10 Unique & Fun Company Lunch Event Ideas to Treat Your Employees
You may not think of lunch as the most important meal of the day. But in the corporate world, sharing an offsite lunch with your employees can be a great way to build your camaraderie and offer everyone a much-needed mental health break.
Below, discover 10 unique company lunch ideas for staff appreciation, courtesy of a Rhode Island corporate event venue.
Why Company Lunch Events Are Great Events for Employees
Your team works hard all year long to help your company succeed. So, they deserve the chance to play hard every now and then, too!
Hosting a recurring lunch every month, or even every quarter, will give your team something special to look forward to at work. Office lunch parties give them a chance to brainstorm or work in a new environment, try team-building activities, or just socialize without the formalities of the office.
10 Company Lunch Ideas for Staff Appreciation
If you want to make your employee lunches feel more special than just ordering in, use these 10 unique company event ideas for employees as inspiration.
Go Offsite
If you want a lunch to feel truly special, your company conference room can only take you so far. An offsite trip isn’t just a pleasant excuse to get out of the office for an afternoon. It lets your team take in new scenery, enjoy sunshine and fresh air, or just enjoy a mini vacation from the office.
Your venue doesn’t need to be a five-star restaurant to feel special. Locations like the park, a local restaurant, or even your country club can all offer a relaxing atmosphere to treat your employees.
Rotate Themed Lunches
To keep your lunches feeling fresh and interesting for your team, try choosing different themes for each event.
You could rotate by the cuisine style, like Chinese food one quarter and Mexican dishes the next, or choose different themed activities for each month. For example, a standing trivia lunch party with rotating topics.
Choosing a theme keeps your office lunch parties feeling distinct, with something new for your employees to look forward to every time they leave.
Department Appreciation Lunches
Instead of hosting a lunch for your entire office all at once, consider giving each department their own distinct “appreciation day” lunch.
For example, one month the marketing team gets their own offsite lunch, the sales team the next month, and customer service the week after.
For an added degree of personalization, involve each department in the planning process for their own lunch, like letting them vote on the food or themes.
Brainstorming Sessions
If you want to combine your lunches with productivity, consider combining your off-site events with brainstorming or idea-generation sessions.
The casual atmosphere of an off-site lunch can spark new ideas that can’t be replicated in a formal office setting. When your team gets relaxed and feels more casual, their creativity can flow more freely.
Friendly Competition
To make your lunch more active, try combining your food with a little friendly competition.
You could make the competition a work activity, like a hack-a-thon, or use it as an opportunity for team building with party games. Think strategy-based board games like Codenames, Catan, or Azul.
Have High Tea
If your office is full of employees obsessed with Bridgerton, try making your office lunch into a traditional English high tea session.
Tea and finger sandwiches can make your meal feel elevated, even without heavy or elaborate meals. It’s an office lunch party idea that’s especially appropriate for outdoor events in the spring or summer.
Breakfast for Lunch
Who says your office lunches have to serve standard lunch food?
With this company lunch idea, you’ll serve breakfast foods, like pancakes, quiches, or waffles. It might seem like a small change, but even just switching up the menu can make your lunch party feel more memorable to your employees.
Start a Book or Podcast Club
Make your lunches a chance for employees to bond by combining it with a book or podcast club.
Consuming the same piece of media means that everyone gets a fun activity to take home after work, and you’ll have a built-in conversation topic for your work lunches.
The ritual of being in a club also adds an extra layer of camaraderie, making this company lunch idea a great way to keep the benefits going even after the last plate is put away.
Lunch and Learn
This company lunch idea lets you learn something new with your team!
Invite an expert on your team, or someone off-staff to speak about a professional development topic. The topics could be anything from workplace wellness to time management. If you can’t choose a topic, try polling your employees on the topics that interest them the most.
Golf Outing Lunch
In the words of writer PG Wodehouse, “To find a man’s true character, play golf with him.”
Golfing outings don’t just give you a chance to understand the people on your team even better. They’re also an especially good company luncheon idea for executives or higher-level employees. They’re like a mini company retreat that gives you something to look forward to and work hard for.
Host Your Offsite Company Lunch with Kirkbrae
If you’re looking for the perfect offsite venue for corporate lunches, fundraisers, galas, and all of your most unique company lunch & event ideas, Kirkbrae Country Club has your back.
Located just outside of Providence, Rhode Island, our grounds make you feel like you’re on a company retreat, without straying too far from the city. We’re home to a championship golf course and an award-winning kitchen, and we have both indoor and outdoor event spaces that can host corporate events of any size or formality.
If you’re interested in hosting an upcoming event with us, contact us today to book one of our Rhode Island corporate event spaces.