I've noticed that every single new year day, at lunchtime restaurants are packed. I suppose it's a tradition people have to have lunch out at January 1st, but to be honest it's chaos! Do you have this tradition or do you eat elsewhere?
Most in my circle eat out during the new year. I know that good restaurants are full since they have the holiday special. But with a good discount, eating in the restaurant on new year's day is still expensive. This new year, we had a joyride and had lunch in the park with the leftover food from new year's eve.
When we use to have a big family gathering for new years we always had left overs which were good enough to eat the next day. To prevent stress from going to crowded restaurants we will just stay home for new years the entire day and eat our left overs which are even more delicious.
It is normally the dinner time which is overcrowded n my country. Every single restaurant and hotel worth its name offers special dinner with music and dance up to 2 in the morning (some go until 4 or even late). They bring famous DJ, dancing stars, Gazhal singers, mimicry artists etc to pull the crowd. However it is really tough time arranging tables on New Year Eve. However, lunch time goes almost normally in our part of the world.
All the restaurants are crowded with people during the New Year's eve. So, I order food online and get it delivered to my home. That's a much better option. Even if you get a place at the restaurant, due to the number of people out there, the delay is inevitable. Delicious food is only a click away, so why not utilize it? Also, there are a lot of offers and discounts during the festival season.
My family had a wonderful family bonding when we spent it going outing at the our favorite beach in our place. We had eaten our lunch together at the cottage reserved for us. Our grandchildren took their time swimming at the kiddie pool while we the adults are listening to good music from our mini-amply that we brought along with us. Food are so many. We took at a time to eat them when we became hungry. It is actually our family tradition to spendLog In during the New Year.
For me it is usually a family affair although most restaurants have offers on both lunch and dinner. Streets were packed last nights with people crowding every street vendor selling food item. Infact, here the road actually became a parking lot as a bakery was offering one on one cake and half of the town was having suffocating to reach the counter!
That's what happen with my family also more recently @Decentlady. We used to go out to eat, but it was usually so crowded that we started to eat in. I prefer it a lot more like this to be honest, as I am in the comfort of my home, saving money and eating what I want with the people I love. Just more work of course haha.
We avoid crowds and long lines, so for holiday celebrations, we just cook our own food or we just opt for delivery. We always order food from KFC, because their chicken tastes good along with their other food.
So do I, I always book in advance in one of my favorite places well in advance. It is generally in a town about 30 km away from our national capital or in capital itself. We generally eat our lunch at a way side restaurant but the dinner is always in a crowded place with lots of music and dancing going on (and other things too)
Booking is a good idea haha, but even so service at restaurants will not be the best as they will have full house and we can expect to wait long for the food. I avoid restaurants if I can, because if I go it will not be pleasant at all, even the best restaurants will be unable to keep their level.
What we did was purchase a good amount of sausage, beef, pork, and chicken. We set up a fire, cut the meat up and set it on separate plates. When people were hungry, they'd just grab small blocks of meat, put it on a stick and set it over the fire. It saved us tons of time and a good amount of cash. For extra flavor, just add salt, lemon or hot sauce. It's fun too.
