Managers' group
NEW ORDER A-142
2 × Chicken burger (No onions, Extra cheese) · 1 × Fries (Large) · Note: "Please add extra napkins" · cash
Home/Features/Special requests
Special requests'No onions' should never be a surprise
GetMenu is a kitchen ordering system that turns special requests into menu choices. Customers online and cashiers at the POS tap "No onions" or "Extra spicy" under the dish, and required choices cannot be skipped. Every choice prints in bold on the kitchen ticket and shows under its dish on the kitchen screen.
The problem
Why special requests like "no onions" get forgotten
A special request is easy to lose when it travels as a loose message. A customer writes "no onions, please" in a WhatsApp chat or says it at the counter. Then someone has to carry it to the kitchen, by memory or on a piece of paper.
On a busy evening, that is where it goes wrong. The person taking orders types the order again for the cook and misses one line. A paper note slides under the next ticket. The cook makes the burger the usual way, and it goes out with onions.
The customer opens the bag and the order is wrong. Someone has to say sorry, and the dish is made again or refunded. For a customer with an allergy, a forgotten request is more serious than a wrong order. A customer who feels ignored may not order again, and may say so in a review.
Required choices
Required options online and at the counter, so no order arrives incomplete
A group you mark Must pick has to be answered before the dish can be added. Nobody can skip it, so the kitchen never gets a burger without its size or a wrap without its sauce.
On your ordering page, a required group has a star beside its name. A group that allows more than one pick says how many, for example "up to 3". The Add button stays off until every required choice is made, and a short line under it says "Choose the required options first". A choice that has run out is crossed out and cannot be picked.
At the counter, the POS lists the missing groups in red beside the Add button. A waiter's phone does the same with the words "Still to answer". Then GetMenu checks every choice again when the order arrives, whether it comes from your ordering page, the counter or a table. If a required choice is missing or too many were picked, the order is not placed, and the person ordering is told which dish to fix.
Online orders
A restaurant kitchen order system for online orders, on WhatsApp
For an online order, GetMenu sends the full ticket to your managers' WhatsApp group the moment the order is placed. Each dish is on its own line with its choices in brackets, such as "2 × Chicken burger (No onions, Extra cheese)".
Nobody types the order again, so nobody can miss a line. The customer's note sits on its own line under the dishes. Everyone in the group, the cook included if you add them, reads the same ticket.
Your riders' group gets its own ticket for a delivery order. It shows the building, the unit number and the map link, and under them the same dishes with the same choices. So the rider can check the bag against the order before leaving, and a wrong size is found at your counter, not at the customer's door. These WhatsApp tickets come with every plan. With the POS add-on, a phone order typed in at the counter goes to the riders the same way, choices included.
How every order reaches your managers and riders on WhatsApp
Riders' group
DELIVERY A-142
Palm Court, unit 1204 · map link · customer's phone · collect cash · 2 × Chicken burger (No onions, Extra cheese) · 1 × Fries (Large)
Both tickets go the moment the order is placed
Kitchen screen
Kitchen display system software: every choice under its dish
With the POS add-on, an iPad, an Android tablet or a phone can become your kitchen screen. Counter sales, table rounds, online orders and the phone and WhatsApp orders your cashier types in all appear on it, each dish with its choices on a line right under it.
The dish name stands out, and its choices sit beneath it in amber, so "No onions" is read together with the burger it belongs to. When a customer's note mentions an allergy, it shows in a red box above the dishes, where the cook looks first.
The cook taps each dish when it is done, so a half-finished order is easy to spot. If your kitchen has stations, such as a grill and a drinks counter, a screen can show only the dishes its station cooks. This is a KDS POS system: online orders also show on the POS screen at the counter, beside the counter sales. You add a choice once, and the counter and your ordering page both offer it.
How the POS and your ordering page share one screen and one ticket
Printed tickets
Kitchen POS system: a printed ticket for each station
Some kitchens prefer paper. The GetMenu POS prints a kitchen ticket for every order, from the counter, a table, your ordering page or a WhatsApp chat. Each station gets a ticket with only the dishes it cooks.
Every ticket carries the same order number in large print, so the parts of one order are easy to match when they meet. The ticket says whether the order is for delivery, collection or a table. There are no prices on a kitchen ticket, because a cook does not need them.
Each dish has its own line, and special requests are printed in bold on the kitchen ticket, right under the dish. So "No onions" or "Extra spicy" is hard to miss on a busy evening. A note that mentions an allergy prints in big bold capitals above the dishes. The POS prints from an iPad, an iPhone or an Android device, on USB (on the LAN), network, Bluetooth and built-in printers.
HOT KITCHEN
A-143
Collection13:05
2 × Chicken burger
No onions, Extra cheese
1 × Lamb kofta wrap
Garlic sauce, Extra spicy
The drinks station gets its own ticket with the same order number.
Order notes
Order notes at checkout: what customers can write, and who sees it
Customers can also write a note for the whole order. At checkout there is a box called Notes for the restaurant, for anything your choices do not cover, such as "please add extra napkins" or "a candle for a birthday".
The note goes to your managers' WhatsApp group on the order ticket, on its own line under the dishes. It is one note for the order, not one for each dish. When a note mentions an allergy, the kitchen sees it at once. It prints in big bold capitals at the top of the kitchen ticket and shows in a red box above the dishes on the kitchen screen.
Read your notes for a week. If the same request keeps coming back, such as "no onions" or "well done", add it to the dish as a choice. Then customers tap it instead of typing it, and it prints in bold under the right dish.
Setting it up
What you set up for special requests
Add choice groups to your dishes
Name each group, add its choices and give a choice an extra charge where it costs more. Or write the choices in the Options column of the Excel template.
Menu, then a dish, then Choices and extras
Mark what must be answered
Tick Must pick on groups like a size, a spice level or a sauce, and set Max picks to the number of choices allowed.
Menu, then a dish, then Choices and extras
Choose your WhatsApp groups
Link your WhatsApp number by scanning a QR code, then pick the managers' group and the riders' group that get each ticket.
Settings, then WhatsApp connection & groups
Pair a kitchen screen
With the POS add-on, add a device as a screen in the kitchen and enter its one-time code on the tablet or phone.
Settings, then The POS
Set your stations and printers
Add a station for each part of the kitchen, give it its printer, and choose which station cooks each dish. Every ticket and screen then shows only its own dishes.
Settings, then Printing & receipts
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Can customers ask for changes to a dish when they order online?
Yes. You add the changes customers often ask for as choices on the dish, such as No onions, Extra spicy or Sauce on the side. The customer taps them in the dish's window, and each one stays with its dish on the kitchen ticket, the kitchen screen and the WhatsApp ticket. For anything else, the checkout has one note box for the whole order.
How do I add a free choice, like one sauce out of three?
Open the dish on the Menu page and go to Choices and extras. Press + Add a group and name it Sauce. Tick Must pick, set Max picks to 1, then add the three sauces and leave their price empty. The customer must pick exactly one sauce before the dish can be added to the cart, and it costs nothing extra.
Can a choice make a dish cost more or less?
It can make it cost more. Each choice can add an extra charge, such as extra cheese or a large size, and the total in the cart includes it. A choice cannot take money off the price. For a small and a large portion, give the dish the price of the small one, and give the large choice an extra charge.
What happens if a customer forgets to pick a required choice?
They cannot add the dish without it. The Add button in the dish's window stays off until every Must pick group is answered. GetMenu also checks the choices again when the order is placed. If one is missing, for example because you made a group required after the customer added the dish, the order is not placed and the customer is told which choice to pick.
Where does the customer's order note show up?
On your managers' WhatsApp ticket, on its own line under the dishes. A note that mentions an allergy also prints in big bold capitals at the top of the kitchen ticket, and shows in a red box above the dishes on the kitchen screen. A request about one dish works best as a choice, because it then prints in bold right under that dish.
Do I need the POS add-on to see special requests in the kitchen?
No. On every plan, your managers' WhatsApp group gets each online order with every dish and its choices. The POS, a yearly add-on, adds the kitchen screen and a printed kitchen ticket for every order, and lets cashiers and waiters pick the same choices at the counter and the tables. The pricing page shows the plans and the add-on in your own currency.
Do my riders see what the customer asked for?
Yes. The ticket in your riders' WhatsApp group lists every dish with its choices in brackets, under the building, the unit number and the map link. The rider can check the bag against that list before leaving, so a missing extra or a wrong size is caught at your counter. The customer's free-text note goes to the managers' group, not to the riders.
Do phone orders keep the customer's special requests?
Yes. A phone order, or an order a customer sends in a WhatsApp chat, is typed in once at the POS. The cashier taps the same choices your ordering page offers, so each request prints in bold on the kitchen ticket and shows on the kitchen screen. For a delivery, your riders' WhatsApp group gets the ticket the same way as an online order.
Keep reading
POS with online orderingHow counter sales, web orders and WhatsApp orders share one menu, one POS screen and one kitchen ticket.Kitchen display system: when a screen beats paperWhen a kitchen screen works better than printed tickets, and what to check before you choose.The menu guideStep-by-step help on choice groups, the Excel template and dish photos.See the plans and pricesThe plans and the POS add-on, in your own currency.
Let the kitchen see exactly what the customer asked for
Try GetMenu free for 15 days, with no card needed. Add choices to your dishes, place a test order on your own page, and see how it reaches your managers' WhatsApp group.