Work out restaurant seat utilisation instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.
Seat utilisation measures occupied seat minutes against available seat minutes. Table mix efficiency explains much of any shortfall: a room set mainly in fours serving an average party of 2.6 can only ever fill about 65% of its seats, before any question of demand arises.
Available seat minutes
Available = Seats x Service hours x 60
Seat utilisation
Utilisation % = Occupied seat minutes / Available seat minutes x 100
Table mix efficiency
Efficiency % = min(100, Average party size / 4 seats x 100)
65-80% during a busy service is strong. Above 85% usually means guests are being rushed or queueing outside.
A room set mainly in fours serving mainly parties of two loses a quarter of its seat capacity before service even begins.