Winterlicious and Summerlicious: planning bookings, no-shows and first-time diners

Winterlicious, run by the City of Toronto, puts three-course prix fixe menus on a long list of restaurants for about two weeks in late January and February. In 2026 it ran from January 30 to February 12 with more than 240 restaurants, and reservations were strongly recommended. For a participating restaurant it can turn the quietest stretch of the year into some of the busiest nights, with guests who have never been in before.

That is the opportunity and the risk. The room fills on a fixed menu, at a fixed price, from a booking rush that starts the day the lists are public. Here is how to plan for it.

Why are Winterlicious bookings different from normal bookings?

Four things change at once.

• They arrive in a rush, when menus are announced and reservations open.
• Many guests are first-timers, choosing you from a long list.
• Some book several restaurants and decide later, so cancellations follow.
• The menu is fixed, so you buy and prep for a number of covers before you know who will turn up.

Each point calls for the same few habits: accurate availability from the first minute, reminders, a way to refill cancelled tables and, for large parties, a deposit or card hold.

How should you set up the booking diary before the lists go live?

Enter your Winterlicious dates and your menu before reservations open, so nobody books a table you cannot serve. Decide whether you will take festival bookings at lunch, dinner or both, and how many covers a sitting you can serve at the pace of a three-course menu. A prix fixe usually turns tighter than a full à la carte dinner, so set turn times to match.

Publish your booking link wherever diners look: your website, your social profiles and your Google listing.

How do you reduce no-shows during the festival?

Start with reminders. A message the day before, and for bookings made weeks ahead a request to confirm a few days out, catches most of the forgetful no-shows. Make cancelling easy from the reminder: a guest who can release a table in ten seconds will do it, and a guest who has to phone will not.

For large groups, ask for a deposit or a card hold. A prix fixe evening for eight that does not turn up is food already prepared. Keep two-tops simple, since most of them will come. Whatever you choose, state the rule before the guest agrees and write it in plain words. The guide on cancellation and no-show policy wording for BC and Ontario covers how to word it.

What do you do with tables that free up?

Offer them to a waitlist first. Festival dates fill early, and the guests who could not get in are the likeliest to take a table at short notice. Keep a short list for each date, and give guests a brief window to claim a table before it moves to the next name.

How do you serve first-time diners well?

A Winterlicious guest is auditioning you. They are trying a menu chosen to represent your restaurant, at a busy time, and deciding whether to come back at full price.

• Brief staff on the festival menu, allergens and substitutions before every service.
• Pace the kitchen for the prix fixe rather than juggling it with the full menu.
• Mention what else you do: your regular menu, brunch, events.
• End well: a thank-you and a reason to return.

How should you handle dietary needs on a fixed menu?

A fixed menu leaves less room to improvise, so plan substitutions before the festival starts. Offer a vegetarian path through all three courses, know which dishes can be made gluten-free, and list the main allergens on the menu itself. Ask guests to note allergies when they book. The guest who mentioned a nut allergy and was looked after confidently is the one who comes back and tells friends.

How do you write a festival menu that sells?

The festival menu is many guests' first taste of your cooking, so show what you do best rather than what is cheapest to make. Choose dishes that represent you, with at least one signature in a smaller portion. Keep two or three choices a course so the kitchen stays fast, put a real vegetarian option in every course, and describe dishes plainly with the main ingredient first. A menu that tastes like your normal cooking is the one that brings people back.

How do you turn festival guests into regulars?

This is where the value is, and most restaurants miss it. Ask festival guests, with a clear yes or no, whether they would like to hear from you, and keep the proof of their consent (the guide on CASL consent for texts and sign-ups explains why). In March, follow up with something specific: a new dish, a weeknight offer, an event. A guest who came for a prix fixe and returns for a regular dinner is the festival's real return.

Is the festival worth joining, and what about Summerlicious?

Look past covers and revenue for those two weeks. Count how many festival guests came back within two months and how your ratings moved. Summerlicious runs on the same model in the summer, with dates set by the City each year; patio capacity and visitors make a quiet night less likely, so the maths differs. Participation is a choice each year, so compare your own numbers from each festival. The guide on whether to join Dine Out or Summerlicious sets out the trade-offs.

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