How to reduce restaurant wait times without overstaffing the floor

The wait time that annoys guests is not always the ticket time in the kitchen. I have worked shifts where the line cooks were moving fine, but the dining room still felt slow because seating, bussing, drink runs, and check drop timing were all drifting apart. The first place I look is the handoff between host, server, busser, and expo. If a table sits dirty for eight minutes, the host cannot seat…