Mother's Day Restaurant Trends 2026: Reservations & Dining Data

Mother’s Day is an exceptionally busy Sunday for restaurants. Diners clamor to secure prized reservations to celebrate the beloved moms and mother figures in their lives. So if you’re thinking about going to brunch, it might be best to book it soon. 

Toast took a look at full-service restaurant data from Mother’s Day 2025 and compared it with an average Sunday last year — and the results showed upticks nearly across the board. Restaurants were busy, customers splurged, and wine bottles were emptied. All Sundays in 2025 were included in the analysis, including other holidays like Father's Day and event days like The Big Game.

Mother’s Day insights 

Full-service restaurants saw increases across a number of key metrics on Mother’s Day. Same-store GMV was 57% higher than the average Sunday in 2025, which is likely driven by both higher, holiday-specific prices or items and patrons’ willingness to splurge on Mom’s big day. Who says no to another round of mimosas for mom?

Overall, it’s a day of big spending for restaurant-goers. Check sizes were up 32% while there 18% more transactions on Mother’s Day compared with the average 2025 Sunday. People seem willing to show their love for Mom with their pocketbooks. 

Seafood, steak, and…chicken tenders for Mother’s Day 

Premium dishes proved popular on Mother’s Day, with steak (+93%), seafood (+90%), and pasta (+81%) seeing large increases in orders compared to an average Sunday. Brunchy items, such as breakfast/brunch platters (+72%) and desserts/baked goods (+64%), were quite popular, too. Moms also seem keen on a sweet treat for their day, with pie seeing a 63% increase. 

Funnily enough, the decidedly non-premium item of chicken tenders was up 52% compared to a typical Sunday. That’s a nice reminder for restaurants that kids have to eat, too. (And if you’re an adult still ordering tendies, we’re not judging.)

Interestingly, wing orders stayed neutral. That means a completely standard amount of folks — compared with an average Sunday — were ordering wings on Mother’s Day, which isn’t exactly the image we typically associate with the holiday. Let’s just hope restaurants had wet naps in stock. 

Wine and mixed drinks to wash it down

Mixed drinks were the drink of choice on Mother’s Day 2025, seeing a 71% jump compared with an average Sunday. We suspect that’s due, in part, to brunch-goers ordering the classic mimosa or Bloody Mary. Otherwise, it appeared folks opted for wine, with orders seeing a 56% increase. Other alcoholic categories like gin, rum, and vodka saw more modest bumps. 

Whiskey was the lone alcohol category that saw a decrease in orders. It was quite minimal, however, with just a 1% decline compared to an average Sunday. 

Built For Busy

When do restaurants get busy on Mother’s Day? Well, pretty much all day. Good thing Toast is Built For Busy.

Breakfast and brunch hours in particular saw a surge in transactions. The eight o’clock hour, for instance, saw a 40% jump in transactions on Mother’s Day compared with the average Sunday in 2025. What might typically be a sleepy hour is big business on Mother’s Day. But even prime brunch hours, say 10 a.m. through 3 p.m, still saw significant increases in transactions. 

Even at 9 p.m., a relatively late hour for Mother’s Day dinner, there was a 14% increase in transactions compared to an average Sunday. It seems some moms love an early start and others are night owls.   

Reservations are a must 

It appears diners were particularly worried about securing their table on Mother’s Day. Overall, reservations on Toast Tables were up 319%. The peak brunch hour of 2 p.m. saw the sharpest increase at 654%, meaning there were more than six times the reservations of an average Sunday.

Dinner reservations saw more tame but still significant increases at 6 p.m. (+135%), 7 p.m. (+138%), and 8 p.m. (+147%), respectively.  

Mother’s Day takeaways

The 2025 data shows that Mother’s Day is a major event for restaurants: transactions, check size, and GMV all saw significant increases compared with an average Sunday. Diners seem willing to splurge on premium products and have proven eager to reserve their spot at a table. If prepared, restaurants can expect to be busy throughout the day — and hopefully see that reflected on their bottom lines.