What is a KOT?
Updated
A KOT is a kitchen order ticket. It tells the kitchen which dishes to prepare for an order, with quantities and any cooking notes. The ticket follows the food through preparation. The guest bill records what the guest owes, so the two documents serve different jobs.
In a restaurant using paper, a member of staff writes the order and takes a copy to the kitchen. With a POS, the order can produce a printed ticket or appear on a kitchen display. Either way, the cook needs a clear instruction that belongs to the right table or takeaway order.
A ticket needs a clear destination
Put the table number or takeaway reference where the cook and the person at the pass can find it quickly. Keep the order time and ticket reference visible. Those details help staff distinguish a new order from an older one that is still waiting for a dish.
Write quantities against each dish. Attach a note to the item it changes, rather than leaving it at the bottom of a long order. If one portion needs no onion and another is standard, the kitchen should be able to tell which is which without calling the floor.
Read the order back before sending it. A clear ticket cannot correct a wrong quantity or an instruction that the guest never gave. For allergy requests, staff should speak with the kitchen and confirm what it can prepare safely; a printed note alone is not that confirmation.
The pass keeps the order together
Once the kitchen accepts the ticket, it needs a consistent way to show what is being prepared and what is ready. At the pass, staff match the finished dishes to the ticket before taking them out. Keep unfinished items visible until they have been served.
A table may order again after its first round. Make that extra round recognisable as a new instruction for the same visit. Sending the full original order again without a clear distinction can lead to food being cooked twice. Staff should be able to explain which dishes are new.
Paper needs a correction routine
Handwriting becomes harder to read during a rush. Slips get wet, a runner leaves one by the wrong counter, or a verbal change reaches one cook but misses another. A numbered pad and a fixed place for new tickets help, but everyone still needs the same correction routine.
If a guest cancels a dish, tell the kitchen promptly and get an acknowledgement. Record whether preparation had started and whether food was wasted. Crossing out the floor’s copy does not tell the cook to stop. Keep the original reference with the correction so staff can trace what happened.
Treat a reprint as a copy of an existing instruction. Before cooking from it, check whether the first ticket is already in progress. Agree who can ask for a reprint and how the pass identifies it. This matters most when someone assumes a printer failed and sends the ticket again.
Test the handover during service
Watch one order travel from the table to the pass. Note where staff have to ask for missing information. Test an extra round and a cancellation while the original order is still open. If cooks keep asking which dish a note belongs to, put the note directly below that dish on the ticket. Check the next round with the cook at the pass.
Maharaj Terminal sends KOTs to network thermal printers and has a kitchen display for live tickets. Item notes stay with the order. Check the kitchen arrangement in a demo with your own menu.