Glossary
Covers
A cover is a single guest served during a meal period, the basic unit restaurants use to count volume.
How covers are used
Each guest seated and served counts as one cover, regardless of how much they order. Covers measure throughput the way table count cannot, since a four-top and a two-top are very different loads on the kitchen.
Covers feed nearly every operating metric: average check is sales divided by covers, and labor and prep are forecast against expected covers per shift.
- One guest equals one cover
- Average check equals total sales divided by covers
- Forecast covers per shift to schedule labor and prep
Example
A dining room turns 60 seats twice on a Friday night for 120 covers. With $7,200 in sales, the average check works out to $60 per cover.
See also
Related
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