With these simple ideas, your cafe or restaurant can get on the Halloween bandwagon and attract customers looking for a festive experience.
Halloween doesn’t require extensive preparations. Small touches and themed items can create a memorable atmosphere and increase sales as more customers attend your event.
There’s still time for cafes and restaurants to add a little spooky fun last minute and tempt customers with themed experiences and seasonal treats. Here’s a quick guide to ideas and recipes to help you make the most of Halloween, even with little prep time.
1. Add simple spooky items to your menu
With a few simple adjustments, you can give your menu a Halloween twist without any major preparations.
Mummy meatballs: Wrap frozen or ready-made meatballs in puff pastry to create a “mummy” look. Once baked, add dots of cheese and olives for the eyes and serve with marinara sauce for a gory taste.
Ghostly brownies: Place marshmallow “ghosts” on top of ready-made brownies and dot the eyes and mouth with chocolate. These treats only take minutes to assemble and are popular on social media.
Goblin muffin: Add some shocking green or orange icing to a chocolate muffin, add a little red food coloring for bloodshot eyes, and voila!
2. Offering Halloween-themed festive drinks
You don’t have to completely overhaul your drinks. A little bit of effort can go a long way.
Blood orange punch: Mix cranberry or pomegranate juice with soda and garnish with “floating eyeballs” (lychee fruit stuffed with blueberries). Add a shot of rum or vodka for an adult twist.
Pumpkin Spice Frappler: Take your pumpkin spice latte to the next level with some “bloody” strawberry syrup. Perfect for spooky bites and easy to make hot or iced.
Zombie matcha latte: Add black food coloring to create a layered matcha latte for a “zombie” look. Sprinkle with brown sugar or dark chocolate to create an even more spooky atmosphere.
3. Hold a simple Halloween event
Get your customers in the mood with simple events like costume contests or themed happy hours.
Quick costume contest: Announce a costume contest on social media and reward the best costume with a gift card or free dessert. People love the chance to dress up and win, even if it’s last minute.
Halloween Happy Hour: In the evening, we offer several drink specials, including Blood Orange Punch and Pumpkin Spice Frappler. Simple decorations like spider webs and black tablecloths instantly create a Halloween atmosphere.
4. Assemble a Halloween treat box
For guests celebrating at home, offer a last-minute snack box from your cafe menu. Add simple decorations using items you already have, such as brownies, cookies, cupcakes, etc.
Halloween treat box: Create easy themed boxes by filling brownies with marshmallow ghosts, mummy meatballs, and mini pumpkin cookies. These are popular with families and can be pre-packaged for immediate pickup.
5. Add simple Halloween decorations
Even a little decoration can go a long way. Hang a fake spider web around the entrance, add some pumpkins or skulls, and dim the lights to create a spooky atmosphere. Halloween music and some sound effects can also enhance the atmosphere with minimal effort.
