How to follow live orders on the Dashboard

What this self-updating list is

Live orders is the main card on the Dashboard: the list of orders happening right now, one per row, with the table, items, waiter, total, time open and status. It's the same information the waiter sees on the phone and the kitchen sees on the display, just gathered on one screen, from the point of view of whoever runs the restaurant.

This list isn't a still photo: it updates itself. The Dashboard keeps a connection open to the server and, whenever something changes in the restaurant's orders, the server lets it know and the page redraws itself in place, without reloading and without you pressing anything. Around it sit the day's numbers, the load on each kitchen and the waiters who have orders in hand.

Why watch the dining room from here

• You see the whole dining room from one place. Instead of walking from table to table or shouting to the kitchen, the list shows who's waiting, for how long and where each order stands.
• Delays show up before the complaint. Each row says how long ago the order was opened, and the top compares today's average prep time with the house target. A queue growing at a prep station shows up in its little load bar.
• No F5 in the middle of a rush. Updating is automatic: a new order from a waiter, an item marked READY at a station or a PIX payment reported by a customer reach the screen within seconds, even if the Dashboard has been open since the restaurant opened.
• From looking to acting in one tap. Click the row and the order opens: you can close the bill, mark it as paid and free the table without relying on the waiter's phone.

How to follow live orders in 7 steps

There are seven steps, from signing in to closing a table's bill without leaving the Dashboard.

1. Open the restaurant Dashboard

   Sign in to your account and, in the top menu, tap Restaurant Dashboard — the address is qmen.us/restaurante/painel/. At the top are the greeting with your name, the Open now or Closed label, based on your opening hours, the link to your public page and today's date. On the right, the Settings shortcut and the Reports button.

2. Read the four numbers at the top

   Active orders counts everything in progress and breaks down below how many are preparing and how many are ready. Occupied tables shows occupied tables out of the total and how many are free right now. Revenue today adds up only the orders marked as paid today, with the average order beside it. Average prep time shows today's real average in minutes, next to the house target you set in Settings.

3. Understand each row of the list

   The Live orders card shows up to eight orders, newest to oldest. Each row has the Table number (or Tab, if your restaurant uses that word), the items in the order, the item count, the waiter in charge, the total (say, R$ 42,00), how long ago the order was opened and the status label. A delivery order, which has no table, shows a bag icon instead of the number. When things are quiet, the card says there are no active orders right now.

4. Know what each label means

   Ordered is what the waiter just sent to the kitchen. Ready appears when every item has been marked done at its prep station. Served means the food is at the table: the bill can stay open, and it remains on the list until you close it and free the table — once closed, it stays visible for another half hour. Preparing comes back when new items are added to an order that was already ready or served.

5. Let the list update itself

   No need to press F5. The Dashboard keeps a connection open to the server and, whenever something changes in the restaurant's orders — a waiter sending one, a station marking items done, a customer reporting a PIX payment — the screen redraws itself in place, without flickering and without losing your scroll position. If the connection drops, it comes back by itself, and there's also a safety net that rechecks everything once a minute. While the browser tab is hidden, we hold the updates and catch everything up as soon as you return to the Dashboard.

   Tip: Leave the Dashboard open on a tablet at the register: it stays up to date all day without anyone touching the screen.

6. Open the order to act on it

   One tap on the row opens the order: the table, the order name when there is one, the waiter, each item with its status and the total. That's where the owner's actions are — Close bill, which stops new items from being added, Mark as paid and Free table, which hands the table back for the next guests. Each of them shows up instantly on the Dashboard, on the waiter's phone and on the screen the guest opened through the table QR code.

7. Check kitchen load and the team

   In the right-hand column, Kitchen load shows how many items are in each prep station's queue, with a little bar that fills as the queue grows: you can see at once if the grill is swamped while the drinks bar is calm. Below it, Waiters on shift lists who has an active order right now and how many each one is handling; anyone without an order at the moment shows as no orders right now.

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Dashboard

The owner's screen, at qmen.us/restaurante/painel/, with active orders, occupied tables, today's revenue and a shortcut to Settings.

Live orders

The Dashboard card that lists orders in progress, one per line, and updates by itself with every change in the restaurant.

Kitchen load

The Dashboard section showing how many items are in each prep station's queue right now, with a little bar that fills up as the queue grows.

Served

The order's status once every item has been served; the bill can still stay open.

Close bill

Closes the tab for payment. After that, the order becomes a read-only summary and takes no more items.

Free table

The owner's action that hands the table over to the next guests; it leaves the occupied count and the order drops off the live list.

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