Restaurant Operations
How Restaurants Can Reduce Time Spent Taking Orders
Taking an order costs more time than the minute at the table. Staff wait for guests to be ready, answer the same questions about ingredients, write the order down, carry or re-type it for the kitchen, and come back when something is sold out. Restaurants save that time by letting guests order from their own phone or a kiosk when they are ready, by putting the answers to common questions in the menu itself, and by sending every order straight to the kitchen in one format.
Where the time actually goes
- Walking to a table that is not ready to order yet, and coming back.
- Explaining dishes, allergens and options, table after table.
- Writing the order, then entering it again into a till or reading it out in the kitchen.
- Returning to say a dish is sold out, and taking a second order.
- Fixing mistakes caused by handwriting, noise or a missed note.
Let guests order when they are ready
When guests can order from their own phone at the table, nobody waits for anyone: the table orders when it has decided, and staff spend their time on drinks, advice and service. The same idea works at the counter with a self-order kiosk, and for takeaway with an online menu link.
How this works step by step: how QR table ordering works.
Put the answers in the menu
- Allergens on every dish, so the question does not need a trip to the kitchen.
- Options and sizes with their prices, which the guest chooses without staff explaining them.
- Photos for dishes guests do not know.
- Sold-out dishes marked before anyone tries to order them.
One route from order to kitchen
| Order taken | Should arrive in the kitchen as |
|---|---|
| By the guest at the table | An order with the table number on it |
| By staff at the table or on the phone | The same kind of order, entered once |
| At a kiosk or counter | A pickup order with a name |
| Online for pickup or delivery | An order with the channel and the guest's details |
If every order lands on the same kitchen screen or printer, nobody re-types anything and nothing is lost between the floor and the pass.
Some guests will always rather order from a person, and some orders still come in by phone. Those take the least time when the member of staff keys them straight into the same system the guests use, once, while the guest is still there to confirm it, instead of writing them on a pad and typing them up later.
More on the kitchen side: what a kitchen display system is.
Taking orders with Thmenu
With Thmenu, guests scan the code on their table, choose options and add notes, and send the order themselves; it arrives on the PIN-protected kitchen display with the table number, where a member of staff accepts it before it is prepared, and stations can split the work. Staff can also key in an order from the order entry page in the panel, for a table or as a takeaway or delivery order with the guest's name, phone and address. Because staff have already confirmed it with the guest, it skips the accept step and goes straight to the same kitchen display, lowers stock the same way as a guest's order, and its receipt can be printed right away; a takeaway order gets a counter number just like one a guest placed. Any tablet can run a self-order kiosk for pickup orders, and your menu link can take pickup and delivery orders. Kitchen tickets and receipts print on ESC/POS printers connected over USB, serial or Bluetooth from Chrome or Edge. A dish marked sold out cannot be ordered, and guests can still call a waiter from the menu when they want a person.