On Fridays we cap the book at 80% and hold a 15-minute window, but the 7–8 pm surge still creates a lobby bottleneck and uneven server loads. If you’ve got a pacing rule or Resy settings (or another tool) that smooth seat timing and protects turn times without burning guests, I’d love to hear what’s working.
We had the same Friday pile-up; switching from % caps to cover-based pacing by zone in Resy helped — ‘8 covers/10 min per server, no 4+ tops at:00/:30; push them to:15/:45’ using Throttle/capacity controls. Host stand went from mosh pit to metronome; caveat: if a server calls out, flip to a lighter preset for that zone or you’ll stall the kitchen.
I switched Resy to 5‑minute intervals just for 6:45–7:45 and made that hour 2‑tops only; it broke up the 7–8 pm pile-up and balanced the floor without changing our 15‑minute window. Small caveat: you have to quote walk‑ins as a range — “7:10–7:20” — or they’ll still stack at:00, but with that tweak our lobby cleared and turns stayed protected. If you’re on Resy, @OP, it’s just an interval override plus a party‑size blackout.