Contents Cut the Busywork
Part II · Fill tables. Keep guests.

Chapter 8: You’re missing the private party money.

Time90 minutes
You needYour floor plan, your menu and costs, covers by day
You leave withMinimum spends, packages and replies that close

The leak

Private events are some of the best money in a restaurant: guaranteed guests, a set menu, a deposit up front. Yet the inquiry arrives by email, Instagram or a phone message, sits until someone has time, and gets a reply like “let me check with the chef.” By then the person planning the birthday has booked somewhere that answered.

Operators know there’s money here. Adding more ways to make money, like catering, was the fastest-rising goal in Toast’s 2026 survey (Toast).

What it costs you

A private event has to earn more than the regular guests it replaces. Work out what that space normally earns in that time slot, add a premium for the extra work, and turn it into a minimum spend:

Minimum spend = normal contribution for that space and time × (1 + premium) ÷ share of event spend you keep after food and drink
Worked example · Mirela is fictional

Mirela’s back room seats 20. A normal guest leaves $38.50 after food and drink. With a 30% premium, and 70% of event spend left after food and drink costs, rounded up to the next $100:

Normal guests in the roomNormal contributionMinimum spend before tax and service
Saturday, 7–10pm30 1.5 turns$1,155$2,200
Tuesday, 7–10pm12 0.6 turns$462$900

That second row is the opportunity. A Tuesday party barely displaces anyone, so Mirela can price it attractively and still earn far more than a normal Tuesday. Price Saturdays high. Sell Tuesdays hard.

The fix

  1. Work out your minimum spends for each space, day and time in the Private Event Builder, right below.
  2. Build three packages with Prompt 1, from dishes that earn well (Chapter 2). For example: a family-style supper, a full feast, and a full buyout with a minimum spend. Fixed menus make costs predictable and the kitchen calmer. The Builder checks each package against your minimums.
  3. Decide your terms once, so nobody has to “check”: deposit to hold the date, final headcount deadline, what’s included (tax, service charge or gratuity), cancellation rules. The Builder writes them up from your answers.
  4. Turn the packages into a one-page PDF you can attach to every reply. AI writes it; lay it out in any design tool or template.
  5. Reply within the hour, while open. The Builder writes a reply from three details: date, party size, occasion. Always give two options and one clear next step.
  6. Follow up three times, then stop: day 2, day 5, day 10. The Builder writes all three; so does Prompt 3.
  7. Keep a simple inquiry list: date received, name, date requested, size, status, value. The Event Inquiry List in the kit shows your close rate within a month.
Worked example · Mirela’s reply to a birthday inquiry · fictional
Hi Dana, happy early birthday to your partner. Saturday the 14th is open for 18 guests in our back room. Two options that work well: Family Supper at $65 per person, or The Feast at $85 with an extra course. The room has a $2,200 minimum on Saturdays. If a Tuesday works, it’s $900. The full menus are attached. Want me to hold the date? A $300 deposit secures it. — Mirela

It answers the real questions (is it free, how much, what do we eat) and ends with one easy yes.

Tool · About 6 minutes

Price your private room.

Minimum spends for each day and time, packages checked against them, and a reply, follow-ups and terms ready to send. There’s a worked example inside.

No sign-up. Your numbers stay on this device.
In the kit · a working sheet
  • Event Inquiry ListEvery inquiry, its status and value, your close rate and how fast you reply. Opens in Excel or Google Sheets.

The prompts

Prompt 1 · Build the packages
Here is my menu with prices, plate costs and how each dish ranks: [paste]. Build three private event packages for groups of [10–30]: a simple family-style option, a fuller option, and a whole-room buyout with a minimum spend of [$]. For each: name, what’s included, price per person, plate cost per person and contribution per person. Use dishes that earn well. Add an optional drinks package. Show your working.
Prompt 2 · The reply
Write a reply to this event inquiry: [paste]. Our packages: [paste]. Minimum spends: [paste]. Terms: [deposit, headcount deadline, service charge]. The requested date [is / isn’t] available; if not, offer [alternatives]. Warm, specific, under 120 words. Give two options and end with one next step: holding the date with a deposit.
Prompt 3 · The follow-ups
Write three short follow-up emails for an event inquiry that hasn’t replied: day 2 (helpful, answer a likely question), day 5 (mention the date may not stay open, honestly), day 10 (a gracious last note that leaves the door open). Under 60 words each. No pressure tactics, no fake urgency.

Three decisions this week

i.Your minimum spends for every space and day, written down.
ii.Your three packages and your terms, on one page.
iii.Who replies to inquiries, and the promise: within the hour while open.
Your takeaway · Chapter 08

What you leave with

Run the Private Event Builder with your own numbers and this section fills in: your result, a PDF of it and your plan as text.

  • Your minimum spends, packages and repliesWaiting for your numbers.
  • 08Event Inquiry ListEvery inquiry, its status and value, your close rate and how fast you reply. Opens in Excel or Google Sheets.
  • Numbers from another device?Load a backup file you downloaded there.