Which restaurants are open on holidays?

Updated August 24, 2026 · this page carries the 2026 and 2027 dates.

Restaurant chains split three ways on holidays, and knowing which kind you’re standing in front of answers most questions before the door handle does. A few close company-wide on the big days — Texas Roadhouse, Chick-fil-A, and Olive Garden all take Thanksgiving and Christmas everywhere. A few never close at all — Waffle House runs 24 hours through every holiday on the calendar. And the franchise giants — McDonald’s, IHOP, Applebee’s — leave the decision to each location, which is why the honest answer there is always your own restaurant’s hours.

Each chain below has its own page with the full holiday-by-holiday answer, a live open-or-closed sign, and the days that are company-wide certainties marked apart from the days your location decides.

Hours vary by location. The days marked closed here are company-wide; everything else is your local store or restaurant’s call, so check before you go.

Every chain, holiday by holiday

• Texas Roadhouse
• Waffle House
• Cracker Barrel
• McDonald's
• Starbucks
• Chick-fil-A
• Denny's
• IHOP
• Olive Garden
• Applebee's

The rest of the holiday picture

Groceries and big-box stores keep a different calendar — the store holiday hours page covers them chain by chain. And for everything official on a given day — banks, mail, the markets, federal offices — the roundups carry it: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter to start.