How to quote a wait time you can keep

A wait quote is a promise made at the door. Most guests will accept a long wait. What they remember is a wrong one — the “fifteen minutes” that became forty while they stood by the host stand.

Why quotes go wrong

• The host looks at how long the list is, not how fast it is moving.
• A party of six waits for a different table than a party of two.
• Tables turn at a different speed at 6 pm than at 8 pm.
• The quote is given once and never touched again.

Quote from two numbers

You need two things: how many parties are ahead of this one, and how many minutes have passed between seatings over the last hour or so. Multiply them and you have the middle of an honest quote.

Count only the parties that will take the same kind of table. A two-top does not wait behind a party of eight.

Say a range, not a number

“Twenty-five to thirty-five minutes” is more honest than “thirty”, and guests hear it that way. Widen the range when the room is unpredictable — a big party finishing dessert, a table that has lingered — and tighten it when the list is moving steadily.

Update it, then tell them once

A quote is only true at the moment it is given. When the room speeds up or slows down, the people already waiting should see that without asking. When the table is ready, tell them once, clearly, and give them a reasonable time to come back before the table goes to the next party.

Check it at close

At the end of the night, compare what you quoted with what actually happened. A few nights of that and the host’s instinct and the numbers start to agree.

How DineQ does it

When a party joins, DineQ suggests a quote from the parties ahead, how fast tables are turning tonight and how long parties of that size have waited before. The host can change it. Guests never see a single number: they see a range on their own phone, and it narrows as the parties ahead are seated. The host list flags any party that has gone past its quote, and the guest gets a message when the table is ready.