Restaurant guide, part 1: signing in and taking an order

This is part 1 of 3 of the Xenia restaurant guide: 1. Signing in and taking an order · 2. The kitchen, the bill and getting paid · 3. The menu, stock and the end of your shift.

This guide is for the people who work in the hotel restaurant: waiters, the person at the till and the kitchen. It uses a made-up hotel, Sunrise Hotel in Lagos, and its restaurant, Sunrise Grill, so no real guest or figure appears. If you work the bar, read the bar guide too, because the screens are the same and only the work is different.

Accept your invitation

The owner or a manager invites you by email with the Restaurant role. Open the email, follow its link, add your name, phone number (with the country code) and a password of at least 10 characters with upper and lower case letters and a number, agree to the terms and choose Create account and join. The front desk guide shows this page. The link works once and expires after a week.

What you see

You land on a short welcome page. It nudges you to turn on two-step sign-in, which asks for a code from an app on your phone after your password. Do it: every order you take carries your name, and two-step sign-in stops anyone else using it.

The menu on the left shows only what you need:

• Orders: where you open tables and take orders.

• Kitchen and bar: the tickets for what has been ordered.

• Outlets and menu: the menu and its prices.

• Price rules: happy hour and other time-based prices.

• Store and Stock items: what is in stock.

• Notifications and Security: messages for you, and your own password.

The order screen

Open Orders. At the top choose the outlet you work in (here, Sunrise Grill). The screen has three panes:

• On the left, the open tables and tabs, each with the number of items and the total so far. New table or tab starts another.

• In the middle, the menu in its categories (Mains, Sides, Drinks). Tap a dish to add it.

• On the right, the order you have chosen: every item, the VAT and service charge, and the total.

Open a table

1. Choose New table or tab.

2. Type which table it is, for example "Table 14". For a guest paying later you can type their name instead.

3. Choose Open it.

Add dishes

Tap a dish to add it to the table. Items go straight to the kitchen and the order shows each one as Sent.

• More than one: use the − and + at the top of the menu to set the number first, then tap the dish.

• A note for the kitchen: type it in the Note for the kitchen or bar box first (for example "No pepper"), then tap the dish. The note is printed on the ticket and shown under the item.

• Another category: choose Sides or Drinks above the dishes.

The totals underneath are worked out for you: the items, the VAT, the service charge and the total. The service charge and VAT follow the outlet's settings, so do not add them yourself.

Fix a mistake

If you tapped the wrong dish, use Void beside it. Xenia asks Why is it being voided?. Type a short, honest reason and choose Void it. The item stays on the order, struck through, with your reason, so there is a record. The kitchen sees the void on its ticket. A big void waits for a manager to approve.

An order with nothing on it can be removed with Cancel this order.

Next: Part 2: the kitchen, the bill and getting paid.