The number of guests served in a given period — one cover equals one diner, not one table or one check.
Covers
The number of guests served in a given period — one cover equals one diner, not one table or one check.
A cover is a single guest served. A four-top that orders together is four covers on one check, not one. Covers are the standard unit for measuring how busy a restaurant is because they track people through seats, independent of party size or check structure.
Operators use covers to staff shifts, size prep, and judge demand by daypart.
- Covers per hour / per shift drives server and kitchen staffing decisions.
- Sales per cover (average spend per guest) is a cleaner productivity measure than sales per table.
Reservation and table-management systems such as OpenTable, Resy, and SevenRooms report covers by service so operators can forecast staffing and compare nights on equal footing.