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Original poster

Eating out on Christmas Day. Do we expect too much?

213 replies

Nonimai · 26/12/2023 07:46

We spent £100 a head yesterday on a meal that wasn’t horrible , it was just meh. Expectations are high. People were complaining. Did you have your meal out yesterday? Was it worth the money?
we went to a local gastro pub/restaurant in North England. Usually excellent roasts. Tbh they tried too hard to make it special - chefs only make this once a year - and it didn’t work.

OP posts:
TheSilentSister · 27/12/2023 19:21

Group of 5 had a lovely Xmas Day lunch at a chain pub/restaurant. The food was delicious and better than I could have knocked out. The starters and desserts were brought out on time. Slight wait for the carvery. The staff were very pleasant and we gave our chap a tip. It was £59.99 each and included unlimited mince pies and coffee. Well worth it for a stress free day. Will defo do it again next year.

Tryingmybestadhd · 27/12/2023 19:30

PuttingDownRoots · 26/12/2023 07:51

I hope the staff were getting bonuses for working at those prices... or maybe that's why the food wasn't up to scratch, the staff felt unappreciated...

At £100 for possible turkey I’m sure there is plenty of money for bonus

wooo69 · 27/12/2023 20:07

We have been out for Christmas dinner a few times but not this year, usually paid around £50 to £60 per head and has always been lovely.

This year we went out Boxing Day £35 a head for the same 3 course menu as Christmas Day. Was really nice and we all enjoyed it.

listsandbudgets · 27/12/2023 20:42

thefallen · 26/12/2023 08:16

Yes you do. It's often triple time in some places.

Show quote history

my friend woks in a hotel. She worked Christmas day and was paid double for first 4 hours then triple for the rest of the 9 hour shift.. she was happy with that

Pigsinpainauchocolat · 27/12/2023 21:11

SnufflyBunny · 26/12/2023 08:02

Haha, what extra wages? It doesn't cost them anything extra to open as you don't get paid anymore to work on Christmas Day!

Several teens I know do waiter/kitchen porter part time or "Saturday" jobs around our area - there are a few "naice" hotels near us - they all got double time for Christmas Day. Plus some nice tips. They were happy! And meant some of the full time staff got the day off/a shorter shift.

Pinkfluff76 · 27/12/2023 21:19

That sounds great, where was this? Thanks

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 27/12/2023 21:28

We went out for Christmas lunch and it was lovely. I’m pescatarian and had the veggie main course - it was lovely too. Everyone else enjoyed the roast turkey. Was a very nice old pub in the south east of England.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 27/12/2023 21:29

PS of course they pay their staff more!

BooneyBeautiful · 27/12/2023 22:46

SnufflyBunny · 26/12/2023 08:02

Haha, what extra wages? It doesn't cost them anything extra to open as you don't get paid anymore to work on Christmas Day!

When I worked in hospitality many years ago and my DC did in more recent years, it was double-time on Christmas Day. Not sure where you go where they only pay the usual rate.

BooneyBeautiful · 27/12/2023 23:00

rwalker · 26/12/2023 09:27

in my teens used to work behind a bar always worked Christmas Day shift

double time great atmosphere and could VERY easily triple my wages in tips for a few hours work

I agree. Loved working behind the bar at Christmas lunchtime in my younger days. Double time, wonderful atmosphere and all the customers bought you a drink (none of us ever got drunk though). My DD used to work as a waitress in our local pub/restaurant and she loved working Christmas Day too.

taketheleap · 28/12/2023 01:38

TheHeadOfTheHouse · 26/12/2023 10:37

We booked the Toby carvery and I’ve done a chargeback on my credit card.

£250 for a 3 course meal for 3 adults and 2 children (doesn’t include drinks)

25 mins from seating to starters arriving.

starters were wrong, had to be changed, dh’s arrived when everyone had almost finished theirs.

main meal was nice (self service)

puddings again were wrong. Kids ice cream was bland and not what was ordered, dh didn’t get his pudding at all despite asking 2 members of staff.

they knocked off £7 for the missing pudding!

You can't just 'do' a chargeback, you have to apply for one. Your credit card company will then weigh up the evidence and make a decision as to whether one is warranted. Highly unlikely you'll get all that money back.

The chargeback system is not meant to be used that way. It's meant for extreme situations where a retailer has gone out of business and you've lost money or goods haven't turned up. I know because I've just gone through the lengthy process of one, due to buying something from a company, returning it and the company withheld the refund. It's not there so you can get a free meal out. Sorry, but nope.

MissTrip82 · 28/12/2023 02:28

meatbaseddessert · 26/12/2023 09:22

I worked as a waitress before. I would never ever eat out on Christmas Day. It's fucking insulting to those staff.

It was shite because they don't want to be there and are fucking miserable. The only people happy are the owners who have charged your twice the price, staff get the same as they always do and you get worse food.

I worked public holidays in service jobs for years. It’s how I got through university on a course with placements that made 9-5 mon-fri jobs impossible.

I work them now as a doctor.

I’ve never felt insulted to be working on Christmas Day or any other holiday. In any job.

Ilovecleaning · 28/12/2023 05:13

Have given up on eating out Christmas Day. Fed up of paying hundreds of pounds a meal and a couple of hours out. I now focus on preparing as many components of the dinner in advance so that my main job on Christmas Day is cooking the turkey. (Making and freezing Jamie Oliver Get Ahead gravy is a life saver!). 😊

Ukrainebaby23 · 28/12/2023 06:15

I think the cost, often 3 to 4 times the usual roast meal cost, leads to very high expectations. I've eaten out Christmas day once, it was meh and I'm fairly easily pleased.
Getting the right atmosphere is tough especially with such high expectations and inevitable disappointment usually ensues.

If you find a place that does great food with a good atmosphere at Christmas, do it, otherwise diy with help from Iceland/aldi/m&s is fine.

purpleopolis · 28/12/2023 09:34

I can vouch for the fact that not all staff get paid more to work in restaurants over Bank holidays. A few years ago, my son was working as a waiter at popular venue along a seafront, near where we live. They hold pantomimes and shows there throughout the year. He worked New Year’s Eve, until 1am and was paid minimum wage, as were all the others. If anyone said they couldn’t do it, they were told they wouldn’t have a job in the New year. They didn’t even get tips, because customers probably thought they were earning loads that night. The venue didn’t even care how they got home. It annoyed me so much.

MsMaraschino · 28/12/2023 10:58

I always paid my staff triple time for Xmas.

And if they wanted to, they could come and join us (with their families) for a
free xmas lunch and drinks in the afternoon. I never found it hard to get staff on Xmas day.

WowIlikereallyhateyou · 28/12/2023 12:11

TrashedSofa · 26/12/2023 11:16

There's obviously a lot of variation in the sector so I don't think either of you should generalise, but isn't part of the issue that not everywhere qualifies as 'decent? So you can't just say an issue doesn't exist because a decent place wouldn't behave that way.

Really, I think the issue is there's a fundamental mismatch between the number people who want to receive services on Christmas Day and the number of people who actually want to provide them. Even paying more doesn't necessarily solve this. Because a person might be sufficiently hard up that they feel they've got to take the double time shift, but that doesn't mean they'll be able to stop themselves being resentful at the situation. Especially if the employer is taking the piss by corner cutting, trying to get more out of the staff etc.

I agree with a pp that the best bet is likely to be a restaurant run by people from a culture who don't typically celebrate Christmas, but even then they might still have issues of childcare, public transport and preferring to be with loved ones who are off. Its a bit of a crapshoot really.

Show quote history

I can see from the comments in this thread that those receiving normal pay rates on Christmas day are in the absolute minority. Not sure why you picked up on my statement of fact, decent companies look after their employees.

WowIlikereallyhateyou · 28/12/2023 12:13

JSMill · 26/12/2023 10:53

@WowIlikereallyhateyou I've already stated earlier, I know of two people who were made to work on Christmas Day for no extra. People in hospitality are often treated terribly.

And many aren’t, as is reflected in the majority of this thread.

TrashedSofa · 28/12/2023 12:23

WowIlikereallyhateyou · 28/12/2023 12:11

I can see from the comments in this thread that those receiving normal pay rates on Christmas day are in the absolute minority. Not sure why you picked up on my statement of fact, decent companies look after their employees.

Show quote history

Because you're the one who introduced the concept of decent like it was somehow determinative. It's not like anyone thinks all employers qualify as decent. Other people at that point were simply generalising based on their own experience, which as I pointed out, nobody should be doing. The 'decent' bit is getting you into no true Scotsmen territory.

MassageForLife · 28/12/2023 12:40

purpleopolis · 28/12/2023 09:34

I can vouch for the fact that not all staff get paid more to work in restaurants over Bank holidays. A few years ago, my son was working as a waiter at popular venue along a seafront, near where we live. They hold pantomimes and shows there throughout the year. He worked New Year’s Eve, until 1am and was paid minimum wage, as were all the others. If anyone said they couldn’t do it, they were told they wouldn’t have a job in the New year. They didn’t even get tips, because customers probably thought they were earning loads that night. The venue didn’t even care how they got home. It annoyed me so much.

New Years Eve isn't a bank holiday.

purpleopolis · 28/12/2023 13:18

@MassageForLife
i know it’s not a bank holiday, but i think most people would expect that staff working until 1pm on New Years Eve, would also attract a similar payment to those working at Christmas? Unless I’m wrong…

Goatymum · 28/12/2023 13:36

We ate out a couple of years ago on Xmas day - post lockdowns. Dh knows the owner so they treated us really well and it was good food. We ordered our choices in advance. Was around £80ph - 4 adults.

mogsrus · 28/12/2023 13:50

I remember going home4.30 one nye. normal pay in a 4 star hotel

WowIlikereallyhateyou · 28/12/2023 14:48

TrashedSofa · 28/12/2023 12:23

Because you're the one who introduced the concept of decent like it was somehow determinative. It's not like anyone thinks all employers qualify as decent. Other people at that point were simply generalising based on their own experience, which as I pointed out, nobody should be doing. The 'decent' bit is getting you into no true Scotsmen territory.

Show quote history

Ok,whatever.

Mirabai · 28/12/2023 14:55

Mirabai · 26/12/2023 11:09

We’ve eaten out 3 times on Christmas Day and it was fab - but then it was the Wolseley. We had - crab, oysters, lobster, escargots with quails eggs, Wiener schnitzel etc and Sachertorte, chocolate liégeois, lemon meringue, crème brûlée etc and some wonderful cocktails. Don’t remember the cost, but definitely worth it.

I meant to say about the Wolseley that they use their all year round menu at Christmas and the prices do not increase. You do not get charged extra just because it’s Christmas. You might choose more extravagant dishes and that may push the price up, but that’s up to you. I chose it over local London restaurants that were changing £100 for Christmas Day for very average food. I found the Wolseley really good value in comparison. (If you can get a table - book well in advance.)