Holiday Hours at 12 Hawks: What to Know Before You Go

Short answer: we're open on most holidays. We close for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Every other holiday on the calendar, including New Year's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day, we run our normal hours: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and happy hour from 2 to 4pm.

Holidays we're open

If you're planning a holiday meal out with the family or just want to catch a game, here's what to expect:

• New Year's Day (Jan 1): normal hours. Good spot for a late breakfast if you're recovering from New Year's Eve.

• Easter: normal hours, full menu available. No special holiday menu, just the regular lineup.

• Memorial Day: normal hours. This is often the first warm weekend of the year in Grant County, so expect a busier lunch crowd.

• July 4th: normal hours. We're usually full by dinner, so come early if you want a table before fireworks.

• Labor Day: normal hours. Last long weekend before school starts back up.

• New Year's Eve (Dec 31): normal hours. We don't do a special countdown event, just regular service through closing.

Holidays we're closed

Two days a year we close completely:

• Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November): closed all day.

• Christmas Day (Dec 25): closed all day.

These are the only two calendar holidays that shut us down. Everything else, we're serving.

When a holiday lands on a Tuesday

We're closed every Tuesday, holiday or not. If Memorial Day, Labor Day, or any other Monday holiday pushes into a Tuesday for you (long weekend trips, extra day off work), remember we still won't be open that Tuesday. This trips people up more than actual holidays do. We explain the full reasoning behind the Tuesday closure in this post on why we're closed Tuesdays, if you want the details.

Christmas Eve and Thanksgiving Eve

We stay open on both eve days, but hours can run shorter than usual depending on staffing and how quiet the dinner rush gets. If you're planning a group dinner the night before either holiday, call ahead to confirm we're not closing early. This matters more for Christmas Eve, since a lot of families want an early dinner before evening plans.

Big game holidays

Some of our busiest holiday-adjacent days aren't holidays at all. Super Bowl Sunday is the obvious one. We run normal hours but the place fills up fast, especially near kickoff. If you're trying to figure out where to watch NFL Sunday Ticket games locally, including playoff weekends and the Super Bowl, we cover screen setup and seating in our guide to watching NFL Sunday Ticket in Ephrata. Thanksgiving weekend football (Thursday games plus the Friday and Saturday slate) also draws a crowd, even though we're closed Thanksgiving Day itself.

What doesn't change on holidays

Happy hour still runs Monday through Friday, 2 to 4pm, on any weekday holiday we're open. If July 4th falls on a Thursday, for example, happy hour still happens that afternoon before the dinner rush hits. The full menu stays the same on holidays too. We don't do special holiday-only dishes, so if you're craving something specific, check the regular menu before you come in rather than expecting a seasonal one.

Planning ahead

A few practical notes if you're organizing a holiday outing:

• Call ahead for groups of six or more on any open holiday. Tables fill fast on Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day weekends.

• If a holiday falls near or on a Tuesday, double check our calendar before you drive over. We get calls every year from people surprised by the Tuesday closure landing on a long weekend.

• Christmas Eve and the day before Thanksgiving may close earlier than posted hours. This depends on how the night is going, so a quick call before you head out saves a wasted trip.

• Kids are welcome on every holiday we're open. The dining room stays casual and family-friendly, not just for holidays but year round.

For anyone new to Ephrata or just new to us, 12 Hawks runs a straightforward schedule most of the year, with the two exceptions above. If you want the bigger picture on who we are and what we serve, our About Us page has the background. Otherwise, the short version holds: open most holidays, closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, closed every Tuesday no matter what.