Cover count

Definition

The number of guests served in a period, the volume figure every other restaurant number rests on.

Why It Matters

Sales can rise while covers fall, which usually means prices went up and traffic went down, and that is a worse business than the top line suggests. Pull covers by daypart and by day of week for a full year, because a restaurant is several businesses sharing one kitchen and the weak dayparts are where a new owner has room. Ask what the seller changed in the last year too: a menu price increase or a delivery app rollout flatters revenue for exactly as long as it takes customers to notice.