Waiter tablet ordering that sends orders from the table to the kitchen

The walk to the counter

In most dine-in restaurants, a waiter takes the order on a notepad, walks to the counter, waits for the cashier to punch it, and walks back. The cashier reads his handwriting. A second round of drinks means the same walk again. On a full Friday night the counter becomes a queue of waiters, and the kitchen gets orders in bunches instead of as they are taken.

Waiter tablet ordering removes that walk. The waiter opens the ArfaPOS Order Taker app, picks the table, taps the items, adds notes like "no onion" or "extra raita", and sends. The order is on the kitchen display system and at the counter before he has left the table.

What the Order Taker app covers

• Order taking. Full menu with variants and deals, table selection, order instructions and customer details.
• Order management. Live order list, reopen and modify, cancel with a reason. Walk-in, takeaway and delivery as well as dine-in.
• Kitchen view. The kitchen order board with how long each order has waited, and ready status, so the waiter picks up food on time.
• Delivery. Delivery order list and rider assignment, for managers running delivery from the floor.
• Reports and expenses. Managers can check revenue, peak hours and top products, and record an expense the moment it happens.

Control without slowing the floor

A tablet in every waiter's hand raises a fair worry: who stops someone from giving free food to friends? ArfaPOS answers with role-based access. Waiters see only what a waiter needs. Discounts and deleting items need a manager PIN. Every order is tied to the staff member who placed it, and the order takers report shows each waiter's orders and sales. Cancelled orders keep their reason, so a pattern of cancellations from one person stands out.

A worked example: time back on the floor

These figures are an assumption to show the method. A family restaurant takes 150 dine-in orders a day. Suppose each order taken on a tablet saves one round trip to the counter of about 2 minutes.

Five hours a day is most of a waiter's shift spent serving tables instead of walking. Whether you use it to serve more tables at peak time or to run the same hall with less rush, the cost difference is small against it. Tablet ordering is part of the Business plan at Rs 14,999 a month.

Printing without new printers

Tablets do not need their own printers. The Order Taker app prints kitchen tickets and bills through the ArfaPOS desktop at the counter, using the USB or network thermal printers already there. A print server setting in the admin portal points tablets at the right counter. If your kitchen works from a screen, nothing needs printing at all until the bill.

Tablets and QR ordering together

Some diners like to order from their own phone, others want to talk to a waiter. ArfaPOS handles both. QR orders from the table land on the waiter's tablet with the table number, so the waiter knows what table 9 asked for without being called. See QR menu ordering and table management software for how tables, QR cards and tablets fit together.

Updates reach the tablets over the air, and the AiroxLab team sets up the app, tables and print server remotely. Tell us how many tablets and which ones you plan to use through the Get a quote form and we will check them with you before you buy.