A distinctly Finnish quirk is that most restaurants are closed on the very day when, especially for families, there’s time to enjoy a relaxed meal out. The reason is that public holidays require legally mandated double pay, which makes opening a risky move for many restaurants; they’d need to be nearly full all day for it to make financial sense.
Another factor is that Sundays don’t bring in corporate guests. So Sunday – and often Monday too – becomes the most logical time to keep the doors shut and give staff a well-earned day off.
An exception to the rule is often restaurants where the owners are hands-on. Many of these stay open on Sundays. This also includes plenty of ethnic restaurants, such as Helsinki’s excellent noodle spots Top99 Meal, Noodle Master and Jumbowl Noodle.
Another exception is the city’s long-standing classics like Sea Horse (established 1933), Elite (1938), Kolme Kruunua (1952) and Restaurant Kuu (1966). And of course the oldest of them all, Kappeli, which first opened on Esplanadi back in 1867.
The likely reason is that these classics are where people tend to dine out with family (and they’re also popular with visitors). On weekdays and Saturdays, people are more likely to head to newer, trendier spots instead.