Covers
A cover is one guest served — not one table, not one check. It's the denominator for average check, labour per cover, and cost per cover, which makes a consistent definition more important than the number itself.
Define it once and never change it
- Takeaway and delivery orders — count as covers or not? Either is defensible; switching mid-year makes your history useless.
- Bar guests who only drink — usually counted, since they consume service labour.
- Children — full covers for capacity and labour planning; they distort average check either way.
The per-cover metrics are where the value is. Sales per cover is average check. Labour dollars per cover is a cleaner productivity read than labour percentage, because it doesn't move when you change prices. Food cost per cover catches portioning drift that percentages hide.
Worked example · Why labour per cover beats labour percentage
- Before a 6% menu price increase — labour $12,400, 1,480 covers, sales $56,240
- 22.0% · $8.38/cover
- After — labour $12,400, 1,480 covers, sales $59,614
- 20.8% · $8.38/cover
- Productivity change
- none
The percentage improved 1.2 points and nothing about the kitchen changed. Per-cover cost is immune to that illusion.
Run the numbers
Break-even calculator
The guide that works it through
The Restaurant P&L, Line by Line (For Owner-Operators)
A restaurant profit and loss statement explained line by line: a worked month, what each line includes, the owner pay, interest and depreciation below it, and the national medians to read it against.
Related terms
Average check
Total sales divided by covers — the single most leveraged number in a restaurant's revenue line.
Seat turnover
How many times a seat is occupied by a new party during a service period.
RevPASH
Revenue per available seat-hour — the metric that combines how full you are with how much each guest spends.
Break-even point
The sales volume at which total revenue exactly covers total cost — the number below which you are paying to open.
Labor cost percentage
Total labour cost divided by sales — the other half of prime cost, and the half that's usually larger.