week of the entire hospitality calendar:

👉 Christmas Week: December 20–26

This is the week where your venue either thrives…or gets absolutely steamrolled.

Customers are frantic.Families are tense.Kids are overstimulated.Everyone’s hot.And every venue is understaffed, overbooked, and hanging on by a thread.

This post is your survival blueprint — the plan that protects your profit, your staff, your sanity, AND your customer experience.

🎯 The 6 Operational Priorities for Christmas Week

If you only do THESE six things, your venue will feel 50% calmer.

1. Finalise Your Holiday Hours (and plaster them everywhere)

Every year, venues get slammed with:

“Are you open?

”“When do you close?

”“What time is the kitchen shutting?

”“Are you open Boxing Day?

”“Are you doing bookings?”

You MUST publish your hours:

✔ On Google Business

✔ On Facebook + Instagram

✔ On your website

✔ On printed signage

✔ On your stories DAILY

Your customers will not remember unless you remind them. Repeatedly.

2. Lock In Your Christmas Week Roster

Christmas Week is NOT the time for:

❌ Skeleton crews

❌ Under-staffed services

❌ First-day newbies

❌ Unbalanced FOH/BOH

❌ The wrong people at peak

You need:

✔ Your strongest staff on the busiest days

✔ Breaks TIMED, not assumed

✔ Clear roles per shift

✔ 2ICs in every zone

✔ “Reset staff” covering breaks + spills

✔ No double shifts unless absolutely unavoidable

Your roster predicts your Christmas.

3. Build a Bulletproof Booking & Queue Strategy

This is where most venues fall apart.

You need:

✔ Strict table time caps

✔ Automated confirmations

✔ Clear cancellation rules

✔ Holiday surcharges explained UP FRONT

✔ A floor plan designed for flow, not capacity

✔ A walk-in strategy (with scripts!)

Your staff should NEVER have to negotiate with customers about bookings.Your SYSTEM should do it for them.

4. Reduce Your Menu (Yes — reduce it)

Christmas Week is NOT the time for:

❌ 27-ingredient dishes

❌ Slow-to-cook items

❌ “Chef’s ego” specials

❌ Anything with fragile garnishes

❌ Anything that’s fussy under pressure

You want a menu that is:

✔ Fast

✔ High-margin

✔ Batchable

✔ Consistent

✔ Staff-proof

✔ Impossible to bottleneck

This is how you stop your kitchen from dying on the pass at 11:45am.

5. Prep Like a Weapon — But Not Like a Maniac

This is the week where venues waste the MOST money because they panic-prep.

Here’s the sweet spot:

✔ Batch the right items

✔ Build par levels from data, not vibes

✔ Label absolutely everything

✔ Plan Christmas Eve/Boxing Day transitions

✔ Keep coolroom airflow immaculate

✔ Run 2pm “prep audits” every day

Prep smart, not scared.

6. Boost Your Team’s Emotional Bank Account

Your team will enter Christmas Week:

✔ tired

✔ hot

✔ short-fused

✔ dehydrated

✔ overworked

✔ emotionally cooked

So you MUST:

✔ Run daily briefings

✔ Give early praise

✔ Do small surprises (coffee shout, smoothie round, snacks)

✔ Protect breaks

✔ Rotate pressure stations

✔ Shut down drama instantly

✔ Lead with calm energy

A supported team will survive anything.A neglected team will collapse.

🎯 The 7 Customer Scenarios You Must Prepare Your Team For

Give your staff these scripts and watch service improve.

1. “Why is it taking so long?”

Answer:“We’re on a holiday peak today, but your order is in progress — thanks for your patience.”

2. “I swear I booked!”

Answer:“I can help — let me find the best option for you. Give me one moment.”

3. The hangry Christmas-shopping family

Answer:“Let’s get you settled and fed quickly — I’ll take care of you.”

4. Allergies appearing from thin air

Answer:“Is this a preference or an allergy? I want to look after you properly.”

5. Large groups with chaos energy

Answer:“To keep things fast for you, we’ll do drinks in groups.”

6. Menu item unavailable

Answer:“We’ve just sold out — but I do have an alternative I think you’ll love.”

7. Surcharge complaints

Answer:“The holiday surcharge simply helps us cover staff wages for today — thanks for understanding.”

💡 Your Christmas Week Game Plan (Print This Section)

Dec 20–22:

✔ Final prep alignment

✔ Final rostering

✔ Menu trims

✔ Social reminders

✔ Booking confirmations

Dec 23–24:

✔ High-energy service

✔ Prep smart, not heavy

✔Staff morale support

✔ Protect the coolroom

Dec 25:

If you’re open:

✔ Simple menu

✔ Surcharges visible everywhere

✔ Experienced staff only

Dec 26:

✔ Light trade

✔ Reset the coolroom

✔ Prep for the next surge

✔ Team check-in

💡 Want help building your Christmas Week plan?

Here’s how I’m supporting venues this month:

✨ FREE 1-hour Strategy Sessionwith every Food Safety PRO System(Use it for menu trims, rostering, or customer management.)

✨ FREE Food Safety Essentials Systemwith the 3-Pack Consulting Bundle(Powerful for operational structure.)

✨ FREE December Content Plannerwith ANY consulting booking

🟦 Explore services:bambamculinaryconsultants.com/services-9

Tomorrow (Dec 10): Part 16 — New Year’s Rush Preparation

The tourism wave. The January shock. The menu shift. The staffing reset.We’ll cover it all.

Ben

-Bam Bam culinary Consultants