Setting Up the Kitchen Display System (KDS)

The Kitchen Display System is a live screen that shows every incoming order as it is placed at the front of house or online. Instead of paper tickets, your kitchen team sees orders on a tablet or monitor with colour-coded priority, item details, and time elapsed. Orders move through statuses — new, in progress, ready — so front-of-house staff know exactly when to collect.

Navigate to Restaurant > Kitchen from the sidebar. Click Enable KDS. Choose a display name — for example Main Kitchen or Grill Station. Select which order categories route to this display. If you have a separate drinks bar, create a second display that only receives beverage orders. Each display gets a unique URL you can open on any device with a browser.

Order routing controls which items appear on which display. Go to KDS Settings > Routing Rules. You can route by product category — all starters to the cold station, all mains to the hot station. You can also route by tag if you use custom tags on menu items. Orders that span multiple stations appear on all relevant displays simultaneously.

The KDS shows a timer on each order from the moment it was placed. Orders turn amber after your configured warning threshold — the default is 10 minutes — and red after the critical threshold. You can adjust these in KDS Settings > Timing. Staff can tap an order to mark items as in progress, and tap again to mark as ready. The front-of-house view updates instantly.

Any modern tablet with a web browser works as a KDS. For best results, use a 10-inch or larger screen mounted at eye level in the kitchen. Enable full-screen mode in your browser to remove distractions. The KDS interface is designed for touch — large tap targets, high contrast text, and no scrolling needed for the current order queue.