Burns Night Menu Ideas for Pubs: Supper, Running Order and Promotion

Burns Night is the first reason of the new year to book a table. In 2027 it falls on Monday 25 January, in what is, for most pubs, one of the quietest weeks of the year, and it arrives with its format already written: one supper, one sitting, a running order everybody half-knows and several good reasons to raise a glass.

You do not need to be a Scottish pub, or to know a piper. You need a short menu that guests order in advance, a running order your team can follow, and bookings in the diary before the first week of January is out. This guide covers all three, with the Burns Night menu ideas, the running order and the promotion plan that make it work in a pub.

Burns Night 2027 at a glance

Why Burns Night works in a pub

• It fills a Monday in late January. Few nights are harder to sell, and Burns Night gives people a reason to come out.
• The kitchen knows its numbers. One menu, one sitting and every dish ordered in advance means you buy exactly what you need and plate it in waves.
• It sells an occasion, not a discount. People pay for the night: the food, the ritual and the company. Nobody is waiting for a voucher.
• Guests take part. Standing for the haggis, raising a glass and singing Auld Lang Syne together is what people remember and tell their friends about.

Burns Night menu ideas: the Burns supper menu

Keep it to three courses, one dish at each, plus a vegetarian haggis. Every extra choice is another line on the pre-order form and another thing to go wrong on the pass.

The traditional Burns supper menu

• To start: cock-a-leekie, a chicken and leek soup traditionally made with prunes, or Cullen skink, a soup of smoked haddock, potato and onion made with milk.
• The main event: haggis, neeps and tatties. That is haggis with mashed swede and mashed potato, served with a whisky sauce or a rich gravy.
• Pudding: cranachan, which is raspberries, whipped cream, honey, toasted oats and a little whisky. A clootie dumpling, a spiced fruit pudding, with custard is the heartier alternative.
• To finish: Scottish cheeses with oatcakes, as a fourth course or a board for each table.

A vegetarian haggis, as an equal choice

Vegetarian haggis is widely available from suppliers and butchers. Put it on the pre-order form as an equal choice, not as an afterthought, because a guest who cannot eat the main event is a guest who does not book. Ask your supplier whether yours is also vegan, and if it is, plan a vegan soup and pudding so the whole table can eat the same menu.

Modern twists that still feel like Burns Night

• Haggis bonbons with a whisky mayonnaise, as a starter or a bar snack for the people who came for a pint.
• Chicken Balmoral, a chicken breast stuffed with haggis and wrapped in bacon, for guests who are unsure about a whole plate of haggis.
• A haggis, neeps and tatties stack with a whisky and peppercorn sauce, for a plate that photographs well.
• Scottish salmon or venison as a premium main, priced above the set menu.
• Cranachan cheesecake, which keeps the flavours and travels from the kitchen in one piece.

Allergens: from the supplier, never assumed

Haggis recipes vary, so never assume what is in one. Most are made with oatmeal, and oats count as a cereal containing gluten, one of the 14 allergens every food business must manage. A vegetarian haggis may bring pulses, seeds or nuts. Cullen skink adds fish and milk, cranachan adds milk and oats, and a whisky sauce usually adds cream.

Take every component's allergens from your supplier's specification, put them on your allergen chart, and collect guests' dietary needs on the pre-order form rather than at the table. Giving accurate allergen information is a legal requirement (GOV.UK), and a set menu is the easiest time of the year to get it right.

The Burns Night running order

A Burns supper has a running order, and following it is most of the fun. Print it on the tables so guests know what is coming, and brief the team on the three moments that matter: the haggis coming in, the Address, and Auld Lang Syne.

Here is a running order for a pub supper. The times are an example; set your own around the kitchen.

The reader cuts the haggis open part way through the Address, so make sure the knife is sharp and the haggis is hot. Tell the kitchen the exact time the haggis goes out, because the main course has to follow it within minutes.

Who gives the speeches

• A regular with a gift for it. Ask a week or two ahead and give them the slot and the length: five minutes for the Immortal Memory is plenty in a pub.
• A local Burns club or Scottish society. Many towns have one, and they may be able to suggest a speaker, a reader for the Address or a piper.
• You or one of the team. The Address can be read from a card with gusto. Nobody expects a performance; they expect enthusiasm.

The piper

Pipers are busy on 25 January, so book one in December, agree the times and where they will stand, and check what is included. If you cannot get a piper, a recording of the pipes for the haggis entrance works well. Check that your music licence covers recorded music at a ticketed event; our guide to PRS and PPL music licensing explains the licence.

How to host a Burns Night in your pub

The format that works is one sitting, one price, pre-ordered.

• One sitting. Everybody sits down together, because the running order only works as a room. Seat guests at 7.30pm and plan to finish by 10.30pm.
• One price. A set price per head for the supper, with no vouchers and no discounts. Cost the menu before you set it, as our guide to profitable pub food menus explains.
• Pre-ordered. Take each guest's choices, dietary needs and allergies when they book, with a deadline a week before. The kitchen orders exactly what it needs and nothing goes to waste.
• Paid up front. Take a deposit or full payment when people book. A Monday table that does not turn up is a table you could have sold.
• Capped. Set the number by what the kitchen can plate at once for the haggis course, not by the number of chairs.
• Seats as well as tables. Sell single seats at long, shared tables as well as tables for groups. That is how a Burns supper is meant to feel, and it lets couples and people on their own book too.

Send a confirmation when people book and a reminder a few days before. Confirmations and reminders were part of how we cut booking no-shows by 89% at The Anchor, our own venue, and a set-menu night is where every empty seat costs most.

Drinks for a Burns supper

• Whisky. A dram for the toast to the haggis, and a flight for anyone who wants more: three Scotch whiskies from different regions, such as a Lowland, a Speyside and an Islay. By law, gin, rum, vodka and whisky sold by the glass come in 25ml or 35ml measures, or multiples of them, and not both in the same pub (GOV.UK), so build the flight in your house measure.
• Beer. A Scottish ale on the bar, if your range allows it, and a pint to go with the main course.
• Alcohol-free. Burns Night falls in the last week of Dry January, so give non-drinkers a proper toast: an alcohol-free spirit, a good alcohol-free beer or a Scottish soft drink. Our guide to low and no drinks covers the range to stock.

Before you include a drink in the ticket, check your licence. In Scotland, drinks promotions are tightly controlled: free or cheaper drinks when someone buys a drink, unlimited drinks for a fixed charge and alcohol as a prize are all banned, and once you change a drink's price it must stay the same for at least 72 hours (Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, Schedule 3). Ask your licensing standards officer about any package that includes alcohol. In England and Wales, the mandatory licence conditions ban irresponsible promotions such as drinking games.

Promotion: when to post what

Burns Night is the first event after Christmas, so the selling starts before Christmas does.

1. December. Put Burns Night on the table cards at your Christmas parties and on the bar, and open bookings with the menu and the price. The people booking a January night out are in your pub in December.
2. The week of 4 January. The announcement: the menu, the price, the piper, one sitting, and "pre-orders close on Monday 18 January". Email the guests who have asked to hear from you.
3. The week of 11 January. The build-up: a photo of the haggis, the running order and who is giving the Address. Remind people of the pre-order deadline.
4. Monday 18 January. Last call. Pre-orders close, and any seats left go to the walk-in list.
5. The night. A short video of the haggis being piped in. Ask before you post anyone's face.
6. Tuesday 26 January. A thank-you post with the photos and the next date on your calendar: the Six Nations opener, Ireland v England, on Friday 5 February at 8.10pm, or Valentine's Day on Sunday 14 February.

Our guide to planning your spring with AI has copy-and-paste prompts that write these posts and the poster for you.

Your Burns Night checklist

1. Book the piper, or choose the recording, in December.
2. Fix the menu, cost it and set the price.
3. Get the allergen specifications from your suppliers for the haggis and every other component.
4. Open bookings with a deposit and a pre-order form, with the deadline on it.
5. Line up the Address, the Immortal Memory and the two toasts.
6. Print the running order and the Selkirk Grace for the tables.
7. Brief the team on the timings: the haggis entrance, the Address and Auld Lang Syne.
8. Order the whisky, the beer and the alcohol-free options for the toast.

Burns Night opens the season. The rest of it, from Valentine's Day and Mother's Day to St Patrick's Day and Easter, is in our Spring Pub Playbook.

When you are ready for more

Everything in this guide works on its own, and you can run all of it yourself.

When you are ready for change, and want every event to sell itself, with bookings that confirm and remind themselves and figures that show what each night earned, that is what Orange Jelly builds. If that is what you want for your pub, call me on 07990 587315 or email peter@orangejelly.co.uk.

Sources

• Running a food business: allergies (GOV.UK)
• Weights and measures: specified quantities (GOV.UK)
• Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, Schedule 3 (legislation.gov.uk)
• The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) (Amendment) Order 2014 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Men's Six Nations 2027 fixtures (Six Nations Rugby)

Sources checked on 19 October 2026.