Mother's Day busy holiday for some local restaurants

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May 14, 2012

Mother's Day busy holiday for some local restaurants

By Denise Richardson Staff Writer The Daily Star Mon May 14, 2012, 03:30 AM EDT

Orders Sunday from local menus kept cooks and wait staff busy at some area restaurants, thanks to diners celebrating Mother's Day.

"We opened special just for Mother's Day," said Caity Northrup, hostess at Stella Luna Ristorante on Market Street in Oneonta.

The restaurant industry counts on families taking mothers out of kitchens at home and seating them at tables in restaurants, she said.

The National Restaurant Association said Mother's Day remains the most popular holiday on which to dine out.

That assessment rang true locally, as managers and owners of several area eateries said business opened specially for the day, extended hours or planned special menus for Mother's Day.

"It's a good day for business," Ika Fognell, general manager of Alex & Ika Restaurant in Cooperstown, said via telephone over a clatter of dishes. The restaurant was serving brunch and dinner as usual Sunday, she said, and would be busy into the night.

According to OpenTable, a national restaurant reservation service, more than half of people polled said brunch was "unquestionably a part of their Mother's Day plans," with 39 percent saying they planned on dinner at a restaurant and about 25 percent saying they planned to dine out for more than one meal on Mother's Day.

OpenTable provides free, real-time online reservations for diners and guest management for restaurants. In its report, which didn't specify how many people were surveyed, 65 percent of mothers said they would be in charge of making restaurant reservations.

Prime 289 on Main Street in downtown Oneonta opened from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday especially for Mother's Day, manager Kirsty Miller said.

The restaurant, which has been open since March of last year, had a special menu for Mother's Day, and Miller said diners came "in waves." "We were very happy to be open for Mother's Day," she said. "We were busy."

Jennifer Kelly of Worcester said she and her relatives, including her daughter, Brianna, 4, tried a restaurant new to them -- Mt. Fuji Japanese Restaurant at Southside Mall in Oneonta.

"It was very good," she said. "We did the hibachi -- it was very nice."

Her husband, Ryan, said the dinner was a treat for his wife and his mother-in-law, Dolores Vencak.

"She's a great Mom," he said, referring to both women. "They both put others before themselves."

The National Retail Federation estimated about 54 percent of respondents would treat their mothers to a brunch or dinner, spending $3.4 billion.

According to NRF's 2012 Mother's Day consumer spending survey of 8,724 consumers by BIGinsight in April, the average person celebrating the holiday is expected to spend $152.52 on gifts, up from $140.73 last year.

At The Worcester Inn at 51 Main St., dining business was up Sunday, owner James Buelow said.

The restaurant's menu was expanded to feature a special brunch with waffles, eggs and sausage for Mother's Day, and more than 100 were served, an increase of about 25 diners, Buelow said. The restaurant usually closes at 2 p.m. Sunday, but on Mother's Day this year, hours were extended for dinner, and about 60 reservations had been made, he said.

"It's busy," Buelow said at about 1:45 p.m.

Vanessa Brown of Hobart, Laura Gioffe of Delhi, Sandra Fitch of Delhi and Alison Bruce of Stamford took themselves and their seven children out for Mother's Day dinner at The Depot in Oneonta.

The meal was a good opportunity for laughter and to celebrate friendship and motherhood, Brown said, during a post-meal shopping stop at Southside Mall. Gioffe agreed.

"Men come and go," Gioffe said. "Friends are forever."