Operations

Toast reports most popular dining time is 7 pm

Photo: Adobe Stock

December 8, 2023

Out of 17 metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., 7 p.m. is the busiest time for restaurants transactions for every area covered except Miami, with most transactions split between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., according to Toast's Q3 2023 Restaurant Trends Report. The digital platform brand looked at select metro areas on its platform, which serves approximately 99,000 restaurant locations, according to a press release.

The most popular day of the week for restaurant reservations is Saturday, which had approximately 85% more reservations than the weekly average. Friday followed with approximately 54% more reservations than the weekly average.

The most popular hour for dinner reservations is 6 p.m. (37%) followed by 7 p.m. (26%) and 5 p.m. (22%).

For those consumers who booked reservations ahead of time, over half (52%) of reservations were booked less than a day ahead. Approximately 23% of reservations were made less than two hours in advance.

When it comes to tipping, total tips for restaurants average 18.9% of total check amounts.

"Toast's Q3 2023 Restaurant Trends Report shares informative new data about guest reservation and booking behavior," Julie Gregg, director, market insights and competitive intelligence, said in a statement to Pizza Marketplace. "Knowing most diners wait to book tables until 24 hours before their desired dining time may help pizzerias plan how much pizza dough to make or ingredients to prep for service, for example, since the dough can take many hours or even days to proof. The report also reveals some interesting data about how tips across the nation have plateaued in recent quarters, with the total average tips at full-service restaurants, which includes many pizzerias, hovering around 19.4%."