Kitchen Display System (KDS)

What you will learn: how to set up a DineNGo kitchen display, switch between light and dark themes, and route tickets to specific stations.

What the KDS is

The KDS is an Android tablet (or any DineNGo-compatible screen) mounted in the kitchen that shows incoming order tickets in real time. Cooks bump tickets when an item is plated; the system clears the ticket and updates the order status everywhere else.

Pair a KDS

1. Admin → Devices → + Add Device → KDS.
2. Give it a name — KDS – Hot Line, KDS – Salads, etc.
3. A pairing code appears.
4. On the tablet, open DineNGo, tap Pair, enter the code.
5. The screen shows the empty ticket grid.

Themes

Open Devices → KDS → Display:

• Light theme — high contrast for well-lit kitchens.
• Dark theme — easier on the eyes in low-light prep areas.

You can also flip the theme directly on the device by holding three fingers on the screen for two seconds and selecting Theme from the popup.

Ticket layout

A ticket shows:

• Order number and channel (Kiosk, Table, QR, Cashier, Delivery).
• Items, quantities, and modifiers (modifiers are indented under the item).
• Special notes the guest added at checkout.
• Elapsed time since order placement — turns yellow at 8 minutes, red at 12 minutes.

Station routing

If you have multiple KDS screens — say a hot line and a salad station — you can route only the items each station needs.

1. Open Inventory → Stations.
2. Create stations: Hot Line, Salads, Drinks.
3. Assign each item to one or more stations.
4. Open Devices → KDS → Stations and pick which stations this KDS listens to.

Now the salad KDS only sees lettuce-and-tomato items, and the hot line only sees fryer and grill items. Drink-only items can also be routed to a beverage station or skipped if drinks come from the counter.

Bump and recall

• Tap a ticket to mark items prepared; tap Bump to clear the whole ticket once all items are out.
• Tap Recall to bring back the most recently bumped ticket if something needs to be remade.

When the KDS goes offline

If the tablet loses Wi-Fi, the KDS shows a red banner and queues incoming tickets. When the connection returns, the queue replays automatically. No manual sync is needed.

For chronic offline issues, see 10-Troubleshooting.

Next steps

• Send tickets at the table instead of at a register: 04-Devices/03-Table-Device.
• Tune kitchen flow: 06-Orders-and-KDS-Flow.