In the variety of challenges encountered in restaurant business, the matter of choosing appropriate table sizes is often overlooked. By studying the choice of table sizes and their relative position directly in term of a generic layout and table mix problem, we find that it plays a key role in the eventual operation of bars and restaurants, enabling up to 29 % reduction of customer refusal in the chosen generic example. Hereby, it is key to install both some rows with larger tables and maintaining a sufficiently large pool of flexible smaller tables. As less distance in between tables is lost, rows of larger tables enable more seating capacity. Smaller tables on the other hand are less compact but can be combined flexibly by customers to fit the arriving party size. In a competitive environment as the bar and restaurant business with other options just around the corner or even next door it is of the utmost importance to maximize the efficiency of the available resources. The re...
Science for people in queues