Mother’s Day is usually the busiest day of the year for restaurants.

Going out to a fancy restaurant is often tied to a special occasion — and there’s no special occasion quite like one for moms. Research from the National Restaurant Association has found that in an average year, about a third of U.S. adults visit a restaurant to celebrate on Mother’s Day. That often makes Mother’s Day the busiest day of the year for restaurants. This deluge of diners even surpasses Valentine’s Day, perhaps because the mid-February holiday really only takes up tables for two, whereas a Mother’s Day celebration often takes up a four-top or more. 

The word for “mother” in nearly every language can be attributed to babies.

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In almost every language, the short form for “mother” is an “m” sound followed by “ahh.” This is because babies first form “ahh” sounds and interrupt them by closing their mouths, creating an “m.” Babies are just playing, but it sounds like they’re addressing “mama.”

Restaurants aren’t the only businesses that get a boost on Mother’s Day. The National Retail Federation estimates that consumers are expected to spend $34 billion on Mother’s Day celebrations in 2025, with a big chunk of that change being forked over for jewelry, while other industries, such as spa services, also see a noticeable uptick. However, the two biggest winners of the day besides restaurants are florists (it’s their third-most-lucrative day of the year) and greeting card companies (which deliver heartfelt salutations to three-quarters of the moms in America). Overall, Americans spend much more on gifts for mom than for dad — people spent an average of $246 on Mother’s Day in 2022, compared to $171 for Father’s Day.

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