We have this habit (maybe custom is a better term) to meet outside for brunch or lunch depending on the occasion. But sometimes there is no occasion but my husband would ask me to call up my sister and brother for lunch in a restaurant with their families. It is our way of bonding so the kids will have closer ties like what he had when we were young. It's quite expensive though but we have no other choice. Some years ago, we always do that bonding session here at home but our place is now problematic with the heavy traffic so we are hesitant to invite people to our house. And for the restaurant, we can choose one that is in the between our locations so the travel is not that distant.
When Pip was still in high school with those worries, and uncertainties. I'd tell him, "Can't think on an empty stomach, lets eat out." It was always at Rib City our favorite water hole. The world seemed better, after a nice dinner. We had those get-to-gethers at restaurants when our family was bigger and back in Ohio. The two grandmothers loved that. And chime, "Dinner...Is a Reservation." Each family paid for their own, and we chipped in for the old timers and grandmothers.