How to send the order to the kitchen, and what comes next

What happens the moment you send

Sending the order to the kitchen is the tap that turns a Draft into a real order. While you build the list, the items exist only on your screen: you can change the quantity, fix the note, delete what the guest changed their mind about. The second you send it, every item gets the time it was sent and it becomes official for everyone — the kitchen, the guest at the table and the owner's Dashboard.

It doesn't go to just one kitchen. Every menu item already comes with the prep station that makes it, so the same order can split up: the drink at the bar, the dish at the grill. A custom item, the one you type on the spot, goes to the restaurant's first active kitchen. On the table's tab it's still a single order, with a single total — what gets divided is the work.

Why send it instead of shouting the order

• Nobody shouts orders through the window. What the station reads is exactly what you tapped: quantity, size, flavors and the guest's note highlighted. No doctor's handwriting and no "did you really say no onions?".
• The display updates by itself. The kitchen screen stays connected to the server and gets the order the same instant, with nobody pressing refresh and without losing the scroll position of whoever is working.
• The guest follows along without asking. Anyone who opened the table QR code sees the order jump to Preparing as soon as you send it, and to Ready when the station marks it done. Fewer people raising a hand to ask how much longer.
• You can send in rounds. The starter now, the dessert in a bit: each send carries only the new items and the bill stays open on the same tab.
• Who sent it and when is on record. Sending saves the time and the waiter in the order's history, which settles any argument about a slow kitchen versus an order that went in late.

How to send the order to the kitchen in 6 steps

Six steps, from a last look at the list to the dish arriving at the table.

1. Check the list before sending

   With the items entered, the bottom bar shows the count and the total: Review order on a Draft, Review new items on a tab that was already sent. Tap it to open the review. There you can still change quantities, write notes, delete an item or add a custom item by typing its name and price, like R$ 42,00.

2. Tap Send to kitchen

   The button sits at the bottom of the review and only works when there's at least one new item to send. One tap and we stamp the send time on every item, change the order from Draft to Ordered and record which waiter sent it — the order's history keeps that.

   Tip: A sent item can't be taken off the list anymore: the app replies "This item was already sent to the kitchen.". Items not sent yet can be removed with Discard new items; to drop the whole order, use Cancel order.

3. See the confirmation and head back to the floor

   On a new order, the Order sent! screen opens, with the table, the order number and how many items went — it's there so you can put the phone down with peace of mind. Tap Back and you're back in the dining room view. When you send new items there's no such screen: the order reloads with the items already in the sent section.

4. The order appears on the kitchen display

   Each prep station sees only its own items. The card shows the table, the order name if there is one, and the items with quantity, size, flavors and the notes highlighted. The tag starts at Ordered, and the display swaps the list by itself when the order arrives — nobody has to press refresh on the kitchen screen.

5. The ticket can print

   If that station has printing turned on, the same send also drops a ticket in the thermal printer's queue: a header with the restaurant, station, table, order number, waiter and time, and the items right below. When you're sending new items on an open bill, the ticket prints marked as additional, so the kitchen doesn't redo what it already made.

6. Wait for READY and go serve

   At the station, the cook taps READY? item by item — or ORDER READY? on the whole card, if the restaurant turned off Complete item by item in Settings. At that same moment the Ready to serve bar pops up on your phone with the table. Brought it to the table? Tap Serve on the item, or Serve order to clear everything at once.

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Draft

An order's first status, while the waiter is still putting the list together and nothing has gone to the kitchen yet.

Tab

The open bill of a table, where items add up until it's closed.

Kitchen

The display where orders show up and move from Preparing to READY.

Kitchen display

The wall screen that shows that prep station's queue live, protected by a password.

Prep station

The station that makes one kind of thing: grill, cold station, bar, pastry.

Ready

An item's status after the prep station marks it done; the waiter is alerted right away.

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