One guest served, counted per person rather than per party, mainly in restaurants. A party of four is four covers; covers per service or per day is the standard measure of how busy a dining room was.
See also: Party size, Covers per hour, Table turn
Cover
One guest served, counted per person rather than per party, mainly in restaurants. A party of four is four covers; covers per service or per day is the standard measure of how busy a dining room was.
Nov 8, 2026
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Quoted wait
The wait time a business tells a party when they join a queue, given in minutes or as a time of day. It sets the party's expectation, and comparing it with the actual wait shows how accurate the quoting is.
Actual wait
The time that really passes between a party joining a queue and being called or seated. It is measured from the queue entry's join time to its called or seated time, and is the figure the quoted wait is judged against.
Wait accuracy
How closely actual waits match quoted waits, usually given as the share of parties called within a few minutes of their quote, or as the average gap between quote and actual. Parties forgive a long wait more readily than a wrong one.
Throughput
The number of parties a business serves in a stretch of time, such as parties per hour. Throughput is limited by the slowest step in service, and rises when turn time falls or more stations work in parallel.
Table turn
One full use of a table, from seating a party to the table being cleared and ready for the next one. Table turnover is how many turns a table makes in a service period; more turns at the same check size means more covers and revenue.