How to reduce wait times: And rotate tables faster on weekends

"10 extra minutes per table = 1 more dinner service. The math is simple, but execution fails at the bottleneck: the menu."

Saturday night. Your restaurant is full. People are waiting at the door, but you have three tables that have finished and are still waiting for the check, and two more that have been sitting for 15 minutes without a menu, waiting to be served.

Result: Frustrated customers, servers running around, and worst of all, you're losing money because you can't turn those tables.

Table Turnover is the most important KPI for a high-volume restaurant's profitability. In this article, we analyze how technology helps you gain those crucial 10 minutes per table.

The Traditional Service Bottleneck

In the classic model, there's a lot of downtime:

• The customer sits down.
• Waits for the server to bring the menu (5 min).
• Reads the menu and deliberates (10 min).
• Waits for the server to take the order (5 min).

The "Sit & Scan" Strategy

Implementing an efficient QR Menu system elimina el paso 1 y el 2 de la ecuación anterior.

If the QR code is visible on the table (on a sticker or stand), the customer scans it as soon as they sit down. While your server finishes serving drinks at another table, these new customers are already choosing.

When the server arrives, they already know what they want to order. You've turned passive waiting into productive time.

Simplify the Offering (Less Is More)

Another factor that slows turnover is "analysis paralysis." A menu with 100 dishes overwhelms the customer.

Tactic: During peak hours, you can temporarily hide dishes that slow down the kitchen (like paellas or soufflés) on the digital version to speed up service. This is impossible to do with a paper menu.

Conclusion: 10 Extra Minutes = 1 More Service

If you manage to reduce a table's cycle time from 90 to 75 minutes thanks to QR efficiency, you can comfortably accommodate a second dinner service. Multiply that by all your tables and you'll see the impact on your monthly revenue.