I actually hate to post this here- for fear that our reservations may become harder to get- but here goes anyway!
I know it sounds like an odd choice at first, but one of our all time favorite Christmas-y restaurants is the Biergarten in Germany! The restaurant has a nice ambiance anytime of year in my opinion, but especially so during the holiday season with dim lighting, a beautifully decorated tree in front of the stage, lots of green garland and Christmas lights draped all around.
But the BEST part is the special Christmas performance!!! It's wonderful, and really puts us "in the mood" with Christmas songs, stories about the origins of Christmas traditions, a special performance on old-fashioned hand bells, young children dancing and little gold coin Christmas treats for the children! It's our traditional first night meal every December!
OH! And just in case you're worried about "that type of food".....we have an extended family that runs the gamut from "adventurous voyour eaters" to the "ultra picky- I only eat X,Y,Z" types and then the "meat and potatoes only" type eaters and amazingly this restaurant does a good job of pleasing ALL our palates! Many of the items that "sound weird" AREN'T in actuality.