Once guests can order from their phone, every order has to land somewhere staff will see it. For a small café, that usually means one of two things: a screen behind the counter, or a ticket from a receipt printer. Both work. They suit different kitchens.
How a kitchen screen works
A kitchen screen is a live list of orders on a tablet, laptop or wall-mounted display. In Café QR it has three columns: New, Preparing and Ready. Staff tap an order to move it along, and it drops off the screen when it is done.
What a screen does well:
- It shows the whole queue at once. Staff can see how many orders are waiting and how long each has been there.
- Status goes back to the guest. When an order is marked ready, a counter customer's phone updates to tell them.
- Nothing to refill. No paper rolls, no jams.
- It can chime when a new order arrives, so nobody has to keep watching it.
Where it struggles:
- It needs a spot where staff can see it and reach it with clean hands.
- Tablets get knocked, splashed and borrowed.
- In a separate kitchen, someone has to walk back and forth to check it.
How printed tickets work
A receipt printer produces a ticket for each order, showing the table or name, order number, items, options and notes. Café QR supports cloud-connected kitchen printers, including Star CloudPRNT and Epson Server Direct Print models, so tickets print without a computer attached.
What tickets do well:
- They travel. A ticket can go on the rail, sit with a tray or go out to a table with the food.
- Nothing to tap. Staff who are busy making drinks do not need to touch a screen.
- Familiar. Most kitchen staff already know how to work a ticket rail.
Where they struggle:
- There is no live overview. Once a ticket is on the rail, how old it is depends on someone noticing.
- Paper runs out, usually at the worst moment.
- Tickets do not update the guest. Someone still has to call the name or carry the order out.
Which to choose
A small counter café with one person on coffee: start with the kitchen screen. The queue is visible at a glance, and the ready status helps counter and takeaway customers.
A café with a separate kitchen for food: use a printer in the kitchen for food orders, and keep the screen at the counter for drinks and the overall queue.
A busy bar or coffee station with no free hands: tickets may suit better, with the screen kept for whoever runs the pass.
Using both is common. The printer handles the making, and the screen keeps track of what is waiting and what is ready.
A few habits that help either way
- One owner per shift. Someone should be responsible for the new-order column or the printer during each service.
- Mark orders ready promptly. The ready status is only useful if it is accurate. Guests waiting on it will notice.
- Keep notes short and visible. Allergy notes and "no onions" need to stand out on a ticket and on screen.
- Test after changes. After moving the printer or changing Wi-Fi, place a test order before service.
Getting started
Open the Kitchen screen from the Café QR dashboard on whichever device sits behind the counter, and tap the sound button so new orders chime. If you want tickets too, add a printer under Till & printers.
For more on the screen itself, see the kitchen display system page. For the wider picture, see the features page, the restaurant POS page or how orders flow in QR table ordering.