Beijing's restaurant boom continues during Mid-Autumn holiday, with over 700 tables waiting at peak

As the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday draws to a close, many restaurants across China have reported long queues, with some popular outlets seeing waitlist numbers exceeding several hundred tables by midday.

At around noon on the final day of the holiday, the following wait times were recorded at key locations:

• Huqia Jingdezhen Jiangxi Cuisine (Beijing Huiju Store): 344 tables for small tables, 411 tables for medium tables.
• Sijimin Fu Roast Duck Restaurant (Forbidden City Store): 228 tables for small tables, 351 tables for medium tables, and 70 tables for large tables.
• Kaorou Master Spicy Grilled Fish (Beijing's first store): 157 tables for small tables, 121 tables for medium tables.

Family Reunions Drive Dining Demand

Reservation data from the Mid-Autumn Festival highlights "reunion" as a key theme. According to booking data from Haidilao, orders for dining on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival accounted for over 65% of total reservations made during the holiday period. Meal times were concentrated in the evening, and reservations for tables seating three or more people accounted for over 80% of the total. The trend of family gatherings and reunions with friends and relatives was particularly pronounced.

According to Su Shang Bank, the surge in restaurant traffic is the result of a combination of holiday economics, family reunions, and social needs. The phenomenon of waiting for over a hundred tables reflects the ongoing recovery of offline consumer confidence and venue vitality. This holiday wave of customers is expected to directly boost seating rates, table turnover, and average spending per customer, improve cash flow, and drive demand for ingredients, beverages, and logistics.

Restaurants Prepare for the "Double Festival" Peak

In anticipation of the upcoming "Double Festival" (Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays), many restaurant brands have made early preparations.

Beijing Huatian, for example, has put its time-honored brand outlets into a "pre-battle" state. Measures include:

• Increasing stockpiles of key ingredients and signature dishes to ensure uninterrupted supply.
• Implementing staggered leave schedules for employees before the holiday, with all staff on duty and working closely together during the peak period.
• Adding extra front-of-house and back-of-house staff during peak hours.
• Maintaining strict quality and service standards to ensure every dish and customer reception meets expectations.

Innovative Menus and Promotional Offers

Restaurants are also rolling out a variety of initiatives to meet consumer demand:

• Kaorou Ji has incorporated its national intangible cultural heritage item, "Zhizi Roasted Meat," into a burger, allowing customers to eat while strolling around Shichahai.
• Kaorou Wan has repackaged its signature braised beef into small bags and gift boxes, catering to both in-store sharing and gift-giving needs.

Other brands are launching new menus and meal sets for the holiday period:

• Xiabu Xiabu has updated its autumn 2026 menu, introducing items such as the "Taiwanese Fish Roe and Duck Blood Tofu Pot."
• Xiabu Steak (Longde Plaza store), a Western food brand under the Xiabu Group, has launched several Mid-Autumn meal sets and added a new "Fujian-style Ginger Duck" item, available for unlimited consumption.
• Chami Tea, another brand under the group, has introduced a new "Guava Iced Tea" at its Coucou outlets.

Expert Advice: Managing the Holiday Rush

Fu Yifu, an industry analyst, offered several recommendations for restaurants preparing for the National Day holiday surge:

• Reservation and capacity management: Clearly define inventory for private rooms and main halls by time slot, and set rules for deposits, cancellations, and time limits to prevent overbooking, vacancies, and malicious reservations.
• Supply chain strengthening: Establish safety stock and backup plans for core ingredients, while managing price fluctuations, cold chain logistics, and food safety.
• Staffing and operations: Schedule shifts in advance, hire temporary workers with pre-job training, and ensure front- and back-of-house coordination with optimized peak-hour workflows.
• Customer service and contingency planning: Improve systems for queuing, complaints, refunds, and public relations. Conduct inspections of fire safety, gas systems, and hygiene.
• Data utilization: Use digital systems to capture reservation and membership data for post-holiday analysis, converting holiday traffic into long-term repeat customers.

(Source: Beijing Business Today)