Work out your covers
Total leased area, then the share the kitchen and back of house take.
Covers, kitchens and service routes planned together
How this calculator works
- Kitchen area = total × kitchen share. This is the production kitchen, not the stores.
- Back of house = total × BOH share, covering dry and cold stores, staff change, manager's office and customer washrooms.
- Front of house = total − kitchen − BOH.
- Bar area = bar seats × 14 sq ft, which covers the stool, the counter depth and the back-bar service zone.
- Dining covers = floor((front of house − bar area) ÷ per-cover allowance).
- Table mix is derived at 60% of covers on four-tops and 40% on two-tops, which reflects Indian group sizes better than an even split.
- Turns per day are looked up by style: 2.0 fine dining, 2.8 casual, 3.5 café, 4.5 fast casual.
| Service style | Sq ft per cover | Typical turns / day | What the allowance buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fine dining | 22 | 2.0 | Wide aisles, side stations, generous table spacing |
| Casual dining | 16 | 2.8 | 36 in service aisles, standard 30 in tables |
| Café | 14 | 3.5 | Smaller tables, some counter and window seating |
| Fast casual | 12 | 4.5 | Tight tables, self-service, quick turnover |
| Bar / high tables | 10 | — | Stools at 24 in centres, standing room behind |
These figures include circulation and service aisles within the dining room. They do not include the waiting area, the host desk or the entry lobby, which in a Mumbai high-street unit should be budgeted separately at 40–80 sq ft.
Worked example — a 2,000 sq ft casual dining unit
| Step | Arithmetic | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Total area | as leased | 2,000 sq ft |
| Kitchen at 30% | 2,000 × 0.30 | 600 sq ft |
| Stores, staff, toilets at 12% | 2,000 × 0.12 | 240 sq ft |
| Front of house | 2,000 − 840 | 1,160 sq ft |
| Bar seats | none | 0 sq ft |
| Covers | floor(1,160 ÷ 16) | 72 covers |
| Table mix | 60% four-tops, 40% two-tops | 10 four-tops, 14 two-tops |
| Daily capacity | 72 × 2.8 turns | ≈ 202 covers a day |
What the cover count does not tell you
Two restaurants with 72 covers can have completely different economics. The one with fourteen two-tops can seat a couple in thirty seconds and turn them in fifty minutes; the one that pushed for ten six-tops looks fuller on paper and sits half-empty on a Wednesday because every group of two occupies six seats. The table mix is the operational decision hiding inside the capacity number, and it should be set from the actual party-size distribution of the catchment, not from a plan that looks tidy.
The second thing the cover count hides is the service route. A dining room where waiters have to cross the main customer entry path with plates will feel chaotic at 80% occupancy regardless of how much space each cover has. Plan one service spine from the kitchen pass to the furthest table that does not cross the entry, and keep it 48 inches wide.
On Mumbai specifics: high-street units almost always have a constrained kitchen exhaust route, and the shaft position decides where the kitchen can go far more than the plan does. Confirm the exhaust and the fresh-air path with the landlord in writing before committing to a layout, because a kitchen that has to move to the other end of the unit changes the cover count entirely. Fire NOC requirements for a public assembly also set a minimum exit width and can cap the occupancy below what the area allows.
Every constant on this page comes from Greenbox site records — measured drawings, signed BOQs and completion certificates from projects delivered between 2023 and 2026 — rounded to the figures an estimator would actually write down. We publish them so the arithmetic can be audited rather than trusted. Treat the output as a planning figure: accurate enough to brief a landlord, a bank or a family, and not accurate enough to sign a contract against.
What this tool does not cover
- Statutory occupancy limits and fire exit capacity, which can cap covers below the area calculation.
- Licensing — an excise licence, a food licence and the shops-and-establishments registration each carry their own layout requirements.
- Kitchen equipment layout and the exhaust route, which in an existing building is often the binding constraint.
- Outdoor and terrace seating, which is not modelled here and is usually seasonal in Mumbai.
- Waiting area, host desk and entry lobby, at 40–80 sq ft on a high-street unit.
- Fit-out cost — use the commercial fit-out calculator as a starting point and add kitchen equipment separately.
Hospitality and commercial fit-outs delivered by Greenbox Design Studio.
Frequently asked questions
How many square feet per person in a restaurant?+
Twenty-two square feet per cover for fine dining, 16 for casual dining, 14 for a café and 12 for fast casual. Those figures include the service aisles within the dining room but not the kitchen, stores or washrooms.
How much of a restaurant should be kitchen?+
Thirty per cent of the leased area as a standard. A multi-cuisine kitchen with a tandoor and a Chinese range needs 35%; a café with a limited menu can work at 25%. It is the single biggest lever on how many covers the unit can hold.
How many covers in a 2,000 sq ft restaurant?+
About 72 for casual dining with a 30% kitchen and 12% back of house. The same unit as a café would hold around 83, and as a fine-dining room about 52.
What is the right table mix for an Indian restaurant?+
Roughly 60% of covers on four-tops and 40% on two-tops, with the four-tops able to combine into sixes. Over-providing large tables looks generous on the plan and leaves the room half-empty midweek, because most parties are two or four.
How wide should restaurant aisles be?+
Thirty-six inches between the backs of seated diners for a service aisle, 48 inches on the main route through the room, and 60 inches wherever a trolley or a buffet has to pass. These are already inside the per-cover allowances used here.