Nine o'clock on a Saturday, a full room and the door that won't stop: the difference between a smooth service and chaos usually comes down to one thing, knowing at any moment which table is free, which is booked and which is about to free up.
This guide covers how to organise your restaurant's tables so you seat more guests without the stress: how to lay them out, how to control covers per service and how to run the floor during service without relying on a paper diary.
Why restaurants lose tables (even when they're full)
Most lost tables aren't down to a lack of guests, but to a lack of information at the right moment:
- Double bookings: one by phone, one online, same table, same time.
- Gaps between sittings: a table frees up at 21:45 and nobody knows until 22:15.
- Badly placed groups: a couple at the six-top while a party of six waits.
- Overfull sittings: the website keeps taking bookings when the room is already full.
How to lay out your restaurant tables
Before any software, the floor plan. A few rules that work in almost any venue:
- More two-tops and four-tops than big tables. Two-tops can be pushed together for groups; an eight-top with a couple sitting at it is the table that leaves the most money on the table.
- Split the floor into areas: main room, terrace, bar, private room. Each has its own pace, covers and type of guest.
- Leave proper walkways so the team can serve without detours: a server dodging chairs is a slower service.
- Set each table's capacity, minimum and maximum, so you know at once where each booking fits.
With Recipetor you draw that plan once: your rooms, your tables (round or square, with their capacity) and even chairs and objects, so the plan looks like your real restaurant.
Services and covers: how many guests you can really seat
If you run two dinner sittings, each one needs its own cover limit. The maths is simple: add up the capacity of the tables you use in each sitting and keep a small margin for walk-ins.
What matters is that your website stops on its own when a sitting is full. In Recipetor you set how many covers fit in each service and your booking page stops offering it as soon as it's full, while the other stays open. Phone bookings count too, because they go into the same panel.
During service: your floor, live, without a paper diary
This is where a good system makes the difference. With Recipetor's floor manager the table plan is in front of you and you see the status of every table at a glance:
- Booked: the guest hasn't arrived yet.
- Seated: the table is in service.
- Desserts and bill requested: that table will free up soon.
- Free: ready for the next guests.
So you know which table frees up before anyone asks, and you can seat the waiting group without doing sums in your head. One booking can also take several tables, for groups that need two or three pushed together.
Recipetor: table plan and bookings in one panel
- Room designer: draw your rooms, tables, chairs and objects.
- Table assignment for every booking, including several tables for one group.
- Live floor manager with the status of every table during service.
- Services, areas and covers per service: your booking page stops on its own when a sitting is full.
- Online and phone bookings in the same panel: list, calendar and table view.
- Your own booking page for Google, Instagram and your website, with no fee per cover.
The table plan is included from the Beginner plan, at €29 a month + VAT, with no lock-in. All plans are on our pricing page.
Try table management free for 21 days, no card needed →
How to get started in one afternoon
- Start your free trial. We send your login the same working day.
- Draw your floor: areas, tables and capacities. If you'd rather not do it yourself, we set it up with you.
- Set your services and the covers for each one.
- Share your booking link on Google, Instagram and your website, and run your very next service with the plan in front of you.
FAQ about restaurant table management
Is there free restaurant table management software?
There is, but free tools usually cap bookings or leave out the live table plan. Recipetor includes the table plan from the Beginner plan, at €29 a month + VAT, and you can try it free for 21 days, no card needed.
How should I lay out the tables in a restaurant?
Use mostly two-tops and four-tops you can push together, split the room into areas (main room, terrace, private room), leave wide walkways for service and set a minimum and maximum capacity for each table.
Does it work with several rooms or a terrace?
Yes. In Recipetor each area has its own plan and cover limit, and you can switch between them during service.
Can I assign several tables to one booking?
Yes. For a large group you can combine two or more tables in the same booking, and the plan shows all of them as taken.
