Orders on City Grill Family triple during Easter, with beef salad, sarmale, and Easter cake among the most popular choices for the holiday table

Beef salad, sarmale, Easter cake, lamb drob, and red eggs are among the most ordered items on City Grill Family during the Easter period. Internal data from City Grill Group shows that during this time, the volume of food orders in large family portions is more than three times higher than during a regular period. In 2025, orders during Easter grew by 30% compared to Easter 2024. At the same time, this holiday period drives a 325% increase in sales compared to a typical week on the Family platform.

The average order value reached 450 RON in 2025, indicating that many customers are not just ordering a few items, but placing larger orders for a full or nearly complete holiday meal. The Easter meal remains traditional in terms of dishes, but the way it is prepared is starting to change. Instead of cooking everything from scratch, customers are choosing a more practical approach: preparing some dishes at home while ordering in advance those that require more time, effort, or precision. The tradition stays the same, but the way families choose to preserve it is evolving.

“We are clearly seeing that large-portion cooked dishes are no longer chosen just for convenience. During Easter, they become part of a broader context where the choice is driven by quality, consistency, and the way people organize an important meal for their loved ones. This is not an alternative to tradition, but a different way of preparing it, better suited to today’s pace of life,” says Dragoș Bercea, Corporate Executive Chef, City Grill Group.

This trend is especially visible among young, professionally active families who want to keep the classic structure of the holiday table without turning the preparation into a multi-day marathon. In more than 8 out of 10 cases, orders include the more labor-intensive dishes such as drob, sarmale, or Easter cake, while the rest of the menu is completed at home. The result is an Easter table that looks familiar but is built more efficiently. Most orders are scheduled for delivery in the last two days before Easter, with a peak on the day before the holiday. However, customers tend to place their orders earlier to secure their preferred delivery slot.

“For City Grill Family, this period also brings a specific operational challenge. Demand is concentrated within a short timeframe, requiring careful capacity management and excellent execution. The dishes are prepared close to the delivery time, without preservatives, following the same standards applied in the group’s restaurants, so that quality remains consistent even during peak periods,” explains Dragoș Bercea .

In addition to the traditional bestsellers, many customers complement their orders with items such as pecan and Belgian chocolate cozonac or caramel cozonac, chicken and parmesan meatballs, lamb borscht, or vine leaf rolls. This shows that the platform is no longer used just for last-minute additions, but increasingly to build a substantial part of the holiday meal.