At peak hours, the question servers hear most is usually not "can I order?" but "is our food being made yet?", "how many drinks has our table ordered?", "what's the total so far?". Each question sends someone running to the kitchen or the counter to check, while other tables are waiting. If the restaurant already has QR ordering codes on its tables, guests can check most of these themselves: the same page they just ordered from also holds their table's order. This article covers what guests see there, how item statuses are shown, how to order more, and what the restaurant needs to do so guests actually use it.
What guests see on their table's order page
| Part of the page | What guests see | Question it removes |
|---|---|---|
| Item list | Item names, quantities, options and add-ons, notes sent; free gift items clearly marked | "How many drinks has our table ordered?" |
| Status of each item | Which step each item is at; items the kitchen marks as out of ingredients shown in red | "Is my dish being made yet?" |
| Money | Subtotal with the number of items, discount, total | "What's the total so far?" |
| Order information | Time ordered, paid or not yet paid, whether the restaurant has confirmed the order | "Has the restaurant received my order?" |
This is the table's shared order, not only the items guests tapped themselves. Items a server ordered for them or the cashier added at the counter are in the same list, so guests only need to look in one place.
How item statuses are shown
How detailed the status is depends on how the restaurant sets up its kitchen. If the restaurant only prints kitchen tickets, guests see each item as "Waiting to notify kitchen" or "Kitchen notified". If the restaurant updates items on a kitchen display screen, guests also see "Waiting to prepare" and "Preparation done". If the restaurant turns on the QR order confirmation step, a newly sent order shows as "not yet confirmed" until the cashier approves it, so guests know the order has reached the restaurant rather than being lost.
The key point is that the status is only correct when the kitchen taps correctly. If the kitchen finishes a dish without tapping, the guest's page stays at the old step, guests go back to asking, and next time they stop trusting the page. Once a kitchen display is set up, keep the habit of tapping "done" as soon as a dish goes out.
Ordering more and calling staff from the same page
- Extra orders go into the table's shared order. After ordering, guests tap continue ordering to choose more. New items are added to the table's order, and the kitchen only receives the newly ordered part instead of reprinting the whole order.
- Guests are notified when the cashier adds items for the table. When the cashier adds items for a table using QR, the guest's page shows the notice "The cashier is adding items to your table", so guests are not surprised to see unfamiliar items in the list.
- Call service button. For things not on the menu such as more ice, napkins or clearing the table, guests tap the button and the cashier and staff receive a notification with the table name and time of the call.
- Locked while paying. While the cashier is processing payment for the order, guests cannot make changes on the page, which avoids extra items slipping in just as the bill is printed.
Three things to make guests actually use this page
- Say one sentence at the first order. "You can check which dishes are being made in the code on your table." Most guests scan the code to order and then close it, without knowing there is an order page to check.
- Keep kitchen statuses clean. As mentioned above, if the kitchen taps late the page is wrong and guests come back to ask staff. Remind the kitchen once at the start of the shift, and at the end of the shift check which items are still stuck at an old step.
- Make clear that the subtotal is a subtotal. The figure on the page is the table's running subtotal up to that moment; the final bill is settled by the cashier at payment. Seeing the subtotal beforehand means fewer surprises when the bill arrives, but it does not replace the bill.
How Ordersys helps
In Ordersys ordering software, guests scan the QR code at the table to order, review the table's order, the status of each item, the subtotal and payment status; extra orders go into the table's shared order and the kitchen only receives the new part; tapping call service notifies the cashier and staff. Restaurants can try it free for 7 days. For tables that order in many rounds, see how to keep them on one bill in the article on combining multiple rounds of orders into one table bill, and for guests who tap the wrong dish via QR, read guests ordering the wrong dish via QR: confirming and cancelling.
Ordersys has editions for restaurants and for retail stores: checkout, stock, reports and e-invoices, with on-site setup and training.
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