Odoo Restaurant POS: How to Take Orders at the Table Without Paper Tickets
Short answer
With Odoo restaurant POS, servers take orders at the table on a phone or tablet and send them straight to the kitchen printer and kitchen screen. The kitchen marks each ticket as preparing and ready, the floor can transfer, split or merge tables, and checkout handles discounts, tips and split bills in one place. Every sale updates stock and accounting in Odoo automatically, so there are no paper tickets, no re-typing and no end-of-day spreadsheets.
Friday night, every table is full, and a server is walking back to the counter with a handful of paper tickets. One ticket is hard to read, one gets left on the counter, and one table changes its order after it has already gone to the kitchen. The food comes out late, the guests are unhappy, and at closing time the manager is trying to match receipts to cash.
Most of those problems come from the same place: orders travelling on paper between the table, the kitchen and the register. This guide explains how Odoo restaurant POS replaces that paper with tableside ordering, what it looks like for servers, the kitchen and the manager, and how to roll it out.
Why paper tickets slow your restaurant down
- Lost or unreadable tickets: a misplaced or misread ticket means a wrong dish, a remake and a longer wait.
- Extra walking: servers walk back and forth to a terminal instead of staying with their tables.
- No live kitchen status: the floor cannot see whether a dish is still being prepared or already waiting to be served.
- Slow, error-prone checkout: splitting bills, applying discounts and adding tips by hand slows the table turn.
- Messy closing: matching paper tickets, card slips and cash takes time and hides mistakes.
What tableside ordering with Odoo POS looks like
Odoo Point of Sale includes a restaurant mode with floor plans, tables, guest counts, kitchen order printing, bill splitting and tips, all on the same database as Odoo Inventory, Purchase and Accounting. To make ordering at the table faster on phones and tablets, Vizion Tools, the company behind OdooVizion, built Vizion Order Taker, a restaurant order-taking app that runs on Odoo POS. Here is how a service runs with it:
1. Take the order at the table
The server picks the table, enters the number of guests and adds dishes and extras on a phone or iPad. If guests move, tables can be transferred, split or merged in one tap.
2. Send it straight to the kitchen
The moment the order is sent, the ticket prints in the kitchen and appears on the kitchen screen. Each ticket moves through pending, preparing and ready, with prep time tracked, so the floor knows exactly when food is coming. Online orders are flagged when they are ready for pickup.
3. Check out fast
At the end of the meal, the server applies discounts or coupons, adds tips and splits the bill if needed. The receipt prints and the cash drawer opens from the same screen.
4. Close the day in a tap
At closing, the manager cashes out and sees revenue and sales reports straight away. Menu, floors and kitchens are all managed in one place in Odoo POS.
Watch the 90-second demo: a busy Friday night on Odoo restaurant POS
Follow a service from the first order at the table to the final bill: tableside ordering, table transfers and splits, kitchen tickets and prep timers, checkout and closing the day.
Paper tickets vs Odoo restaurant POS
| Task | Paper tickets | Odoo restaurant POS with tableside ordering |
|---|---|---|
| Taking the order | Handwritten, then re-entered at a terminal | Entered once at the table on a phone or tablet |
| Sending to the kitchen | Server walks the ticket over | Prints and shows on the kitchen screen instantly |
| Order status | Ask the kitchen | Pending, preparing and ready, with prep time |
| Table changes | Rewrite tickets | Transfer, split or merge tables in one tap |
| Checkout | Manual totals, split bills by hand | Discounts, coupons, tips and split bills on one screen |
| End of day | Match paper, slips and cash | Cash out with revenue and reports in a tap |
| Stock and accounting | Updated separately, later | Updated automatically in Odoo with every sale |
Why run your restaurant on Odoo, not a standalone POS
Many restaurant POS systems only handle the front of house. Odoo connects the POS to the rest of the business, so the numbers stay in one place:
- Inventory: ingredients are tracked as dishes are sold, so you know what to reorder.
- Purchasing: create purchase orders to suppliers from the same system.
- Accounting: sales, payments and taxes post to your books automatically.
- Multiple locations: manage several outlets, menus and kitchens with one view of performance.
- Employees: manage staff and access rights in the same system.
See everything Odoo can do for food service on our Odoo restaurant management software page.
What hardware you need
- Phones or tablets (such as an iPad) for servers
- A kitchen screen and/or a kitchen printer
- A receipt printer and a cash drawer
- A supported card payment terminal
Most restaurants can reuse devices they already own. We check what you have before go-live, so service is not interrupted.
How to roll it out in your restaurant
- Map your floor and menu: tables, sections, dishes, modifiers and kitchens.
- Set up Odoo POS: floor plans, payment methods, taxes, printers and the kitchen screen.
- Connect stock and accounting: link dishes to ingredients and post sales to the right accounts.
- Train your team: a short hands-on session for servers, kitchen staff and managers.
- Go live on a quiet day: start before a weekend rush and keep support close for the first services.
As an Odoo Certified Partner, OdooVizion handles this end to end through our Odoo implementation services, and can tailor screens, reports or integrations with Odoo customization. Moving from another POS or from spreadsheets? See our Odoo migration services. For a retail example of Odoo POS in action, read how a retail store grew with Odoo POS.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is tableside ordering?
Tableside ordering means servers take the order at the table on a phone or tablet instead of writing it on a paper ticket. The order goes straight to the kitchen, so there is no walk back to a terminal and no handwriting to misread.
Does Odoo POS work for restaurants?
Yes. Odoo Point of Sale has a restaurant mode with floor plans, tables, guest counts, kitchen order printing, bill splitting and tips. It shares one database with Odoo Inventory, Purchase and Accounting, so every sale updates stock and the books automatically.
What is Vizion Order Taker?
Vizion Order Taker is a restaurant order-taking app built by Vizion Tools, the company behind OdooVizion, that runs on Odoo POS. Servers use it on a phone or iPad to take orders, transfer, split or merge tables, and send tickets to the kitchen printer and kitchen screen.
Can I split bills and add tips in Odoo restaurant POS?
Yes. You can split a bill by item or by guest, apply discounts and coupons, add tips, print receipts and open the cash drawer from the same checkout screen.
What hardware do I need?
Phones or tablets for servers, a kitchen screen and/or kitchen printer, a receipt printer, a cash drawer and a supported card terminal. Most restaurants reuse devices they already have; we check compatibility before go-live.
How long does it take to set up Odoo POS for a restaurant?
A single-location restaurant with a standard menu can usually go live in a few weeks. The timeline depends on menu size, number of kitchens and locations, hardware and any integrations such as online ordering or delivery apps.
Ready to retire the paper tickets?
If your servers still write orders by hand, tableside ordering on Odoo POS can speed up every service, cut mistakes and give you clean numbers at closing. OdooVizion is an Odoo Certified Partner serving restaurants and food businesses in the USA and UAE.
Tell us about your restaurant and we will show you how your floor, kitchen and register would run on Odoo.
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