The average turn is over. Is the table ready?
Four invented turns average 100 minutes. Following the next reservation shows why that average cannot promise a ready table.
Imagine four comparable table uses lasting 80, 90, 100 and 130 minutes from seating until the table is cleared, reset and ready again. These are invented observations, with every first party seated on time and no other table available for the next booking. They average 100 minutes, yet a next reservation booked at minute 100 would still wait 30 minutes in the last case.
The average is correct. It simply answers a different question from the one facing the host: will this party have a suitable table when its reservation begins?
Follow the next booking through the delay
One of the four invented turns runs past minute 100: 25% of this small example, not a measured restaurant failure rate or a forecast. Even a 120-minute interval leaves the 130-minute turn 10 minutes short of readiness. Neither setting is established as the right one for your dining room.
Now change the start. A first party seated 15 minutes late and taking 100 minutes until the table is ready finishes at minute 115 from the original reservation. The next party booked at minute 100 faces a 15-minute overlap, even though the table’s occupied-to-ready duration exactly matches the setting.
The endpoint matters too. “Finished” may mark the end of dining before clearing and resetting are complete. For the availability check here, stop the clock when another party can actually be seated. If an observed interval already includes reset work, count that work once.
The room may absorb an overlap: a suitable alternative table can seat the next party, and a later arrival changes the immediate conflict. Arrival pacing is another consideration. Resy describes pacing as a separate availability control from turn-time settings, which can vary by party, table or shift. Shortening a duration and admitting more parties together are different changes. [S1]
Replay one booking before offering the shorter slot
Take a recent shift comparable in party size, table type and service period. Leave the live setting alone while placing the proposed next-booking time beside actual seating and physical-ready times. Start with a booking that would overlap: which suitable table could the host have used at that moment? A positive time difference identifies a conflict to inspect, not an automatic lost cover.
Use the software records with their definitions intact. OpenTable’s turn-time report depends on consistent seated and finished updates; its displayed setting may be weighted when several settings are combined. For restaurants with eligible Advanced Analytics access, Resy also shows average turns by party size with filters. These product descriptions tell you where to look, not what happened at your tables. Check late button presses and missing timestamps before treating them as physical-ready records. [S2] [S3]
Walk through that booking with the host: a late first seating, a long meal and unfinished reset work leave different choices. Look for clustered conflicts and keep the slow observations in view. A fix may involve the arrival plan, a table assignment or the recording process. It need not involve asking guests to eat faster. If a limited setting change later becomes justified, track actual waits and fulfilled covers; extra bookable slots alone guarantee neither additional diners nor revenue or contribution after costs.
Before opening the shorter slot, the host should be able to point to the table that could have seated that next party in the replay. If the answer is only “our average is 100 minutes,” keep the current interval and resolve that booking conflict first.
Sources & Verified On
AI may be used to help create some of our content and editorial images.
Verified: 2026-10-11
- Customize Turn Times
Resy · Provider documentation; no market-wide claim
Published: Not stated · Reference period/event: Documentation last updated October 8, 2025 · Retrieved: 2026-10-11
Product configuration, not measured dining durations or proof that shorter settings create additional demand.
- Utilize Turn Time Analysis reports to maximize seating
OpenTable · Provider documentation; no measured local result
Published: Not stated · Reference period/event: Knowledge page date August 27, 2026 · Retrieved: 2026-10-11
Product guidance, not a guarantee of table availability; no definition here that finished always includes reset.
- Advanced Analytics — POS: Spend & Turn Times
Resy · United States · Resy Platform 360 / Advanced Analytics
Published: Not stated · Reference period/event: Documentation last updated March 26, 2026 · Retrieved: 2026-10-11
Provider calls spend-per-time profitability; no complete cost model shown. Do not turn spending into an established profit or causal improvement. Advanced Analytics availability is plan-specific; the report is not available to every Resy restaurant.