Restaurant Holiday Hours Checklist: Update Google, Your Website, and Ordering Apps Before Thanksgiving

Your restaurant’s holiday hours are only correct when every channel shows the same schedule and stops taking orders at the same time. Before Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26, 2026, set one approved schedule. Then update Google, your website, and each delivery app, and test what customers actually see.

Here is a common gap. An owner closes early for the holiday, updates Google, and goes home. The ordering website or a delivery app still shows a regular Thursday, so customers keep placing orders that nobody is there to make.

First, Decide What Hours Your Restaurant Will Actually Operate

Before you log into anything, agree on one holiday schedule. Every platform update should copy from it.

For each affected day, write down:

• Dining room hours
• Kitchen closing time
• Pickup ordering cutoff
• Delivery ordering cutoff
• Catering preorder and pickup windows

These are rarely identical. As an illustration, a restaurant might close its dining room at 4 p.m. but stop taking delivery orders at 3 p.m.

Cover Thanksgiving Day, Friday, November 27, and any other day that changes. If you run more than one location, approve a separate schedule for each.

Update Your Google Business Profile Holiday Hours

Google keeps your regular weekly hours separate from Special hours. Special hours apply to a specific date, such as a holiday.

To set them:

1. Go to your Business Profile and select Edit profile, then Hours.
2. Next to Special hours, select Edit.
3. Choose or add November 26.
4. Enter your hours or check Closed, then save.

Google’s Special hours guide adds two points. Special hours only show if your profile is set to Open with main hours. Google also recommends confirming official holiday hours even when they match your regular schedule.

If you list takeout or delivery times under More hours, review those too.

Google tells customers when you are open. It does not stop other channels from accepting orders. After saving, check your listing on Google Search and Maps. For broader profile advice, see our Google Business Profile guide for restaurants.

Check Your Restaurant Website and Direct Ordering System

Your website can display the right hours while its ordering system still follows the regular schedule. Check both.

On the website, review:

• The homepage holiday notice
• Hours on your contact or location page
• Reopening times

In the ordering system, review:

• Pickup and delivery schedules for each affected day
• The last available ordering slot
• Scheduled or future orders that land during the closure

A “Closed on Thanksgiving” banner does not help if checkout still lets someone book a 5 p.m. pickup. To test it, start an order for Thanksgiving and try to choose a time after your cutoff. Stop before payment. If the slot is open, fix the ordering settings.

Update DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub Holiday Hours

Each marketplace keeps its own hours, so update each one separately.

DoorDash. In the Merchant Portal, open Store availability. According to DoorDash’s merchant help, this page lets you check store status, update hours, and add special hours and closures.

Uber Eats. In Uber Eats Manager, use the Holiday Hours setting to add the date and your modified hours, then save. Uber’s merchant help says holiday hours take priority over normal menu hours, including for POS-integrated stores. Regular hours for integrated stores are managed in the POS.

Grubhub. Grubhub’s restaurant policies ask restaurants to keep their hours current in Grubhub for Restaurants. That includes modified hours for holidays and temporary closures. Grubhub’s system also closes a restaurant 15 minutes before its scheduled closing time, so account for that when you set your cutoff.

If your POS or ordering software connects to these apps, do not assume one change updates them all. Integrations handle hours differently, so ask your provider what syncs.

After you make the changes, open each app as a customer and confirm the listing shows the right holiday hours.

Don’t Forget the Other Places Customers Check

Customers check more than Google and the apps. Update any of these you use:

• Reservation platforms
• Social media business profiles
• Other local listings
• Your phone greeting or voicemail
• Catering ordering pages

Every place a customer might look should give the same answer.

Run a Final Holiday Hours Test Before Thanksgiving

A settings screen shows what you entered, which is not always what customers see. Finish with a Holiday Hours Cross-Channel Audit, done from the customer side.

Channel	What to verify
Google	Correct holiday hours appear publicly on Search and Maps
Restaurant website	Holiday notice and listed hours match the approved schedule
Direct ordering	Orders cannot be scheduled during the closure
Delivery apps	Store availability and ordering cutoffs are correct
Other active channels	Customer-facing information agrees

Where possible, use a phone that is not signed in to your business accounts. Check both the Thanksgiving closure and the Friday reopening. A restaurant can get the closure right and still show the wrong opening time the next morning.

Repeat the audit for every location. Save the table to reuse for Christmas, New Year’s Day, and other holidays.

Your Final Pre-Thanksgiving Checklist

• Approve one holiday schedule per location.
• Confirm Google’s special hours for November 26.
• Update your website and direct ordering settings.
• Update each active delivery marketplace.
• Check reservations, social profiles, and your phone greeting.
• Test ordering cutoffs and public listings as a customer.
• Verify Friday reopening hours on every channel.

Keep Your Restaurant’s Ordering Channels Organized

Holiday prep usually means staffing and inventory. Your digital hours belong on that list, too. Customers should be able to trust the hours you post and the orders you accept.

Orders.co brings DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, and your direct ordering website into one system. From one place, you can sync menu changes, put delivery apps on busy mode, or pause online ordering. See how it works for your restaurant.

Frequently Asked Questions