Two sittings on a Friday: worth the risk?

Every Friday, the same thing happens. The phone rings all week with requests for eight o'clock, the diary fills by Wednesday, and on the night every table is taken from half past seven until eleven. The early tables sit empty until seven, the late ones turn once, and dozens of guests who wanted to come are told there is nothing left.

Two sittings are the classic answer: a first sitting at six, a second at half past eight, each table sold twice in the evening. Done well, they add a whole extra service of covers to the busiest night of the week. Done badly, they rush the first sitting out of the door and leave the second waiting at the bar, and both groups go home less happy than they came.

This guide covers what two sittings involve, the arithmetic behind them, the turn times they depend on, how to set booking slots and pace the kitchen, how to keep the first sitting on time without hurrying anyone and how to tell whether the change was worth it. Every venue and figure in it is an example.

Two sittings mean selling each table twice in an evening at fixed times: a first sitting that starts early and must finish by a set time, and a second that starts when the first has gone. A typical pattern is a first sitting from six until a quarter past eight and a second from half past eight.

It differs from the usual way of booking, where tables are offered at any time through the evening and turn when they turn. Two sittings fix the times, so the room is planned around two waves of guests rather than a steady flow.

Venues try two sittings because demand on their busiest night is far greater than the room can serve in one wave. If a room seats sixty and turns most tables once on a Friday, it may serve around seventy covers. Two full sittings could serve closer to a hundred from the same room.

The extra covers come at the moment when the venue is already open, staffed and stocked for a busy night. Much of the revenue from the second sitting adds directly to the week's result, which is why the idea is so tempting.

The risk is that the plan meets real guests. A first sitting that runs over pushes the second sitting late, and a late second sitting means waiting guests, a stretched kitchen and a room that runs behind all night. Guests who feel hurried out, or kept waiting, may not come back.

The risk is greatest when turn times are not known, when the gap between sittings is too short and when guests are not told about the timing when they book. Each of these can be managed, and the rest of this guide covers how.

The relationship between how long guests stay and how many a room can serve is a form of Little's law: the number of guests in the room equals the rate at which they arrive multiplied by how long each stays. Shorten the stay, or plan it more precisely, and the same room can serve more guests in an evening.

In practice, compare the two plans with your own figures. If most tables turn once on a Friday, with a few turning twice, and two sittings would fill most tables twice, the gain may be thirty or forty covers. If tables already turn twice through the evening, the gain from fixing the times is much smaller.

Turn times, how long a party typically uses a table, decide whether two sittings will work. If a party of two usually takes an hour and three quarters and a party of four two hours and a quarter, a first sitting of two hours and a quarter fits most parties. If a four usually takes three hours, it does not.

Know your turn times by party size and by night before planning sittings, not from memory but from what the diary shows. Our guide to turn times: the number every booking rule needs covers how to measure them.

Measure turn times from when the party sits down to when the table is free, on the nights you plan to run sittings. Friday guests often stay longer than midweek guests, and celebrations stay longest of all, so a midweek average can mislead.

A few weeks of notes, kept by the host with the time each party sat and left, is enough to see the pattern. Look at the typical time for each party size, and at how many parties take much longer, because those are the ones that would delay a second sitting.

The gap between the end of the first sitting and the start of the second is where most plans fail. The table needs clearing, wiping, relaying and sometimes rearranging, and the first party may linger over coffee for ten minutes after the bill is paid.

Plan a gap of at least fifteen minutes, and longer for larger tables or a busy room. A first sitting that ends at a quarter past eight and a second that begins at half past gives the team time to reset without the second sitting standing at an unready table.

The first sitting needs to start early enough to give guests a full meal before the table is needed, but late enough that guests want to book it. Six, or half past five, suits families, theatre-goers and early eaters; earlier starts are harder to fill.

The second sitting needs to start early enough for a relaxed meal and late enough to follow the first. Half past eight or a quarter to nine is common. If the second sitting starts too late, it may struggle to fill, and the kitchen faces a long night.

With two sittings, booking slots become tighter. The simplest approach offers two times only: one for each sitting. Every guest arrives at the same moment, which is easy to explain and hard on the kitchen.

A softer approach offers a few booking slots within each sitting, such as six, a quarter past and half past for the first, with each sitting's end time adjusted for the start. It spreads arrivals so the kitchen and the floor are not hit by every table at once, while keeping the shape of two waves.

Pacing covers means spreading arrivals and orders so the kitchen receives a steady flow rather than a flood. Two sittings concentrate demand, so pacing matters more than ever: sixty guests ordering at five past six will overwhelm almost any kitchen.

Stagger the start times within each sitting, offer fewer booking slots at the busiest moment and seat larger parties at different times from each other. Our guide to pacing covers so the kitchen never drowns covers how to set the pace for a service.

Guests accept two sittings much more readily when they know about them at the time of booking. Say clearly that the first sitting's table is needed back at a quarter past eight, on the booking page, in the confirmation and on the phone.

A guest who chose the first sitting knowing its end time plans around it. A guest who discovers it at dessert feels rushed, however politely it is mentioned. The difference is entirely in when they were told.

A reminder sent a day or a few hours before the booking can mention the timing again, gently: "Your table is booked from six until a quarter past eight." It reminds the guest, and it gives anyone who needs longer a chance to move to the second sitting.

Keep the wording friendly. The aim is to help guests plan their evening, not to warn them. A guest who feels welcomed and informed is far more likely to keep to the time than one who feels policed.

The first sitting suits guests who want to eat early: families, guests going on to a show, those who prefer an early night. Many are happy with the timing, because it is what they wanted anyway.

Run the first sitting with a steady rhythm. Greet guests quickly, take orders without delay, fire courses in good time and offer dessert and coffee early enough that nobody feels hurried at the end. The bill should be ready before it is asked for, without being placed on the table uninvited.

The second sitting must start on time. Guests who arrive at half past eight expect to sit at half past eight, and a wait at the bar of ten minutes is tolerated, while thirty is not.

The second sitting is usually more relaxed, because nobody needs the table afterwards. Let guests stay as long as they like, within the venue's closing time, and give them the same care the first sitting received.

Keeping the first sitting on time, without rushing anyone, depends on small things done well. Orders taken within a few minutes of sitting, courses that arrive at a steady pace, plates cleared promptly, dessert offered at the right moment and the bill brought when the guest is ready.

What it must never involve is hurrying guests through their meal, clearing plates before everyone has finished or reminding them of the time at every course. If the first sitting feels like a race, guests will remember the race and not the food.

Sometimes the first sitting runs late, however well it is run. A party lingers, a celebration orders another bottle, a late arrival started twenty minutes behind. Have a plan for those nights.

Offer the waiting second-sitting guests a comfortable place at the bar and, if the wait grows, a drink on the house. Speak to the lingering party kindly, offering to move them to the bar or a lounge area to finish their coffee. Most guests are understanding when they are treated well.

Large parties take longer, and they fit two sittings badly. A table of ten in the first sitting is the party most likely to run over, and its table is the hardest to reset quickly.

Seat large parties in the second sitting where possible, or give them a longer slot that spans both sittings and price the booking accordingly. Agree the timing when they book, so there is no surprise on the night.

Two sittings are a way to raise the table turnover rate on the busiest night: from one seating per table, or a little more, towards two. The gain depends on how many tables already turned twice before the change.

The turnover rate should rise through better planning, not hurrying. Our guide to table turnover rate: how to raise it politely covers the ways to raise it that guests do not notice.

The menu can help. Dishes that can be prepared ahead, cooked quickly and served at a steady pace suit two sittings better than those that need long cooking at the last moment. Some venues offer a shorter menu on sitting nights to keep the kitchen moving.

A set menu for the first sitting is another option: two or three courses at a fixed price, served at a steady rhythm, with an end time that guests know about. It suits guests eating early and makes the kitchen's plan more predictable.

The whole team needs to know the sitting times and the plan for each. Servers should know when the first sitting's tables are needed back, the kitchen should know when the second sitting's orders will arrive, and the host should watch the room and know which tables are running late.

Brief the team before each sitting night: the bookings, the large parties, the guests likely to linger and the plan if things run behind. A team that knows the plan applies it calmly and with warmth.

A no-show in the first sitting leaves a table empty until the second, which is a loss, but the second-sitting booking is unaffected. A late arrival in the first sitting is harder: they have less time for their meal, and they may run over.

Hold a late arrival's table for a set time, and tell them gently that their table is still needed back at the original time. A short standby list for each sitting can fill tables left empty by no-shows and cancellations.

Some guests dislike being timed, and say so in reviews. Others are glad to get a table at all on a busy night, and happily accept an early sitting with a clear end time.

What guests remember is how the timing was handled. Told at booking, reminded gently, served at a good pace and never rushed, most accept two sittings without complaint. Surprised at the end, or hurried through dessert, they remember the venue for the wrong reasons.

Two sittings work best when demand on the night is far greater than the room can serve, turn times are predictable and the gap between them can be kept. They suit venues with a steady menu, quick turns and guests who are used to booking.

They also work best on a few nights only. A Friday or a Saturday that fills by midweek is a good candidate; a Tuesday that rarely fills is not.

Two sittings do not suit long tasting menus, venues where guests come for a whole evening, or nights when demand would not fill both sittings. A half-empty second sitting has cost the first sitting its comfort for no gain.

They also do not suit a kitchen that cannot cope with two concentrated waves, or a team that is already stretched. In those venues, better booking rules, better table matching and a stronger shoulder hour may add more covers with less risk.

Try two sittings on one night for a month before committing. Measure covers, spend per head, how often the first sitting ran over and by how much, how long second-sitting guests waited and what guests said.

Compare with the same night in the month before. If covers rose sharply, spend per head held and complaints stayed rare, the change is working. If the first sitting ran over most weeks or guests complained, look at the gap, the sitting times or the menu before deciding.

Two sittings are one tool in revenue management for the busiest nights, alongside booking rules, table matching and pacing. Our guide to revenue management for a dining room sets them alongside the other tools and explains where each fits.

The quieter nights need different tools: early menus, invitations and events. Two sittings solve the problem of too much demand, not too little.

An invented bistro with fifty seats fills every Friday by Wednesday and turns about a third of its tables twice. The owner times a month of Friday meals and finds that twos take about an hour and three quarters and fours about two hours and a quarter. She introduces two sittings: the first with booking slots at six, a quarter past and half past, each table needed back two hours and a quarter after its start, and the second from half past eight.

Guests are told at booking and reminded the day before. Over the first month, Friday covers rise by about a third, spend per head holds steady and the first sitting runs over on only two occasions, each managed with a drink at the bar for the waiting guests. The owner keeps two sittings on Fridays and tries them on Saturdays next.

In servearound, each shift's booking rules set the booking times guests can choose, so a Friday can offer only the times of its sittings, and the booking duration, one length in minutes for every party, holds each table for as long as a sitting lasts. There is no automatic cap on covers per time slot, so pacing is set by which times you offer, and each table's own rules set whether it can be booked online, for which party sizes and at which times. A guest who picks a full time is offered the waitlist for it.

The confirmation and reminder emails can be edited by the venue, so they can say when the table is needed back, and guests manage their own booking from a link. Table analytics show the gap between seatings on each table and a heatmap of when the room fills, and reservation analytics show covers by shift and by day and hour, along with the no-show rate. See the reservations module and Analytics.

Selling each table twice in an evening, at fixed times, with the first sitting finishing before the second begins.

Most do not, if they are told at booking, reminded gently and never rushed.

Long enough for most parties to finish, based on your own turn times by party size.

At least fifteen minutes, and more for larger tables or a busy room.

No. Stagger the booking slots within each sitting to pace the kitchen.

In the second sitting, or in a longer slot agreed when they book.

Offer waiting guests a seat at the bar and, if needed, a drink, and move lingering parties kindly.

Compare covers, spend per head, overruns and feedback with the same night before the change.

Two sittings can add a whole extra service of covers to the busiest night of the week, from a room already open, staffed and stocked. They work when demand is far greater than the room can serve, turn times are known and predictable, the gap between sittings is long enough to reset the tables and guests are told the timing when they book.

Stagger the booking slots within each sitting, keep pacing covers in mind so the kitchen gets a steady flow, put large parties in the second sitting and keep the first on time through good service rather than hurrying. Test it on one night for a month and watch the table turnover rate, spend per head and feedback together before deciding to keep it.