Industry
Restaurants
Of every revenue euro, 3 to 5 cents stay with you. Every empty table counts.
Restaurants live on occupancy, and occupancy dies of no-shows, empty shifts and commissions to booking portals. The levers are known - rarely calculated. Here are the numbers, and what we build for houses that take them seriously.
Calculator
What is left of every revenue euro · Net margin
Same numbers, your business: pull the levers and watch what moves.
Labour cost ratio
Net profit margin
Hebel
Simplified calculation for a staff-run operation. If you work the floor yourself, the maths differ - the figure shows the leverage effect, not your full bottom line.
Labour cost ratio
Net profit margin
Simplified calculation for a staff-run operation. If you work the floor yourself, the maths differ - the figure shows the leverage effect, not your full bottom line.
Where the margin goes
Of every revenue euro only a few cents remain in hospitality - margin is the hardest lever. Labour, cost of goods and empty seats pull on it directly.
Only idle staff is expensive.
The labour cost ratio sits between 32 % in quick service and around 42 % in poorly utilised full service. Below 30 % occupancy a shift no longer carries itself. Whoever cannot see occupancy per shift pays staff for empty chairs - and notices in the monthly report.
Source: NRA State of the Restaurant Industry 2026; whipplewood Financial Benchmarks; NRA Operations Survey 2026; Restaurant365 Operating Benchmarks
A no-show costs twice: an empty table and a turned-away walk-in.
Around 70 % of the reserved seat's value is lost with a no-show - the table was blocked, the spontaneous guest gone. Booking portals do not know your table plan and do not care about the guest who does not come. Your own system reminds, confirms and frees the seat in time.
Source: OpenTable Show-Up Data; GroupMenus Deposit Benchmarks
An event is occupancy, booked before anyone arrives.
Events and groups lift margin in the model by up to 7 pp - because occupancy, cost of goods and staffing are fixed in advance. Precondition: a booking path that handles groups and special formats instead of "please call us".
Source: GroupMenus Private Dining Revenue; Tripleseat Events Data
The numbers behind it
- 3-5 % vs. 10-12 %
- Net margin full service vs. quick serviceSource: NRA Restaurant Industry Margin Reports 2026; whipplewood Financial Benchmarks
- 70 %
- of the seat's value lost to a no-showSource: OpenTable Show-Up Data; GroupMenus Deposit Benchmarks
- 32 % - 42 %
- Labour cost ratio, quick-service floor to full-service worst caseSource: NRA State of the Restaurant Industry 2026; whipplewood Financial Benchmarks
- +7 pp
- Margin lift from events, maximumSource: GroupMenus Private Dining Revenue; Tripleseat Events Data
What we build for it
mP Table - our reservation and operations system - runs at Stiftskulinarium St. Peter with 8,000 reservations a month, no commission, with its own table plan, shifts and walk-ins. Plus tracking that shows where guests come from, and advertising only where it fills empty shifts.
Common questions
Is an own reservation system worth it compared to Quandoo or OpenTable?
From a booking volume we calculate for you before anyone builds anything. Portals charge commission per booking and keep the guest data. Your own system is a one-off investment - and the data for regulars stays with you. Stiftskulinarium St. Peter replaced Quandoo in live operation.How do I get no-shows under control?
Reminders, confirmations, deposits for large groups - and a system that frees the seat immediately on cancellation. Every prevented no-show saves around 70 % of the seat's value. That is technology, not strictness.What do you measure first in a restaurant?
Occupancy per shift, no-show rate and labour cost ratio. Three numbers every restaurant has and hardly any sees side by side. From that follows whether the first lever is the booking path, the staff plan or advertising.Do I need Google Ads or social ads for my restaurant?
Only if they bring guests into shifts that would otherwise be empty. Advertising for an already full Friday night is money burned. We run ads by occupancy gap, not by budget.
Next step
Where do you stand?
The analyzer detects whether your site reserves through a booking portal, whether tracking runs and how fast it is on mobile. The rest we think through together.