Halloween Costume Ideas for Working in a Restaurant

Halloween is a time for everyone to get into the spirit of things—even restaurants. From themed Halloween promotions to festive menu ideas, there are many ways to celebrate spooky season in foodservice. But now that you’ve got your restaurant decorated and your menu set, it’s now time to get your staff members in on the fun. Here are some Halloween costume ideas for you and your staff to consider. 

Swashbuckling Pirates

Pirates are a perfect option for any restaurant Halloween shift. The costume is comfortable, work appropriate and easy to acquire. It also is great for staff to customize if they are all following a theme. Have the manager be captain of the ship and the rest of the crew. If your restaurant is a seafood business this one is the perfect theme for you.

Turn Back Time to the Decades

A fun and easy theme for employees is decade costumes: let each employee choose a decade and then dress in an iconic outfit from the time period. From 50’s poodle skirts to 70’s bell bottoms, there are many classic fashion options for your employees to have fun with. Whatever decade you choose, remember that social media can help your restaurant this Halloween, so be sure to leverage things like Facebook ads and Instagram stories to get the word out about the event leading up to October 31.

Celebrities and Stars

Have the whole staff participate with this theme. Celebrities and public figures are an easy group costume to do in restaurants. Whether you are Bob Ross or Taylor Swift everyone can pick their favorite person to dress up as. The best part about this theme is that everyone can wear regular clothes that won’t hurt their work performance.

Oh Domino!

A super simple group costume idea your staff can dress as are dominos. Each staff member can wear all black or a black t-shirt, and decorate it with a series of dots that replicates a domino tile. Since there’s so many different dot patterns on dominos, your staff can each be their own to replicate a full set.

Insert Emoji Here

If your staff wants to all be an easy themed group costume, emojis are perfect for larger groups. Everyone can either wear an emoji over all black or their work uniform. Since it is a popular group idea you could buy a costume online or DIY one at home. All you need is some cardboard and markers to make it happen. Everyone can pick an emoji that fits their personality for a silly and funny work costume.

Food for Thought

What’s more perfect for a restaurant than having your staff dress as food items? You could have your staff wear costumes inspired by your Halloween menu, or go with some other theme that reflects your normal offerings. For example, if burgers are your restaurant’s specialty, your waitstaff could dress as various burger ingredients—lettuce, tomatoes, buns, cheese, etc. If you’re an Italian restaurant, your employees can dress as spaghetti and meatballs. As you can see, the possibilities are endless!

Name That Tune with Song Lyrics

For the more creative and crafty people try doing a song lyric costume. Take a song title or lyric and get a little craft. You can take an umbrella and add purple ribbons or streamers to become “Purple Rain”. Or try crafting a cardboard submarine and paint it yellow to pay homage to the Beatles “Yellow Submarine”. For staff that want to get in on the same theme but without too much effort have everyone dress in all black and welcome guests to the “Black Parade” from My Chemical Romance. Dress up as a queen and dance around to be the “Dancing Queen” of Halloween. If you are stumped on ideas but want a creative song costume, other people have mentioned some very creative costume ideas.

Let’s Get Punny

Who doesn’t love a good, clever pun? Let your staff get punny this Halloween by embodying a well-known pun. Some classic ones include: deviled eggs (using devil horns and a shirt adorned with fried eggs), “cereal” killer (a box of cereal pierced by a knife) and “When life gives you lemons” (a shirt with the word “LIFE” with lemon decorations around it). These costumes are sure to be a real scream with your customers.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Restaurant Halloween Costumes

To ensure all of your employees have a fun Halloween, here are some tips on creating the right costume to keep everyone happy.

Do

• Comfortable Clothing Pieces – Most costumes can be made with comfortable clothing items like t-shirts, button-ups and vests, so keep this in mind when you and your staff decide a costume theme. Comfort is key when creating a costume that’ll be worn in a restaurant.


• Can Be Easily Acquired or Made – Whether they can be bought at a Halloween costume shop, online or at any local clothing or craft store, keep accessibility in mind for your staff members’ costumes.


• Simple Makeup – Instead of wearing uncomfortable masks, go for simple makeup to really make the costume pop. From stick-on rhinestones to face paint, these options are still fun and festive while also easy to wear.

Don’t

• Wings/Bulky pieces – Trust us when we say if you wear wings people will get a mouthful of feathers while they eat. Bulky costume pieces like wings will be hard to navigate between tables and are hard to be aware of when behind you. You risk knocking them into food, people, doorways and more. Better to save the wings or bulky accessories for the after-work parties. 


• Wigs – Costume wigs may sound like a fun and easy option but they can be bad while working in a restaurant. Wigs shed hair and that can get onto tables and plates. Plus the longer the wig the more it will get in your face and touching your face more often will not be sanitary. 


• Props – Props can really make a costume stand out, but they just get annoying after a while. You want your hands free while working the dinner rush or happy hour and that pirate sword will eventually just get in the way. Try skipping any swords, wands, or lightsabers and stick to costumes that don’t need anything held or carried around. 


• Gloves – These will just get dirty throughout your work shift and are really not sanitary for restaurants. Hands need to be free of any fabric to stop the spread of germs and also so you can properly wash your hands. 


• Fleece/fuzzy costumes (for kitchen staff) – The food service business can be a labor intensive business and you want a costume that won’t have you overheating in a hot kitchen. Fleece or thick materials will have you sweating in the heat of the kitchen so try to stick to costumes with lighter material. Plus in a fast-paced environment like a restaurant kitchen you want as much movement as possible and thicker costumes will just weigh you down.


• Uncomfortable shoes – Any costume that might need uncomfortable shoes are a don’t. Whether staff want to wear heels to match a dress or sandals for a hippie costume we do not recommend wearing work appropriate shoes. Opened toed shoes are a hazard for kitchen and serving staff, plus a slipping hazard. You and your staff want to keep in mind that non-slip shoes need to stay on even while in costume. These will make it comfortable for long shifts and safer for everyone.


• Latex – Latex is another costume material we recommend staying away from. It’ll slow you down and restrict your movement. Servers and kitchen staff all work at fast paces during the dinner rush so you want a costume that allows you full range of movement. You can’t reach the glasses on the top shelf if your arms are stuck in latex.