In the restaurant business, the suffix -top refers to a table or a group of customers at a table. A number is used before -top to refer to how many covers, or place-settings, the table accommodates. Thus, a two-top table is a table that seats two guests and accommodates two covers. And once you know what a two-top is, you automatically know what a four-top and a six-top mean. However, a two-top is also called a deuce in restaurant lingo.
Why Do Restaurants Call Tables Two-Tops or Four-Tops?
Calling tables tops, and the number of seats they have two-tops, four-tops, etc. helps make communications among the restaurant staff more brief and efficient. It’s much quicker and easier to say “two-top” than “a table with two guests.” But now that you know, leave this lingo to restaurant professionals. Telling your date you managed to get a two-top at a fancy restaurant is not going to make you sound sophisticated.
Specifically Designed Two-Tops
There are small tables that are specifically designed to accommodate two people. They can be square or round and are sometimes “demilune” or half-moon tables that can be set against walls to take up less floor space.
However, not all tables used as two-tops are specifically designed to only seat two. Some restaurants use tables that can accommodate 4 diners as two-tops. This way, the same table can be used for both purposes. When floor space is limited, this may be a better way to maximize space.
Large Tables with Many Guests: Big-Top
Sometimes, large groups come into restaurants and this requires a number of tables, usually 4-tops, to be placed next to one another to make one large table. When there is a random but large number of guests or covers at one table, this is referred to as a big-top.
Four-Tops are Better than Two-Tops
How many times have you gone to a restaurant and noticed that the group of four people that arrived after you are seated before you? Larger tables with more covers are preferred. Even more preferred are large tables with more covers that “turn” quickly.
To turn a table means to seat, serve, and finish serving a table of guests and have them leave the table so that it can now be made ready for more guests. Such a table is “turned.” Turning a table quickly is called turn-n-burn. The quicker a waiter can turn their tables, the better, unless, that is, a large group of guests are buying a lot of alcoholic drinks. This can change the equation, somewhat.
Four-tops are more profitable. Although a restaurant must be able to serve two guests, a table that only seats two people is, basically, a waste of floor-space. The more four-tops or six-tops you can have in your dining room, the more profitable that dining room will be. Therefore, a busy restaurant does not want to seat only two people at a four-top. If there are no two-tops available, which is frequently the case, a group of four will be seated before a group of two, even if the group of two arrived first.
