QR menu and ordering software for restaurants and cafés

Wherever an order comes from, one screen in the kitchen

The QR code on the table, the kiosk by the till, the waiter’s tablet and online orders all land on the same kitchen screen. The kitchen prepares each order without caring which channel it came from and marks it “preparing” or “ready”, and both the waiter and the customer can see where it stands from that record. Adding a new channel doesn’t change how the kitchen works.

We suggest starting with ordering from the table and the kitchen screen. Kiosks, online ordering and the till integration are added on top as a real need arises.

What does your own online ordering channel save you?

Orders from your own site or app carry no delivery platform commission; all that remains is the payment provider’s transaction fee. You don’t have to leave the platforms: your own channel runs alongside them, and the more regular customers you move across, the smaller the share that goes on commission. We know the payment side from our own product: we set up iyzico virtual POS and subscription payments for Hippotenus.

Connecting to your existing till and POS software

The connection depends on what your software offers. If it has an API, orders and payments reach the till instantly; if it can only export files, transfers run at set intervals. So the first job is finding out the software’s name and version and looking at that method. If it allows no outside connection at all, we’ll say so up front and suggest a setup where orders gather on the kitchen screen and are keyed into the till by hand.

Which restaurants is a kiosk right for?

Places where customers come to the counter to order and can choose from the menu in a couple of minutes: fast food, coffee chains, food courts. In a restaurant with table service, the QR code on the table does the same job for less. A single-flow ordering kiosk is ready in 3-5 weeks and a kiosk that takes payment in 6-10 weeks; hardware choice and the setup steps are covered in detail on our kiosk software page.

Take a look: the MasaQR concept

MasaQR is a concept we designed for restaurants and cafés: a menu and ordering from the QR code on the table, a kitchen screen where orders land instantly and a table panel that tracks open bills. It runs on sample data and is not client work. You can look through its screens on the concept page below.

An order’s path from the table to the kitchen

The customer scans the QR code on the table, chooses from the menu and sends the order, which lands on the kitchen screen and the table’s open bill at the same moment. The waiter no longer walks over to write the order down, only to bring the plate. The bill is settled at the till or from the customer’s phone.

The flow is simple on paper; the real work is writing down the rules in between. We settle them with you one by one at the design stage:

• Every table has its own code, so the order goes straight onto that table’s bill.
• When an item is switched off in the panel it disappears from the menu at once, so nobody can order what the kitchen has run out of.
• If you prefer, an order only reaches the kitchen once a waiter approves it.
• Calling a waiter and asking for the bill arrive as notifications on the waiter’s tablet or phone.

An off-the-shelf QR menu or a system of your own?

If all you need is to show the menu and update prices, an off-the-shelf QR menu app is the right choice: it costs less and is quick to set up. A system of your own starts to make sense when orders need to reach the kitchen, the till and your accounts on their own, when several branches need managing from one place, or when kiosks and online ordering have to join the same system.

Running every branch from one panel

The menu, prices and product details are set up once at head office, and each branch uses that list with its own differences. A price change at head office reaches every branch’s QR menu, kiosks and online ordering at the same time. A branch manager sees only their own branch; head office sees them all.

The rollout: one branch first

The plan is built to run while the restaurant keeps serving. In the first stage only one branch uses table ordering and the kitchen screen; once the team is used to it, payment, kiosks, the till integration and the other branches are added in turn. Wherever you decide to stop, what has been built up to that point works on its own.

1. 01

   Mapping the flow together

   30 min

   On a free call we go through your branches, how orders are taken today and the till software you use. The first step comes out of this.

2. 02

   Table ordering and the kitchen screen

   2-4 weeks

   Every week you get a working version to try on a real tablet and phone, and the tasks sit on an open list you can see.

3. 03

   A pilot in one branch

   The system runs with real customers in one branch first. Screens that slow the kitchen or the waiters down get simplified during this period.

4. 04

   Payment, kiosks and the till integration

   Virtual POS, kiosks and the till export are added in turn, as needed. If the scope changes, you get the time and budget impact in writing within 24 hours.

5. 05

   Other branches and the first 30 days

   30 days

   Branches are connected to the head-office panel. Bugs found in the 30 days after launch are fixed free of charge, and you receive the source code and documentation.

What to gather before we start

• Your current menu and price list, in whatever format it’s in
• How many branches and tables you have
• The name and version of your till or POS software
• The delivery platforms you work with
• If you’ll take payments online, the payment provider you want to use

Frequently asked questions