It's true: Chinese food is really popular on Christmas
Planning to order Chinese food this Christmas? You're not the only one.
Chinese food was ordered 153 percent more around the country on Christmas Day last year than on an average Friday, according to Grubhub. (Christmas fell on a Friday last year.)
The cuisine's popularity on Dec. 25 has its roots in the fact that those who don't celebrate Christmas had few dining options.
"Typically, there are limited locations opened, especially in areas where foot traffic is low during the day (malls, shopping centers, etc.), but there will be some Panda Express stores open for dining," Thien Ho, director of corporate communications at Panda Restaurant Group, told CNBC. "However, in terms of our more traditional style restaurant, Panda Inn, the sales and traffic are very high on Christmas."
GrubHub said three of the five most popular cuisines ordered on Christmas were Chinese food, including No. 1 Szechuan and No. 3 Cantonese. (Second was "Chinese" and Japanese and Indian rounded out the top five.)
Dishes like vegetable chow mein, moo shu chicken and spring rolls are the most ordered dishes last Dec. 25, with vegetable chow mein being ordered 389 percent more on Christmas than a typical Friday in 2015.
In fact, the top 20 most popular dishes on Christmas last year were all Asian cuisine. Here's how the dishes stacked up: