Maintaining a smooth dining room flow is essential for providing excellent service and preventing your kitchen from becoming overwhelmed. While your overall capacity is usually managed by floor plans or schedule rules, there are times when you need more granular control.
The Time Slot Limits feature allows you to set specific thresholds for individual time periods. Once a limit is reached or exceeded, the system automatically blocks further bookings for that specific time. This ensures you never have too many guests arriving at once, even if your total seat count would technically allow it.
Key Benefits of Setting Time Slot Limits
Smoother Kitchen Operations: By capping the number of guests who can book at a specific time (e.g., 7:00 PM), you prevent "seating waves" that can bottleneck the kitchen and bar.
Optimized Staffing: Align your guest intake with your scheduled floor staff, ensuring every customer receives attentive service.
Strategic Flexibility: Easily lower your capacity for historically busy periods or transitions between shifts without changing your entire floor plan.
Automated Pacing: Once a limit is met or exceeded, that specific time slot disappears from your booking widget, guiding guests to neighboring, less crowded times.
How It Works: Thresholds vs. Total Capacity
Libro is designed to be flexible. By default, your availability is determined by your Total Capacity (e.g., 80 seats every 2 hours). The Time Slot Limits tool acts as a specific "override." For example, if your total capacity is 50, but you only want a maximum of 20 people to arrive at 6:30 PM, you can set a specific limit for that slot.
Pro Tip: You do not need to enter a number for every slot. If left blank, the system will simply revert to your standard total capacity. This tool is specifically for when you want to set a lower limit than your total capacity for a specific time.
Setting Up Your Time Slot Limits
Managing your thresholds is done directly through the Libro Back-Office. Follow these steps to customize your guest flow:
Log in to your Libro Back-Office. From the main menu, navigate to the My Restaurants tab and select Settings.
Locate and click on the Time Slot Limits tab. This will display a view of your operating hours organized by the day of the week.
Identify the day and the specific time slot you wish to limit. Click the plus (+) icon next to that time and enter the maximum number of people allowed for that arrival window.
Once all your desired limits are added, click the Save button at the bottom of the page to apply the changes.
Note: You do not need to enter a number for every slot. If left blank, the system will simply revert to your standard total capacity. This tool is specifically for when you want to set a lower limit than your total capacity for a specific time.
Best Practices for Capacity Management
Focus on Peak Hours: You likely don’t need limits for your entire day. Focus on "rush" times where a sudden influx of bookings could impact the quality of service.
Don't Use This to Close: Please note that it is impossible to enter 0 as a limit. This tool is for limiting flow, not for blocking off hours. To close a time slot entirely, use your Dashboard or Reservation Schedules.
Account for Manual Entries: Remember that the limit is triggered once the number of guests is reached or exceeded. If you manually add a large walk-in, the system will account for them and close the online slot if the limit is met.
Review Regularly: Check your limits periodically to ensure they align with your current staffing levels and seasonal demand.