Google's Genius New Feature Means Never Waiting In Line For Brunch Again

Gone are the days of waiting in hour-long lines for a sit-down meal at your favorite restaurant. Sometimes mimosas can't wait! Thanks to Google's new feature, diners will be able to know ahead of time how long it'll take to get seated — and even plan ahead to beat the crowd.

Starting November 7, hungry patrons can find the average wait times for nearly a million restaurants on Google Search. "Wait Time" estimates do not function in real-time, but are based on anonymized historical data. This is similar to the company's "Popular Times" feature — which shows how busy a place can be at different hours of the day — and the "Visit Duration" feature, which shows how long customers stay on average at a specific location.

To find wait times, just search for any walk-in restaurant on Google, open the business listing, and scroll down to the Popular Times section where you'll see the estimated wait time at that very moment. Tapping on any of the hour bars will allow you to see the estimated wait time for that period, and by scrolling to the left or right, you can find a summary of wait times for each day.

And just in time for the holidays, this feature will be available for grocery stores experiencing high-volume shopping for Thanksgiving dinner supplies. Not in the mood to cook this season? No worries — here are 18 chain restaurants that will be serving Thanksgiving dinner this year.