What we give away free in the QR menu

On most tools that offer a QR menu, the free tier means this: the customer scans the code, sees the menu, then calls the waiter over and says the order out loud. Taking orders, the waiter panel and the kitchen screen are tied to a paid plan.

Ours was built differently: the whole ordering flow is open. The limits are not features but numbers — how many products, how many tables, how many images.

The ordering flow

The customer scans the code on the table and the menu opens on their phone. They add to the basket, write a note if they want, and send it.

The order appears on the waiter panel with an audible alert and the table number. The waiter approves it and the order drops to the kitchen screen. The kitchen marks each item "ready" as it goes.

After the first order the approval step falls away: until the tab closes, further orders from the same table go straight to the kitchen.

An order does not go straight to the kitchen; it passes the waiter's approval first. That is a deliberate decision: an order landing on an empty table, or sent by mistake, has to be something the waiter can reject.

What happens at the table

• Table tab — order piles on order, and the table clears when the bill is settled
• Call the waiter and ask for the bill buttons
• Moving tables — the tab moves with the customer
• Merging tabs — two tables collected onto one bill
• Splitting the bill — selected items separated onto their own bill
• All three are written into a log: who, when, from which tab to which

The menu side

Variants and extras. Small or large tea, pide size, extra cheese, lactose-free milk. The price is entered as a difference: +10 or −5 on top of the base price. When prices rise, changing the base price is enough.

Stock by the unit. Bottled water is tracked in pieces, one sale takes one off. Fresh orange juice in millilitres: a glass is 250 ml. Ice cream in grams: a scoop is 80. A large tea takes off twice what a small one does. Leave the amount blank and that product is not stock-tracked.

Product detail. Allergens, calories, preparation time; labels like new / popular / vegan / spicy; a product image.

Five languages. Turkish, English, Russian, German, Arabic. You choose which ones to switch on; a product with no translation shows in Turkish. In a tourist area, the menu opening in the right language is a precondition for taking the order at all.

The look is yours. Background, text, button colours and image corners are the business's choice — the dark/light preference on the customer's phone does not change the menu. A café's menu should look the same to everyone.

Kitchen and bar kept apart

Each product gets a preparation station: kitchen, bar, desserts. A mixed basket — meatballs and a cola — is split onto separate tickets, and each ticket drops to its own screen. The bar tablet shows only bar orders.

In a single-station business nothing changes; everything stays on one kitchen screen.

The till and the money

The payment method is recorded: cash, card, split (part cash, part card), on the house and on account. Comped items and running tabs are usually missing from Western products but are a daily occurrence in a Turkish restaurant.

A running tab goes into the ledger: who owes what, and when a payment is entered the balance comes down on its own.

Tips can be left by the customer — added to their bill, with the till taking the money. It does not mix into takings; it is recorded separately and which waiter it went to can be traced.

The end-of-day report

Takings, number of tabs, average tab, cash and card collected, running tabs, comps, discounts, tips. A breakdown by payment method. How many of each product sold. Busyness by the hour. A breakdown by waiter. The cancellation rate.

You pick the date range: today, yesterday, this week, this month or custom.

Staff accounts

Separate accounts for waiters, the kitchen and the till. Each sees only its own screen: the kitchen cannot edit the menu, a waiter cannot close the till. Waiters can be assigned to tables.

The QR codes

Table QR codes are printed from the panel — cards with cut lines, on an A4 sheet. There is no need to download them and lay them out in another program. The code is permanent: printed once, and it stays the same even if the table is renamed.

The limits

On the free tier: 200 products, 20 categories, 30 tables and 60 images. 300 KB per image.

For most cafés and restaurants these numbers are comfortable. If your business needs more, the limits can be raised.

What we do not do

Saying these at the start beats disappointing you later:

• No in-app payment. No deposits, no online collection, no commission. Payment is at the till.
• No bookkeeping or e-invoicing. There is an income and expenses ledger, but no official documents.
• No cash register (ÖKC) integration.
• No courier or delivery tracking. The system is built around tables.
• No table reservations yet. The system starts the moment a guest sits down; holding a table for a future date is out for now. Everything after they sit down — menu, ordering, tab, till — already works free.

How to start

Open an account and switch the QR menu on from the panel. You enter your business details, build your menu, add your tables and print the codes. You open separate accounts for the waiters and the kitchen.

If you want help with the setup, write to me.

If it is the cost side of the menu you are interested in, the portion cost calculator is free too and asks for no sign-up.