Kym Eaton
Posted on 3rd July 2023
Bistro mode is a way for customers ordering at the bar or counter, to order and pay for items but the user can hold off sending the items to production area printers until all customers on the table have ordered. It's useful where customers on the same table place and pay for orders individually, and then their orders are batched sent to the kitchen and bar at the same time.
This means that some venues are set up to always take orders in Bistro Mode, for example at a venue with a dedicated food ordering counter. Other venues use a button to turn Bistro Mode on and off, for example where food and drink orders are placed at the bar.
Learning Areas:
Automatically apply Bistro Mode to all orders Manually add Bistro Mode to orders Using Bistro Mode on the touch screen Putting a Bistro Mode order on hold
Automatically Apply Bistro Mode to all orders
Where every order requires Bistro mode, we’ll set it to automatically apply to all orders in an area such as table or bar.
1. To do this we first Open Service Modes from our Management Console.
2. Then we open Bar or Table (1.) and go to Flags (2.) to turn on further settings.
3. Next check Start new POS orders in Bistro Mode automatically and Use Quick Sale mode (3.). Then we save and exit (4.).
This means that all orders will start in Bistro Mode and once each order is completed and sent to production, the order screen automatically resets in Bistro Mode, ready to take the next order.
Manually Add Bistro Mode to Orders
For venues where Bistro mode is not always required, we can set it up as a button on our touchscreen where we turn it on and off as needed.
1. We first go to Touchscreen Editor from our Management Console.
2. Next, we open a Standard Order page (Base Template).
3. We’ll add a big button by selecting a position and dragging it to highlight two cells.
4. Now we’ll add colour to the button through Default Style. Here we’re making our Bistro Mode button red.
5. Then we add Bistro Mode to the button Text Field and choose the Bistro Mode Key from Key Type and we save the changes.
6. Now we move back to the Management Console to Publish our changes. We can see that there are new settings ready to publish by the orange notifications on the tiles. So we click the Publish button, top right of the screen.
Using Bistro Mode on the Touch Screen
Now, let’s look at Bistro Mode in the POS.
1. Let’s start by choosing Bistro Mode from Service Modes top right of the screen.
2. Now we can see that it’s active on our order screen.
3. Then, we add a table number by clicking Table then adding the number.
4. Now we’ll add colour to the button through Default Style. Here we’re making our Bistro Mode button red.
5. Then we add Bistro Mode to the button Text Field and choose the Bistro Mode Key from Key Type and we save the changes.
6. Now we move back to the Management Console to Publish our changes. We can see that there are new settings ready to publish by the orange notifications on the tiles. So we click the Publish button, top right of the screen.
Next, we’ll look at taking orders in a bar.
1. First, we enable Bistro Mode and now we’re ready to take orders.
2. We add the table number then take the order, payment and send the whole lot to the kitchen.
3. Now we’re presented with the order screen again, but Bistro mode is turned off, ready to take drinks orders again.
4. To turn Bistro Mode off manually, we just use the same button to turn it off.
Putting a Bistro Mode Order on Hold
Next, we’ll learn how to put an order on hold.
This is useful where a group is fragmented throughout the line or when a customer from a group is not ready to order and we take the next group’s order, then come back to the first group later to finish their order.
1. Firstly, open the order and take the first couple or orders.
2. Then we select Exit Order, and Exit order, but we don’t print or finalise it which takes us back to the home screen.
3. On the right under Table, as we have allocated a table number, we can see the notification indicating items have not been sent to the kitchen. When we are ready to dd more or fianlise the order, we select the Expand Icon bottom right-hand side.
4. Then, double-click the order to open it.
5. Lastly, we take the final orders and payments for the group and send it to the kitchen.