Menu categories
A tree of categories and subcategories, colour and icon, order at the register, archiving unused ones.
Categories are what the cashier sees in the first row of the sale screen. Their order directly affects how fast an order is entered.
Tree
Categories have two levels: “Kitchen → Hot dishes”, “Bar → Cocktails”. The second level is optional — one level is enough for a small menu.
If a category has more than twenty items, split it: the cashier stops finding dishes by eye and starts using search, which is slower.
Colour and icon
Categories can be coloured and given an icon. This is not decoration: coloured groups are spotted out of the corner of the eye, and a new waiter gets up to speed faster.
Order
The order is set by dragging. A sensible rule is by frequency: what is ordered every day goes first.
The order of dishes inside a category is set in the same place or in the layout.
Archive
A seasonal category is not deleted but archived: the sales history stays intact, and the category disappears from the menu. You can bring it back at any time — handy for seasonal menus.
A category that contains dishes cannot be deleted — it goes to the archive together with them. Details: Archive and deletion.