Your service
Only the part you could fill with tables; leave out the bar, aisles you must keep, and service stations.
The stretch in which people arrive, such as 3 for a Friday dinner rush.
Walk-ins plus reservations, including those you turn away. Count the door, not just the seated.
0 means anyone who cannot be seated at once leaves.
If yes, a party can take any two free tables whose seats add up to enough.
Food and drink, before tax and tip.
What is left of a sale after food, drink and variable labor. Optional.
Used to turn a night into a month.
Table types (up to 6)
Footprint is the floor each table really takes: the table, the chairs pulled out, and its share of walking room. Put today's count in "Have now" (0 if you would start fresh). "Most" caps how many of that type you would ever use, such as 1 for the one big round.
| # | Name | Seats | Sq ft each | Have now | Most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||||
| 2 | |||||
| 3 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 5 | |||||
| 6 |
Who comes in
Share is any scale (counts or percentages); it is normalised. Stay is the average minutes from seating to leaving. Use a week of reservation or POS cover counts if you have them.
| Party | Share | Stay (min) |
|---|---|---|
| Party of 1 | ||
| Party of 2 | ||
| Party of 3 | ||
| Party of 4 | ||
| Party of 5 | ||
| Party of 6 | ||
| Party of 7 | ||
| Party of 8 |
Takes about a second. The same figures always give the same answer.
Result
Questions restaurant owners ask
How many 2-tops and 4-tops should a restaurant have?
It depends on the sizes of the parties that actually come, how long each size stays, and how much floor you have. Enter your floor area, each table type's seats and footprint, and your party-size mix. The tool runs hundreds of simulated services, seating each party at the smallest free table (or two pushed together), and searches for the mix that seats the most guests in the floor you have.
Why does a room full of four-tops lose guests?
A couple at a four-top wastes two seats for the whole meal. If most of your parties are twos, those seats are empty while a pair waits at the door. Swapping some four-tops for two-tops (which take less floor) often seats more guests; the tool measures how many more on identical simulated nights.
How accurate is the result?
It is a simulation of one busy service from the figures you type, not a forecast. Parties arrive at random at the average rate you enter, stay for a random time around the average, and leave if the wait passes your tolerance. The gain is shown with its standard error so you can see whether it is clearly more than noise. Check the party mix against a week of your own reservation or POS data.
Does it design the floor plan?
No. It chooses how many of each table type, using the square footage you give each. Aisles, ADA clearances, exits, fire-code occupancy, service stations and the bar are yours to decide and to check with your local authority.
Is my data uploaded?
No. It runs in your browser; nothing you type leaves your device.
Not decided
Where tables go, aisle widths, accessible seating, exits and occupancy limits under your local fire and building codes, the bar and booths, table and chair cost, reservations versus walk-ins policy, check size by party size, and seasonal or day-of-week swings. The simulation uses one average busy service and one stay length per party size, with random variation around both, and seats parties first-come among those who fit. Real guests linger, split, and arrive in waves.
Related tools: the restaurant labor cost by daypart analyzer, the menu engineering calculator and the shift-cover optimizer.