How many guests a day does a restaurant rent need?

Divide the monthly rent by the top of the published rent band (12% of sales) to find the least monthly sales the rent can sit inside the band, then divide by the 30-day trading month and by your average spend per guest. The calculator does exactly that, and shows the comfortable end of the band (6%) beside it.

Why does the calculator ask for the rent per year?

Dubai leases usually quote rent per year, often per square foot. Enter the yearly figure including the service and chiller charges the landlord bills, or switch the calculator to per month if that is how your quote reads — the reading is identical either way.

Does the location change the numbers?

No. The location is context for your reading and for the founder if you send it; it never changes the arithmetic, and the calculator assumes no district rent or area average. The same rent needs the same sales in any district — what changes by location is whether the site can deliver them.

What do seat turns and sittings mean here?

A seat turn is one guest using one seat once. If the rent needs 90 guests a day and you plan 60 seats, every seat must be sold 1.5 times a day. The calculator states that plainly — up to one full sitting, one to two, or more than two — so you can judge whether your trading hours and your street can carry it.

What does this calculator leave out?

It reads the rent line only. It does not forecast demand, test your food and labour costs, price the fit-out or read the lease clauses. Pair it with the Break-Even Calculator for the whole cost base and the Site & Lease Risk Screen for the lease terms — and read the site properly before any signature.

Free · before you sign the lease

How many guests a day does this rent need?

Enter the site's location, area, seats, the rent being offered and your spend per guest. The calculator returns the daily cover and revenue band the rent requires — the least it needs, and where it sits comfortably — before you commit to a single dirham.

Rent & capacity · pre-lease readingLive · on this device

0 of 5 inputs set · rent and spend per guest are enough to read

LocationSite type optional

Rent being offeredbase + service + chiller charges

Dubai leases usually quote per year — switch if yours is monthly.

Leasable areaoptional

Seats you planoptional

Average spend per guestexcluding VAT and tips

Needed to turn revenue into guests.

Required daily cover & revenue band

Type or drag the rent being offered — the band appears as you set it.

Only the figures you type, on this device — nothing is stored or sent unless you choose to send it. Not financial, legal or investment advice.

The method

Read the rent the way the P&L will.

01 · The band

Rent is best kept between 6% and 12% of sales — the published working rule every GGB instrument reads. At 12% the rent sits at the top of the band; at 6% it sits comfortably.
02 · The inversion

Monthly rent ÷ 12% = the least monthly sales the rent needs. Divide by the 30-day trading month for a day, and by your spend per guest for the guests — rounded up, because part of a guest is still a guest you must find.
03 · The floor plate

Guests ÷ seats = how many times every seat must be sold each day. Sales ÷ area = what every square foot must earn a year. Neither is a verdict — they are the questions the site has to answer before the lease does.

Rent and capacity, answered straight

How many guests a day does a restaurant rent need?: Divide the monthly rent by the top of the published rent band (12% of sales) to find the least monthly sales the rent can sit inside the band, then divide by the 30-day trading month and by your average spend per guest. The calculator does exactly that, and shows the comfortable end of the band (6%) beside it.
Why does the calculator ask for the rent per year?: Dubai leases usually quote rent per year, often per square foot. Enter the yearly figure including the service and chiller charges the landlord bills, or switch the calculator to per month if that is how your quote reads — the reading is identical either way.
Does the location change the numbers?: No. The location is context for your reading and for the founder if you send it; it never changes the arithmetic, and the calculator assumes no district rent or area average. The same rent needs the same sales in any district — what changes by location is whether the site can deliver them.
What do seat turns and sittings mean here?: A seat turn is one guest using one seat once. If the rent needs 90 guests a day and you plan 60 seats, every seat must be sold 1.5 times a day. The calculator states that plainly — up to one full sitting, one to two, or more than two — so you can judge whether your trading hours and your street can carry it.
What does this calculator leave out?: It reads the rent line only. It does not forecast demand, test your food and labour costs, price the fit-out or read the lease clauses. Pair it with the Break-Even Calculator for the whole cost base and the Site & Lease Risk Screen for the lease terms — and read the site properly before any signature.