Eight thirty, and the bar is full of people waiting for tables
Friday. The book has a six o'clock sitting and an eight thirty sitting, with the booking system allowing two hours per table. At eight thirty, half the first sitting tables are on coffee, two are still on mains because the kitchen was slow at seven, and a four has just ordered another bottle. The second sitting arrives on time and stands at the bar.
When the tables do clear, every second sitting table sits down within fifteen minutes of each other, and the kitchen receives the entire room's orders at once.
Turn times are set once and never checked
The time allowed per table in your booking system is a setting someone chose, often when the restaurant opened. It is usually one number, or one per party size. Real dining times vary with the day, the party, the menu and the occasion, and nobody compares them with the setting.
- One turn time is used for all days and menus.
- Larger parties and celebrations stay longer, but the setting does not know.
- Kitchen pace on busy nights stretches the whole sitting.
- Actual seated and paid times are in the till and booking system, but not compared.
A worked example: your booking system allows the same time for a two and a four. Looking at the till, fours on Fridays and Saturdays consistently stay noticeably longer than twos, while on weekdays they are much closer. The setting is right for Tuesdays and wrong for the nights that matter most.
What bad turn times cost
Second sitting guests who wait at the bar start their evening annoyed, and some leave reviews about it. The kitchen gets a surge of orders at once, which slows the whole sitting and makes the next one worse. Front of house spends the evening apologising and moving tables.
The opposite happens too. If turn times are too generous on quiet nights, you may be turning away bookings you could have seated.
Staff feel the squeeze from both ends. Servers on first sitting feel they are hurrying guests who have every right to linger, and servers on second sitting start the night already behind. Neither is a good way to run a room, and both come from a setting nobody has looked at.
How we build turn times from your own data
- Seated times come from your booking system, and bill closed times from your till, for each table over past months.
- Actual dining times are worked out and grouped by party size, day, sitting and menu type, such as à la carte, set menu and tasting menu.
- A comparison shows the booking system's setting against what really happens for each group.
- Suggested turn times are proposed for each group, for you to choose and set in your booking system.
- Nights where first sitting overran are shown with the likely cause, such as a late kitchen, large parties or a late start.
- The analysis is rerun periodically, so settings keep pace with how guests actually dine.
| Group | Shows | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Party size | Real time for twos, fours, sixes | Per-size turn times |
| Day and sitting | Friday and Saturday against weeknights | Day-specific settings |
| Menu type | Set and tasting menus | Longer allowance where needed |
| Overrun nights | What happened | Kitchen and floor planning |
Your booking system holds the settings. We work out what they should be; you decide and set them, or we set them where the system's integration allows.
Sittings that hand over on time
Turn times reflect how your guests actually eat. Second sitting guests are seated when they arrive more often. The kitchen gets a steadier flow of orders because the room does not all sit down at once. Weeknight settings may free up extra bookings.
When something does go wrong on a particular night, you can see why, rather than blaming the book.
Signs your turn times need checking
- Second sitting guests regularly wait at the bar.
- Your booking system uses one turn time for everything.
- The kitchen gets hit with a whole sitting at once.
- Turn time settings have not changed since opening.
- You are unsure whether you could fit more bookings on weeknights.