Polls show that over 93 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas each year; that’s a lot of prep and planning! During Christmas Eve, if you’re like most Americans, you still have a lot to do to make your holiday special. With shopping, preparation, and all the hoopla, often the last chore you may want to attend to is cooking (and the cleaning after!). So, can you order via Uber Eats on Christmas Eve?
You can order Uber Eats on Christmas Eve. However, during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day you can expect that your order will take a little bit more time to arrive than usual. This is because the demand for delivery often exceeds the supply of Uber drivers.

In this article, I will discuss more on using Uber Eats during Christmas Eve and much more. Let’s dive in!
Is Uber Eats Open on Christmas Eve and Day?
Even though Christmas Day is a holiday for most Americans, including government employees, many still must work on Christmas Eve (the day before). If you work Christmas Eve and get home late, the last chore you will want is making dinner, or cleaning dishes afterwards! But even if you have time off, you’re likely prepping in other ways. Ordering food to be delivered to your home is a popular alternative.
You can order from Uber Eats on Christmas Eve, and even Christmas Day, in most places. However, be prepared for limited options for food (since most restaurants will close early on Christmas Eve and close completely on Christmas Day). Also there will be less Uber drivers so delivery will take longer.
Besides being too busy to make dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, some people prefer to lazy around and not spend it cooking and cleaning. Unless you happen to enjoy cooking big dinners or look forward to homecooked holiday meals as a tradition, it’s worthwhile for many to order food for the holidays.
But the main issue that may eat up your head is how this food will reach you? Since Christmas Eve and Day is a holiday for many, you expect that even the eateries and delivery guys are off not working, right? So is the case with major companies and suppliers such as Uber Eats?
The good news is that Uber Eats is always open and ready to take your orders during Christmas Eve and on Christmas day. Uber Eats is always in operation whether it is a holiday or not. This may seem meanspirited, but for some, it works out.
Normally Uber Eats gives you many unique options of foods and restaurants from where you can order, so that you can go all out on this. I’ve even heard of people having ice cream delivered!
But, this is only on their regular days. Keep in mind that even though they deliver on Christmas Eve and Day, the number of food options you can purchase are few.
This is easily explained- it’s based on the restaurant schedule. Most restaurants will be operating normally on Christmas Eve during the day. Some may even have more offerings due to the holiday.
But, most restaurants will indeed close early on Christmas Eve. This is so workers can enjoy family time on the holiday.
However, even those restaurants are likely to close on Christmas Day. There will of course be some that open with a special holiday menu. You would still be able to get Uber Eats from those. But check ahead of time if it’s something particular you’d want to plan for for Christmas to ensure you get what you want. You may in fact have to order in advance, even if you use Uber Eats!
Then there are the restaurants that close altogether.
So while Uber Eats will deliver food, the options will be greatly reduced. To know exactly what’s available you should look in your local area because this will vary from place to place. One thing that usually is certain is that Chinese food will be available on Christmas Day.
So when ordering Uber Eats on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day don’t blame Uber Eats for the limited restaurant options, or your Uber Eats driver.
Another issue though, that is more of an Uber Eats problem, that you’ll face on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is the long wait time to get your food. Sure, the few restaurants available may take longer to prepare the food because they have less employees working, but the real issue with wait will be with the limited supply of Uber Eats drivers on these days.
If you are going to make an order on either of these days, then you can go ahead and do it early if possible. This way you can reserve your driver in advance! Uber drivers have the option to select the jobs they want, so you’ll be enticing for anyone planning to work on the holiday, especially if you have a good order!
But you should expect that the number of riders during this day will be few. Most drivers, just like every other American, will be planning their holiday so many will skip working these days. Others may choose to work minimal schedules, so that impacts availability too.
Not to mention, wait time could be affected by holiday traffic-especially on Christmas Eve as more people are out and about.
Even with the number of riders and restaurants being small, it is still great to know that you can make an order during Christmas Eve and Day and have it delivered right to your doorstep! So do not starve yourself on such a day. You can get your favorites from places such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Dunkin and much more, providing they’re open!
If you enjoy this article, I suggest reading these articles next:
- What About Uber on Christmas Day? Open, Expensive, Busy
- Is DoorDash Busy on Easter? (Answered)
- When Does Eggnog Come Out In Stores And Restaurants?
Is Uber Eats Busy on Christmas Eve?

During Christmas Eve, Uber Eats is typically busy, though it varies location to location. Most restaurants are open this day and many people will want delivery. As Christmas Day dinner prep takes holiday precedence, many opt for restaurant food deliveries on Christmas Eve for ease.
However, just like with Christmas Day, Uber Eats will have less drivers than normal so that makes it busy too.
But because more people are at home and enjoying the holiday together, it naturally means that the number of orders may be relatively higher than usual. For this reason, you can expect that Uber Eats will be busy. So it is upon you to determine the best time to make your order.
On regular days, it usually gets busy, mainly from 11 Am to 2 Pm when people are making their lunchtime orders. Consequently, it will get busy from 5 Pm to around 9.30 Pm as people get their dinner orders. On Christmas Eve, it is most likely that people will make more dinner orders.
Therefore, you can be sure that at about 5 Pm onwards, there may be a delay in getting your orders. Also, it may be the closing hours for most riders and restaurants as they also head out to celebrate their Christmas Eve with families. So, the orders may delay significantly.
If you plan to make an order on Christmas Eve, then ensure you do it early enough. It is a busy time for delivery people who will be handling many orders simultaneously mainly because there may not be enough riders working on this day since it is a holiday. By ordering early enough, you get a reasonable amount of time for your order to reach you.
Is Uber Eats Busy on Christmas Day?
Uber Eats can be just as busy on Christmas Day if not busier! Though most people cook their holiday feast at home, some prefer to order, even if it is just a drink or dessert to complete the meal. Then, there are the ones who don’t celebrate Christmas and order food! With limited drivers, Christmas is indeed busy for Uber Eats in most places!
To sum it up, Uber Eats is busy on Christmas because:
- There are less drivers on Christmas for Uber Eats available, making it extra busy for those working.
- Most restaurants are closed on Christmas, so the few open ones will often be quite busy.
- Open restaurants have fewer options and workers, affecting prep and wait time.
- Traffic and weather can slow drivers down affecting the schedule.
Also, the whole day can be a busy day during Christmas Day. Once people see that Uber Eats is available, they often start ordering early, too! Large groups are home and enjoying company, so many prefer to order breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as in between!
So, just as you did on Christmas Eve, make your order for Christmas Day early enough to allow enough time for processing and delivering. Also, take note of the restaurants that will be open during this day in advance if possible. It will save you the hassle of hopping from one restaurant to another, looking for what you can order.
Wrapping Up Ordering Uber Eats Christmas Eve?
Despite Christmas Day and Eve being holidays, you can get your favorite food right at your doorstep from Uber Eats. Even though these two days are busy, you can still get your order on time or in a timely manner if you order early enough, too.
And thanks to the many orders, if you are a rider/driver for Uber Eats, it is a good time to maximize your earnings even if you work just part of the holiday.
To read next, I recommend these articles:
- What About Uber on Christmas Day? Open, Expensive, Busy
- Is DoorDash Busy on Easter? (Answered)
- When Does Eggnog Come Out In Stores And Restaurants?
Sources: Business Insider; Thrillist.Com