Paper kitchen tickets or a kitchen screen: which to pick
Published
In the kitchen, the point is not to look modern but to lose nothing and serve in the right order. Paper tickets and kitchen screens both do that job, and each has its weak spots. Here is how to choose with your eyes open, and how to set up either one.
Start the free trialWhat a good kitchen ticket has to do
Whatever the format, a kitchen ticket must say four things without doubt: which table or order number, what to make and how many, the guest's notes (no onion, well done, sauce on the side), and how long the order has been waiting. If one is missing, the cook has to ask, and every question during the rush costs a minute.
It also has to reach the right station. Orange juice does not belong on the grill ticket, and a tagine does not belong at the bar. So start by listing your stations: bar, hot kitchen, shawarma grill, pizza oven, desserts. They decide the rest.
Paper tickets: strengths and limits
Everyone knows paper tickets, they need no training and they stay readable when the network drops. The cook can hang them, scribble on them and keep them in view. For a small snack bar with one station, paper is often enough.
The limits show when volume rises. Tickets get lost, fall behind the counter and soak up grease. They do not tell you how long an order has been waiting unless someone checks the printed time. Thermal paper fades with heat, and you always need spare rolls.
One point often missed in Morocco: many thermal printers cannot print Arabic. If your menu is in Arabic, each dish needs a ticket name in Latin letters.
Kitchen screens: strengths and limits
A screen shows orders in the order they came in, with the waiting time visible. Nothing falls behind the worktop and nothing fades. When a dish is ready, the cook marks it and the floor knows. For a restaurant that sends starters, then mains, then desserts, a screen helps keep that rhythm.
On the other hand, it needs a spot at eye level away from splashes and steam, a reliable power socket and a stable network. It also takes some getting used to: a cook who has always worked with paper may resist it in the first week. Do not impose it without showing how it works.
Choosing for your kind of venue
A café where everything happens at the bar often needs just one station, and a screen at the bar is enough to follow terrace orders. A snack bar with a grill and a fryer benefits from a clear display of waiting order numbers. A restaurant with several courses gets the most from a screen, because pacing matters.
Nothing forces you to pick only one. Many venues put a screen at the bar, where orders are short and quick, and keep paper in the kitchen, where the chef likes to hang tickets. Try one setup for two weeks before you decide.
Setting up without breaking service
Install the new tool on a quiet day and run the old one alongside it for the first service. Put the screen or printer where the cook already looks, not wherever there happens to be space. Protect the tablet from heat and splashes, and keep it plugged in.
Write down a backup plan: what happens if the printer runs out of paper or the Wi-Fi drops on a Saturday night? A pad of order slips by the pass is often enough. What matters is that everyone knows the plan before it is needed.
Briefing the kitchen
Walk the cook through a test order from start to finish: where it appears, how to mark it ready, what the waiter sees next. Ask them to run three or four test orders themselves. They are the one using it for four hours straight, so their opinion counts more than yours.
After a week, ask what bothers them: text size, screen position, printer noise. Small adjustments like these are the difference between a tool people use and a tool people work around.
With Tablilo
Tablilo supports both. Kitchen and bar screens run on any tablet or screen: drinks go to the bar, dishes to the kitchen, a waiting ticket turns green, then orange, then red, and "Ready" alerts the waiter. A station with no screen has its lines served at confirm, and guests can choose "All together" or "After the meal": with the second, coffee and desserts wait until the guest sends them from the phone.
For paper, Tablilo prints to ESC/POS thermal printers, 58 or 80 mm, through the RawBT app on Android, with a role per device (bar ticket, kitchen ticket, bill). Each dish can have a ticket name in Latin letters. Not every printer model has been tried yet, so test yours during the free trial at /signup.
Related features
- Kitchen display screen (KDS) and bar screenA kitchen display screen on any tablet: drinks to the bar, dishes to the kitchen, tickets that change colour and a 'Prêt' button that alerts the waiter.
- Receipt printer and cash drawer for snack bars and cafés58 or 80 mm thermal printer, bar and kitchen tickets, bills, cash drawer and Z report: the till for your snack bar or café in Morocco, with Tablilo.