Definition of "couvert"

Earl Carroll's Theater-Restaurant, 6230 Sunset Blvd. Dinner from 7:30 to 11 p.m., no couvert; without dinner, admission charge.

1941, Federal Writers' Project, Los Angeles: A Guide to the City and Its Environs

[…] the habit of hotel restaurants charging a couvert to residents, and of clubs charging table money to their own members.

1965, The Spectator

The couvert is a “cover charge” that is a prima facie charge for bread, which is brought to the table automatically in most places.

2010, Karen Torme Olson, Frommer's Croatia