Waiter
The waiter workspace is the floor: what has been ordered, which tables are in what state, and what still needs finishing after guests have gone.
Three tabs
Section titled “Three tabs”| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Orders | Every live order in the branch |
| Spots | The floor map: every table, room, cabin and tapchan |
| Released | Sessions where the guest has left but something is unresolved |
Orders
Section titled “Orders”The board shows live floor work: order number, guest, spot, and where the order has got to.
Search covers order numbers, guest names and spots — type any of them.
Filters narrow the board:
- Ready — food waiting to be taken out
- Partial — partly served, still owing something
- Prep — with the kitchen
- Closure — nothing blocking except closing it
- Payment — held up by payment
- Aging — sitting too long
Sort by urgency puts the most pressing first. When you have four things at once, this is the fastest way to decide what to do next.
List or Cards switches how densely the board is drawn. List fits more on screen; cards are easier to read across a room.
Confirming a guest is at their table
Section titled “Confirming a guest is at their table”When a guest orders from their phone, they choose their own table. Someone has to confirm they are really there before the order is treated as a table order.
Orders waiting for this show as Pending confirmation. Open the order and confirm — or correct it if they are somewhere else.
Do it promptly. Until it is confirmed, the guest sees their order sitting in limbo, and so does the kitchen.
Serving
Section titled “Serving”Open an order to see its items and mark what you have taken out. Partly-served orders are tracked as partial, so a table that got three of four dishes does not read as finished.
The floor map, showing every spot and its state:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Available | Free for a new guest |
| Occupied | A session is running |
| Cleaning | Being turned around |
| Maintenance | Out of service |
Facets narrow the view: Serve for spots with something to take out, Blocked for spots that cannot be used, and filters by spot type.
Tapping a spot opens its session — status, guest, when it opened, what has been served, and what is blocking closure.
The three session actions
Section titled “The three session actions”Guest departed. Record that the guest has left. This does not close anything — it starts the follow-up clock so unfinished work stays visible.
Close session. Finish the visit. Only available once nothing is blocking it. If it refuses, the screen tells you what is still outstanding — usually payment or unserved food.
Free the spot. Release it to cleaning so it can be reused. Press and hold — freeing a spot that is still in use is a real problem on a busy night.
Add a note leaves context for whoever picks the session up next: left before food was ready, left after a partial serve, left with unresolved items. On a shift change this is the difference between someone understanding the situation and someone guessing.
Where the branch runs a tab
Section titled “Where the branch runs a tab”Some branches take payment with each order; others let a table run a tab and settle once, on the way out. If yours runs tabs, dine-in orders start being prepared while still unpaid, and the session carries a running outstanding total across everything ordered at that table.
Two things follow, and both show up on the session:
A session cannot close while its tab is outstanding. That is the same blocker as any other — the screen names it, and the way past it is settlement, not closure.
A tab has a ceiling. Your branch sets how much one table may run up. When an order would cross it, that order is refused and says so, naming the limit and what is already open. Nothing already on the tab is affected, and it is not a mistake you made — it is the branch’s limit doing its job. Take payment for what is open, and the table can carry on.
If the restaurant decides not to collect a tab at all, that is a write-off, and it is a different permission and a different act from closing the session. Clearing a table and forgiving a bill are not the same thing, and a written-off tab stays visibly unpaid rather than quietly becoming takings.
Released
Section titled “Released”
Released is the queue that stops things being forgotten: sessions where the guest has gone but something is unfinished.
Each entry tells you why it is there:
- Guests left the spot, but cashier confirmation is still blocking closure.
- Part of the released session is only partially served and still needs waiter follow-up.
- Ready items still need a final waiter handoff even though the spot is already free.
- Kitchen work is still in progress even though the guest already left the spot.
- No serve or payment blocker is left. The session only needs explicit closure.
Sessions stay here until their follow-up is resolved. A period filter — 3h, 6h, 12h, day, 3 days, week, month — lets you look back as far as you need.
Clear this queue before you go home. It is the shortest list in the app and the one that causes the most trouble when it is ignored.
Day-to-day recipes
Section titled “Day-to-day recipes”A guest ordered but is at a different table. Open the order and correct the spot when confirming. Do not just serve it to the right table and leave the record wrong — the next person will not know.
Food is ready and the guest has gone. The session moves to Released with ready items need a final handoff. Box it, hand it over if they come back, or resolve it with a manager. Then close.
A table looks occupied but nobody is there. Open the session. If they have gone, record the departure and add a note. Free the spot once nothing is outstanding.
The board is empty and I know there are orders. Check the branch name at the top. Then check the status strip — offline or stale means you are looking at an old picture. Refresh.
Someone else moved the order while I had it open. You will be told. Refresh and look again: they may have already done what you were about to do.
A guest wants to add more food. They order again from their phone with the same spot, and it joins the same visit. Nothing needs closing first.
A guest wants to pay. Payment decisions belong to the cashier. Point them at the till or get the cashier — a waiter cannot confirm a payment.
What a waiter cannot do
Section titled “What a waiter cannot do”Deliberately, and it saves arguments:
- Confirm a payment. Only a cashier decides that.
- Change a submitted order’s items. Submitted orders are fixed.
- Close a session with blockers outstanding. Resolve them first.
- Work in another branch. Switch branch to work there.