In the restaurant industry, the term "cover" refers to a diner who eats or a meal that is served. A cover differs from a table in that it represents only one of the meals served at that table. It differs from a dish in that it includes the extras that a diner orders, such as drinks, appetizers and desserts. When projecting sales, many restaurateurs find that they achieve a greater degree of accuracy by basing their calculations on expected number of covers rather than expected number of tables.