Not Saturday. Not Sunday. Not even Friday. Nope, the day I spend the most money is Thursday.
Why? Because Thursday is the new Friday.
With hybrid work schedules, Thursday has unofficially become the last in-office day of the week – prime time for post-work drinks and dinners. Many of us head into the office Tuesday through Thursday, so by the time Thursday rolls around, it feels like a Friday, even though there’s one more workday to go.
The numbers back it up. Data from OpenTable shows that seated dinners from online reservations were up 20 per cent on Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Canada compared to the same day last year. To compare, reservations only rose 14 per cent on Friday, March 7 year-over-year.
I’ve definitely contributed to that surge. Most of my weekly “fun money” disappears on Thursday nights during my post-work splurge at my local oyster spot, Island Oysters – $1.50 Malpeques (a Thursday special), prawn rolls and maybe a cocktail (or two).
Jason Kun, founder of Island Oysters in Toronto, says Thursdays are their busiest weeknight other than Friday, with reservations only about 25 per cent lower than Friday’s.
“By the Thursday afternoon people can see the finish line, slow their pace and raise their hands in the air as they celebrate the end of a work week,” Mr. Kun said in an e-mail.
In Danish, there’s even a phrase for this: “lille fredag,” which translates to “little Friday.” The idea? If you can’t wait for the weekend, just start it early.
Another popular after-work haunt in Toronto, King Taps, is also seeing bigger Thursday crowds, said Thomas Beetlestone, operations directors. The restaurant stays open an extra hour on the weekend, starting on Thursday, closing at 1 a.m. instead of midnight.
With warmer weather on the horizon, Thursdays are only going to get more dangerous for my wallet. It might be time to create a new line in my budget: lille fredag.