Building business on Sundays outside of the French-toast-and-eggs-Benedict hours requires a little creativity. It’s the one day of the week when families just may be likely to sit down at the table together for dinner, and luring diners from home or persuading them to stay out on a weekend night that doesn’t really feel like part of the weekend can be tricky.

But themed events and dining promotions—created with the comfort-craving, ease-seeking Sunday diner in mind—can serve to spike traffic on this opportunity-filled but often-neglected day of the week. After all, Sunday dinners offer the chance to help build a community of loyal guests—a reason for regulars to gather at one time, talk about their favorite dishes and, ideally, leave with such good feelings about the operation that they are inspired to go out and spread the word to the uninitiated public.

Increasing Sunday traffic doesn’t have to be a solo effort. Teaming up with a retailer, a farmer or a distributor in the region to host a Sunday evening event highlighting a favorite (or, at least, often-used) product can be a cost-effective way to build exposure for the restaurant and expand the restaurant’s advertising reach.

Sunday events are especially attractive because the partner business is likely to have more staff members available to help coordinate and staff the event, and the partner’s loyal customers are more likely to be able to attend an event on this less-scheduled night of the week.

It’s vital, however, to establish terms for co-promotion once an agreement to collaborate on an event with another business has been reached. Qube restaurant in Seattle discovered this earlier this spring when a California winery proved less enthusiastic than the restaurant had hoped it would be about promoting a Sunday wine dinner it had agreed to co-host. “We had to cancel [that dinner]” because of a lack of interest, says Qube owner and manager Fu Shen Chang.

One reason for the lackluster response, Chang says, was the fact that the winery was from out of state—Qube has had strong showings for Sunday special events co-sponsored by local retailers, he notes. “Work with local companies who basically want to co-promote,” Chang says. “That has to be very clear up-front.”

A partnership with a Seattle sake retailer for an April sake dinner was particularly successful. “Since we’re a fusion restaurant, that was a great match,” Chang says. To help drum up interest for the dinner, Qube noted on its menus—which are printed in-house—the sakes that guests would be able to sample during the event. Servers were encouraged to mention the event to guests who ordered a bottle of sake. Diners on Qube’s e-mail list were alerted to the dinner weeks in advance, and Chang posted event details on several online Seattle nightlife calendars. “Free event-listing sources are great,” Chang adds.

Operators can clue in diners to the inspiration behind a concept with a series of events that offers a tour of the region or country that serves as the restaurant’s culinary source material. Cafe Matou in Chicago takes this approach; each month this summer, Chef Charlie Socher will explore three regions of France (Provence, Lyon and La Côte Basque, respectively) in food and wine with Sip and Savor Sundays.

Such themed events allow Socher to introduce new tastes to guests. “I can have things that people don’t ordinarily have,” Socher says. He cites tripe as a prime example: “Nobody’s going to order it [if] I have it on the regular menu,” he says. But when it’s offered as part of a themed Sunday dinner—when guests know that they are free to sample other items that feature their favorite ingredients and preparations—trying tripe becomes an acceptably adventurous dining experience.

“People come into these events with an open mind,” he says. “They find that they like some things period or learned some ways to prepare something.”

Socher adds that Cafe Matou uses its street-view patio to full effect as an advertising tool on mild-weathered Sundays. Passers-by find inspiration in guests enjoying appetizers and a glass of wine on the patio and are able to walk in and be seated quickly, he says. “They say, 'Let’s get a little bite and something to drink,’” says Socher. Maybe they enjoyed brunch or a barbecue earlier in the day, he says, but “at 8 o’clock, they might be walking by, and it’s 'Hey, let’s stop by.’”

Operations that pride themselves on “home-style” cooking are uniquely able to position themselves as offering a no-hassle way for families to enjoy a traditional Sunday meal. Lebanon, Tenn.-based Cracker Barrel Old Country Store benefits from its family-focused standing especially on Sundays: Stores are set up to easily accommodate larger parties; guests can order from the breakfast menu all day; and Spanish-English bilingual menus are available in every store.

“If you go into a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and you look at the tables on Sunday, you literally see all generations at the table,” says Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Doug Barber. A convivial family atmosphere and a menu of classic country favorites draws a significant number of post-church crowds, which Cracker Barrel units help prepare for by culling data about dining times from members of a guest loyalty program.

“It’s different than Saturdays,” Barber says. “We make sure we have bigger tables out for parties so that we can have the best possible experience and reduce their wait as much as we possibly can.”

All-day breakfast options add to the chain’s Sunday appeal. “In my opinion, it stops the veto vote,” says Barber. “When you’re coming out of church, half of your family says, 'Let’s go for breakfast’; half says, 'Let’s go for lunch.’”

At Globe in San Francisco, Chef Jason Tallent entices locals and tourists alike to end their weekend at his restaurant with the Sunday Farmers Menu, crafted around finds from the previous day’s farmers market. “I was already going over there anyway; it just made sense to build something around that,” Tallent says, adding, “We’re in a neighborhood where most of the restaurants in our neighborhood are closed [on Sunday].”

Tallent multitasks at the farmers market, too, capitalizing on the chance to do a little self-promotion while he’s purchasing produce. “We’re getting people worked up,” says the chef, who brings along an intern to help with the shopping/advertising effort. “Mostly it’s just kind of hyping people up with, 'This is what we’re going to do with this.’”

The farmers appreciate his business and the market-menu concept, Tallent says, and have no problem with him chatting up curious shoppers. “Now it’s at the point where I’m going to the market and I have people asking me what’s going to be on the menu,” he says.

Diners who attend the popular $39 market-menu dinners select one of three items offered in each of four courses.

• Let diners know about the advantages of dining on Sunday—free parking, more available parking, smaller crowds in the area. Qube restaurant in downtown Seattle touts these benefits in promoting its Sunday events. “Sunday is free parking; you can go to Pike Place Market or an art gallery prior to dinner,” says owner Fu Shen Chang.
• Take into account that some guests may have had a full weekend of wining and dining (beering and dining, etc.) by the time they look to grab a bite on Sunday afternoon or evening. A standout à la carte starters menu accompanied by a few suggested alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverage pairings can win over guests.
• Play up the “making family time easy” factor. If the operation regularly handles large parties or offers speedy dining options for guests heading to a Sunday event—be it a weekly kids’ movie matinée or a concert in the park—make sure that the Web site and promotional materials say so.

Contact writer at christine.lafave@reedbusiness.com.