What is covers per hour? Definition for restaurants

Covers per hour measures how many guests a restaurant serves during each hour of operation. For restaurants, this throughput metric reveals service capacity utilization and helps optimize staffing, kitchen prep, and reservation pacing. A restaurant serving 25 covers per hour during dinner knows exactly what staff levels and prep volumes that demand requires.

Key facts

• Definition: Total guests served divided by hours of operation
• Formula: Covers per Hour = Total Covers / Hours Open
• Good benchmark: Fine dining 5-10, casual dining 15-30, fast casual 40-80
• Why it matters: Drives staffing decisions, kitchen prep, and capacity planning

The quick definition

Covers per hour measures your restaurant’s service throughput by dividing total guests served by the hours you operated. This metric helps you understand how efficiently your restaurant processes guest volume during different times.

Covers per Hour = Total Covers / Hours Open

Example: A restaurant serves 150 covers during a 5-hour dinner service. Covers per Hour = 150 / 5 = 30 covers per hour

Why covers per hour matters

Staffing decisions

Covers per hour directly determines labor needs:

Knowing your hourly patterns prevents overstaffing slow periods and understaffing peaks.

Kitchen throughput

Covers per hour tells the kitchen what to expect:

Revenue forecasting

Combine covers per hour with average check for hourly revenue projections:

Hourly Revenue = Covers per Hour x Average Check

Example: 30 covers per hour x $45 average check = $1,350 hourly revenue

How to calculate covers per hour

Basic calculation

Covers per Hour = Total Covers / Hours Open

Example calculation:

• Lunch service: 11am-2pm (3 hours)
• Total lunch covers: 75
• Covers per hour: 75 / 3 = 25

Hourly breakdown

For more useful data, track each hour separately:

This reveals your actual demand curve.

By service period

Calculate separately for lunch and dinner:

Different periods have different patterns and staffing needs.

What is a good covers per hour rate?

Benchmarks by restaurant type

Factors affecting your target

Calculating your maximum

Maximum Covers per Hour = Seats x (60 / Average Dining Time)

Example:

• 50 seats
• 60-minute average dining time
• Maximum: 50 x (60/60) = 50 covers per hour

In practice, you will rarely hit theoretical maximum due to table gaps, party size mismatches, and service flow.

How to improve your covers per hour

1. Reduce time between seatings

Dead time between guests is lost capacity:

2. Speed up payment processing

Payment is often the biggest bottleneck:

Cutting 5 minutes from payment across 30 tables saves 150 minutes of table time nightly.

3. Optimize table assignments

Match parties to tables efficiently:

• Track party size distribution
• Configure seating to match demand
• Avoid seating 2 guests at 4-tops during peak
• Use bar seating for small parties

4. Improve kitchen throughput

Kitchen speed affects how fast you can turn tables:

5. Manage reservation pacing

Smooth arrival patterns improve throughput:

Covers per hour versus other metrics

Compared to table turnover

A large-table restaurant might have high covers per hour but low turnover.

Compared to RevPASH

RevPASH adds check average to the equation, giving a fuller picture.

Using them together

Tracking covers per hour

Daily tracking template

Weekly analysis

Compare same hours across days:

Related terms

• Cover - The individual guest unit that covers per hour counts
• RevPASH - Revenue per available seat hour, adds financial dimension
• Table turnover rate - How often tables are reused, a related efficiency metric

Related: Capacity planning | How to optimize staffing