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Father's Day Beats Valentine's. By A Mile.
The months, weeks and holidays that fill Belgian restaurants, measured on the same restaurants all year.
HappyChef Datahub
Ask anyone for the busiest restaurant day of the year and they will say Valentine's Day. The data says otherwise. On Father's Day, Belgian restaurants welcome more than one and a half times the guests of a normal Sunday, and Mother's Day is not far behind. Across the year, August is the strongest month and September the quietest, and the terrace goes from zero to more than half of all reservations in a few months. These nine insights map the calendar of a Belgian restaurant.
The Insights In This Article
- August Is The Busiest Month, September The Quietest
- The Busiest Week Reaches 122, The Quietest 76
- Father's Day Brings 59% More Guests Than A Normal Sunday
- On Valentine's Day, 78% Of Tables Are For Two
- Mother's And Father's Day Bring Bigger Tables Too
- Easter Sunday Brings 26% More Guests
- Public Holidays Help, But Less Than Celebration Days
- From 0.3% In January To 59% On The Terrace In July
- Mid-Month Is 5% Busier Than Normal
Insight 1 of 9
August Is The Busiest Month, September The Quietest
Measured on the same 23 restaurants in every month, August reaches 113 against an average month of 100. September drops to 90, as the holidays end and routines return.
| Group | Index (100 = normal) |
|---|---|
| January | 92 |
| February | 103 |
| March | 100 |
| April | 99 |
| May | 111 |
| June | 94 |
| July | 98 |
| August | 113 |
| September | 90 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 46,112
- Restaurants
- 44 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- A fixed panel of 23 restaurants with reservations in every month; each restaurant's monthly guests are indexed to its own average month (100), then averaged. Raw totals are never compared, because the number of restaurants grew.
Insight 2 of 9
The Busiest Week Reaches 122, The Quietest 76
Week by week the swings are larger. The busiest week of the year reaches 122 against an average week, the week of Father's Day. The second week of January is the quietest, at 76: 24% below normal.
| Group | Index (100 = normal) |
|---|---|
| W2 | 76 |
| W3 | 89 |
| W4 | 99 |
| W5 | 105 |
| W6 | 95 |
| W7 | 120 |
| W8 | 113 |
| W9 | 116 |
| W10 | 105 |
| W11 | 96 |
| W12 | 101 |
| W13 | 108 |
| W14 | 99 |
| W15 | 110 |
| W16 | 106 |
| W17 | 98 |
| W18 | 105 |
| W19 | 112 |
| W20 | 108 |
| W21 | 101 |
| W22 | 88 |
| W23 | 99 |
| W24 | 122 |
| W25 | 101 |
| W26 | 91 |
| W27 | 105 |
| W28 | 104 |
| W29 | 103 |
| W30 | 98 |
| W31 | 120 |
| W32 | 102 |
| W33 | 121 |
| W34 | 116 |
| W35 | 121 |
| W36 | 102 |
| W37 | 91 |
| W38 | 103 |
| W39 | 111 |
- Period
- Weeks 2 to 39 of 2026
- Datapoints
- 33,548
- Restaurants
- 20 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- A fixed panel of restaurants with reservations in at least 35 of the weeks; each restaurant's weekly guests are indexed to its own average week (100), then the median is taken.
Insight 3 of 9
Father's Day Brings 59% More Guests Than A Normal Sunday
Compared with the same weekday in the weeks around it, Father's Day brings 59% more guests and Mother's Day 41% more. Valentine's Day, which falls on a Saturday that is already busy, adds 18%.
| Group | Index (100 = normal) |
|---|---|
| Father’s Day (Sun 14 Jun) | 159 |
| Mother’s Day (Sun 10 May) | 141 |
| Easter Sunday (5 Apr) | 126 |
| Valentine’s Day (Sat 14 Feb) | 118 |
| Labour Day (Fri 1 May) | 112 |
| Assumption Day (Sat 15 Aug) | 105 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 10,274
- Restaurants
- 30 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- For each holiday and each restaurant open that day: guests that day divided by the restaurant's average on the same weekday two, three and four weeks before and after. Median over restaurants; 100 is a normal day of that weekday.
Insight 4 of 9
On Valentine's Day, 78% Of Tables Are For Two
Valentine's Day changes who comes rather than how many: 78% of reservations are for exactly two people, against 42% on comparable Saturdays. The day itself brings 18% more guests.
| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| Valentine’s Day | 78% |
| Comparable Saturdays | 42% |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 2,245
- Restaurants
- 44 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Party sizes on the holiday compared with the same restaurants on the same weekday two to four weeks before and after.
Insight 5 of 9
Mother's And Father's Day Bring Bigger Tables Too
On Mother's Day the average table counts 4.3 guests and on Father's Day 4.2, against 4 on comparable Sundays. More tables and bigger ones: Father's Day lands at an index of 159, Mother's Day at 141.
| Group | Average score |
|---|---|
| Father’s Day | 4.18 |
| Mother’s Day | 4.26 |
| Comparable Sundays | 3.95 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 3,030
- Restaurants
- 44 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Party sizes on the holiday compared with the same restaurants on the same weekday two to four weeks before and after.
Insight 6 of 9
Easter Sunday Brings 26% More Guests
Easter Sunday is the third big family day of the year: restaurants welcome 26% more guests than on the Sundays around it.
| Group | Index (100 = normal) |
|---|---|
| Easter Sunday | 126 |
| Comparable Sundays | 100 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 1,206
- Restaurants
- 30 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- For each holiday and each restaurant open that day: guests that day divided by the restaurant's average on the same weekday two, three and four weeks before and after. Median over restaurants; 100 is a normal day of that weekday.
Insight 7 of 9
Public Holidays Help, But Less Than Celebration Days
Labour Day brings 12% more guests than a normal Friday, and Assumption Day 5% more than a normal Saturday. A day off fills tables, but a reason to celebrate fills more.
| Group | Index (100 = normal) |
|---|---|
| Labour Day | 112 |
| Assumption Day | 105 |
| Normal day | 100 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 3,793
- Restaurants
- 30 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- For each holiday and each restaurant open that day: guests that day divided by the restaurant's average on the same weekday two, three and four weeks before and after. Median over restaurants; 100 is a normal day of that weekday.
Insight 8 of 9
From 0.3% In January To 59% On The Terrace In July
In restaurants that offer outdoor seating, the terrace share goes from 0.3% in January to 27% in May and peaks at 59% in July, when more than half of guests choose to sit outside.
| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| January | 0.3% |
| February | 0.8% |
| March | 2.4% |
| April | 3.9% |
| May | 27% |
| June | 34% |
| July | 59.1% |
| August | 43.5% |
| September | 37% |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 8,758
- Restaurants
- 9 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Share of reservations with a terrace or outdoor seating choice, only in restaurants whose booking form offers one, per month.
Insight 9 of 9
Mid-Month Is 5% Busier Than Normal
Days 11 to 15 of the month are 5% busier than an average day of the same weekday. The first days of the month are 3% quieter: payday effects exist, but they are small.
| Group | Index (100 = normal) |
|---|---|
| 1–5 | 97 |
| 6–10 | 99 |
| 11–15 | 105 |
| 16–20 | 99 |
| 21–25 | 100 |
| 26–31 | 100 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 46,441
- Restaurants
- 31 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Guests on each day compared with the same restaurant's average for that weekday (which removes the weekday mix), averaged per band of days, then over restaurants. 100 is normal.
How We Built This Article
Period
Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026 · Weeks 2 to 39 of 2026
Datapoints
9 insights, each resting on at least 1,206 datapoints (the largest on 46,441), from 9–44 Belgian restaurants.
Method
Anonymous aggregates over Belgian HappyChef restaurants, each restaurant weighted equally, with every figure over at least five restaurants and 1,000 datapoints.
About This Data
This analysis is based on Belgian restaurants that use HappyChef: 9–44 restaurants, depending on the insight. Restaurants that joined during the period are normalised so the growing number of restaurants never inflates a trend, demo and test accounts are left out, and placeholder values (an empty field saved as zero) are ignored.
Every figure is an anonymous aggregate. Each one combines at least five restaurants and at least 1,000 datapoints, no restaurant is named or singled out, and no name, email address, phone number or remark of a guest is ever published.
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