What does a low average spend per head mean for a restaurant?
A low average spend per head means a restaurant can only hit its revenue target with more guests and more table turns. A brunch concept aiming for €25 per person therefore needs far more new guests than a dinner restaurant working with €50 to €100. Most of those guests find the restaurant through search and reviews.
How do you fill every seat four times a day?
At some Teds All Day Brunch locations, every seat is filled at least four times on weekend days to run profitably on a €25 spend. That kind of volume depends on a steady flow of new guests. With a low spend per head, revenue comes down to three things: visibility on Google, the number and freshness of your reviews, and how quickly you respond to them. All three can be automated, so your team can stay focused on service.
Why is lunch spend lower?
It has nothing to do with how much guests eat. Guests simply expect lunch to be cheaper than dinner, so lunch spend stays around €25 while dinner spend sits between €50 and €100.
Why is volume the key lever?
With a low spend per head, the only way to reach the same revenue is more guests. Filling a seat four times on a weekend day only works if enough people find your restaurant and choose it.
Where does the extra volume come from?
Brunch and lunch guests often decide at short notice, based on Google Maps and your review score. Plenty of recent reviews and visible responses help you rank at the top of local search results.
If your spend is lower, you need more volume to reach your revenue goals.
Frequently asked questions
What is a typical average spend per head at dinner versus lunch?
According to Michiel Huysmans of Teds All Day Brunch, restaurants that mainly open in the evening usually aim for an average spend of €50 to €100 per guest. Lunch and brunch concepts sit lower, at around €25 per person. That gap isn't about how much people eat. It's because guests see lunch as cheaper than dinner.
How often does a seat need to be filled with a low spend per head?
That depends on your number of seats and your revenue target. At Teds All Day Brunch, with a spend of around €25 per person, every seat at some locations is filled at least four times on weekend days. A lower spend per guest calls for higher table turnover to cover costs and keep the concept profitable.
Why do reviews matter more for high-volume restaurants?
Restaurants with a low spend per head need far more guests than those with a high spend. Those extra guests often find a restaurant through Google and choose based on the review score and recent reviews. A healthy stream of new reviews and fast responses keeps a restaurant visible in local search results, and that's where the volume you need comes from.
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Video transcript
So you have a little bit more the evening side of hospitality basically works with, let's say, average spend that they hope to achieve between, let's say, €50-100. And for us, this average spend is lower just due to not the amount of food that you eat, but still the perception of, let's say, also that the guest that lunch is cheaper than dinner. And so we strive for an average spend of, let's say, €25 per person.
Which we then, if you look at the amount of chairs that we have, means that we, yeah, that at some locations, specifically in the weekend, we have the every, every seat is, will be filled at least 4 times because also the amount of, luckily also the amount of guests that want to work or stay and visit us, but also the amount of revenue we need to make it all worth our while because you just need, if your spend is lower, you need more quantity to make it, to reach your revenue goals.