Free kitchen display system: run your kitchen without paper tickets

A kitchen display system (KDS) shows incoming orders on a screen instead of on printed tickets. Cooks see what to make, in what order, for which table. A free KDS is useful for a small kitchen if orders reach it reliably and it is easy to read during a rush.

What the free kitchen display includes

GiveMyMenu’s kitchen display is part of every plan, including Free. Orders from the counter POS and from guests’ table QR codes appear on the same screen. Each ticket shows the table or room, the items and how long it has been waiting. Staff move it from received to preparing, ready and served. The screen refreshes on its own.

Hardware you already have will usually work

The display runs in a web browser. A tablet, an old laptop or a computer with a wall screen can all work. Choose a screen large enough to read from where the cooks stand, and mount it away from heat and splashes. It needs a working network connection; it does not store orders offline.

Split food and drinks by station

Give each menu item a preparation station, such as Kitchen or Bar. Each station can then show only its own items. Test a mixed order to make sure the bar sees the drinks and the kitchen sees the food. An order counts as ready only when every station has finished its part.

Screens, paper or both

Some kitchens like a paper ticket as well as a screen. The Free plan includes kitchen and receipt print views, which print through the browser to a printer you have set up. Test the paper width and margins on your printer before service. Keep the screen as the main source of order status, so staff do not have to sort through a pile of old tickets to see what is still pending.

Run one rush before you rely on it

1. Place five orders quickly from two devices.
2. Check that each one appears once, at the right station.
3. Move them through preparing and ready.
4. Reload the screen and confirm nothing is lost.
5. Agree a paper fallback for a connection drop.