Kitchen display (KDS) or kitchen ticket printer: how to choose
When the floor takes an order, the ticket has to reach the kitchen with no mistakes and without anyone calling it out twice. There are two common ways to do it: print a ticket in the kitchen or show the order on a screen, the KDS (kitchen display system). Neither is best for every venue; it depends on your volume, your kitchen and your team. This guide helps you decide.
01What each option is
The kitchen printer prints a ticket in the kitchen (or at each station) when the order is sent; the cook hangs it on the ticket rail and removes it when done. The KDS shows orders on a screen, usually a tablet or a touch monitor: each order is a card that is marked as it progresses, for example received, in preparation and ready.
02How the order travels in each case
Example: table 4 orders two starters and two mains, one gluten-free. With a printer, the server enters it in the POS, a ticket comes out with the note “gluten-free” and the cook hangs it up; if the table adds a dessert, another separate ticket comes out that has to be matched with the first. With a KDS, the order appears on screen with the note next to the dish and how long it has been waiting, and when the kitchen marks it ready, anyone looking at the screen sees it. In both cases the POS saves calling out the order; the difference is in what happens next.
03Decision matrix
These are the criteria that weigh most when choosing. Use them as a guide: your specific case (kitchen size, menu and team) comes first.
| Criterion | Kitchen ticket printer | Kitchen display (KDS) |
|---|---|---|
| Order volume | Works well at low or medium volume; with many tickets hanging it is easy to lose or skip one. | Sorts orders by age and keeps whatever has been waiting longest in view. |
| Stations | To separate stations (grill, cold, desserts) you need a printer at each one. | One shared screen or one per station, depending on what the software allows. |
| Hardware | Thermal printer and paper rolls; simple, familiar equipment. | Tablet or monitor with a mount and a power socket nearby. |
| Network | The printer has to be connected to the POS (by cable, local network or wifi). | Needs a stable connection in the kitchen; if the system is cloud-based, internet too. |
| Heat, grease and cleaning | The printer copes well; paper gets stained, wet and lost. | Best with a protected screen or a case, easy to clean and away from burners and splashes. |
| Contingency | If the printer fails or runs out of paper, the order does not arrive: keep a spare and a paper plan. | If the screen or the connection fails, have a plan B: another tablet or paper tickets. |
| Timing | The ticket does not say how long each order has been waiting. | Each order shows how long it has been in the kitchen. |
| Consumables | Thermal paper and printer maintenance. | No paper; the cost is the device and replacing it if it breaks. |
04When a printer makes sense
In small kitchens with a single station, a short menu and moderate volume; with teams used to paper tickets; and in kitchens where heat, steam or lack of space make a screen awkward. Also if you already have printers working without problems: changing for the sake of it adds nothing.
05When a KDS makes sense
When there are peaks with many orders at once, several channels coming in (dine-in, orders from the table by QR, takeaway), frequent changes or notes on many dishes, and when you want to know how long each order takes. The screen avoids lost or illegible tickets and lets the whole team see the same status for every order.
06Mixed setups and a contingency plan
It is not all or nothing: some venues combine a screen in the hot kitchen with a printer at the bar, or the other way round. Whatever you choose, define what happens if something fails mid-service: who notices, where the spare device is and how orders keep flowing, even on paper, until it is fixed. Rehearse it on a quiet day, not on a Saturday at ten at night.
07What Tablezio offers
Tablezio includes a kitchen display (KDS) that runs in the browser of any tablet or computer, with no proprietary hardware. Orders from the POS and those guests send from the table via QR appear in three columns (new, in preparation and ready), oldest first, with each dish’s notes, how long they have been waiting and an urgent flag after 15 minutes. One tap moves each order to the next status, and the screen refreshes every 10 seconds. Tablezio does not send tickets to kitchen printers today: if your kitchen needs printed tickets, bear that in mind when deciding. The KDS is included in the Pro plan, alongside the POS.
Printer or screen is not a question of being modern but of fit: volume, stations, space and what you will do when something fails. Go through the matrix with your kitchen in mind, try it on a quiet service and decide based on what you see.