Does the customer need an app to order from the table?

No. They scan the QR code at their table with their mobile camera, your menu opens, they add dishes to the cart and send the order. The order appears instantly on your Orders panel with the table number.

Does iaMenu charge a commission per order like Glovo or Uber Eats?

No. QR orders are included in your plan: Professional includes 200 orders per month and Premium offers unlimited orders. No commission per order or percentage on the ticket.

Can I use orders if my business does not have tables (food truck, take away)?

Yes. The ordering mode works without tables: the customer orders with their name and picks up at the counter. Tables and schedules are optional.

How do I prevent fake orders or orders from people not in the restaurant?

You have 4 operating modes. In 'approval' mode, no order enters the kitchen without staff acceptance. Additionally, there are anti-spam limits by IP, cooldown by table, and each table's QR carries a unique token that is impossible to guess.

A simplified view for the floor staff: the waiter sees the grid of tables on their mobile, opens a table, and takes the order using the same visual menu that the customer sees. Waiters can log in with a 4-digit PIN, no email required.

QR Orders at the Table, Tables, and Waiter Mode: the Ordering System for Restaurants by iaMenu

10 minutes

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QR Orders at the Table: Your Restaurant Takes Orders Alone

The leap from "QR menu" to "ordering system" is the one that saves the most time in the dining area: the customer scans the QR of their table, orders from their mobile, and the order appears in your kitchen kanban with a notification sound. No apps, no commissions per order, and no need to change your POS — iaMenu is the complement that takes the order, not a replacement for your cash register.

What you will learn in this section

Activate digital orders and choose the mode of operation
Create your tables (types: dining room, bar, terrace...) and their QR codes
How the customer orders from the table
Manage orders in the kanban: receive, prepare, serve
Waiter Mode: take orders from the waiter’s mobile
Waiters with PIN (no email)
Takeaway orders and without a table

Step 1: Activate orders and choose mode

In the side menu, go to Orders → Settings. Activate "Digital orders on your public menu" and choose how you want to operate:

Digital order settings of iaMenu with operation modes

Mode	What it does	Ideal for
Only call waiter	The customer presses a button and notifies the dining area; no cart	Classic service with digital assistance
Local cart (show to waiter)	The customer builds their list and shows it to the waiter	Smooth transition to digital ordering
Direct order to kitchen	The order goes directly to the kanban (recommended)	Terraces, high turnover, few staff
Order with approval	Staff accepts each order before it goes to the kitchen	Total control, Premium

Additionally, you configure: how many minutes before closing you accept orders, if the customer can add notes per dish ("no onion"), estimated preparation time, and a welcome message for the cart.

Plans: Professional includes 200 orders/month; Premium, unlimited and all 4 modes. Starter does not include orders.

Step 2: Create your tables and their QR codes

Go to Tables in the side menu:

Restaurant table view in iaMenu with table types and real-time status

Create tables one by one or in bulk ("create 12 tables" in one click)
Each table has a type (🍽️ table, 🍻 bar, 🍸 cocktail, 🔒 reserved, ☀️ terrace), capacity, and location
Each table receives a unique and unalterable QR: if you change the menu, the QR still works (never reprint)
Open/close table: when seating a group, you open the table; all their rounds of orders are grouped with the total accumulated

To print nice table QR codes, use QR Posters → Table QR: generate a multi-page PDF with the same elegant template for all your tables, with the number of each one. More in the QR code section.

Step 3: This is how your customer orders

Customer adding a dish to the cart from the mobile digital menu

The customer scans the QR of their table → your menu opens with the notice "Table 4"
They press "+ Add" on the dishes they want (with photos, allergens, and description in their language)
The floating cart button shows the total at all times

Customer's cart with products, notes, discount code, and send order button

In the cart, they can adjust quantities, add notes per dish, enter a discount code (from your promotions), and leave their email for offers (opt-in that feeds your CRM)
They press "Send order" → they receive a link to track their order and request the bill, without registering

iaMenu order kanban with columns for received, preparing, ready, and served

While the customer orders from their mobile, you see the order come in on the Orders panel in real-time, with a notification sound. Each card shows the table, the dishes, the notes, and the elapsed time.

Importante

The price that the customer sees when ordering is FROZEN in the order (snapshot). If you change a price later, already sent orders are not altered. The final bill is charged by your usual POS: iaMenu does not process payments from the diner.

Step 4: The kitchen kanban

The Orders panel is a Trello-style board with the complete cycle:

Received → Preparing → Ready → Served → Completed

Drag the cards between columns or use the buttons (Take → Ready → Serve)
Mark individual dishes as ready: the card shows the progress "2/3 ready"
Multi-cook: each cook can "Take" orders and filter only their own
Full-screen kitchen mode for the kitchen tablet (KDS)
History + CSV export: all past orders, filterable by date, table, or cook
Statistics: average ticket, cooking times, peak hours, and top products in Statistics

Step 5: Waiter Mode

For the dining staff, there is a dedicated view designed for the waiter’s mobile:

iaMenu waiter mode with the table grid and its status

In the side menu, press Waiter Mode (appears when orders are activated)
The waiter sees the table grid with its status: free, open, with pending orders
Tap a table → take the order using the same visual menu as the customer (photos, allergens, everything)
The order enters the kanban like the others, with the name of the registered waiter

They can also register manual orders that come in by phone or WhatsApp with the "+ New order" button on the panel, indicating the source.

Step 6: Waiters with PIN (no email)

Your waiters do not need a corporate email. Like in professional POS:

In My Team, create a "Waiter (PIN only)": name + 4-digit PIN
The waiter logs in from their mobile by selecting their card and typing their PIN
Their session lasts 12 hours and they only see what they need: Orders, Reservations, Tables, and Menu
Changing the PIN invalidates previous sessions (employee leaving = one click)

Step 7: Takeaway, food trucks, and businesses without tables

Tables are optional. If the customer scans your general QR (without a table):

The order asks for their name ("Order for Sofia") and goes to the kitchen the same way
Perfect for takeaway, food trucks, and counters
Orders without a table are marked with 🥡 in the kanban

Tip

Hours are also optional: without configured hours, orders are accepted at all times. If you set hours, outside of hours the customer sees "We open at 12:00" with your phone number to call.

What iaMenu DOES NOT do (on purpose)

Does not charge the diner: the bill is charged by your POS. iaMenu takes the order.
Does not issue tax invoices: that is already done by your POS.
Does not deliver: for delivery, connect your menu to external channels.

Philosophy: a tool that helps, not complicates. iaMenu is the best complement to your POS, not its replacement.

Common troubleshooting

The customer does not see the order button

Check that "Digital orders" is activated in Orders → Settings, that your plan includes it (Professional/Premium or trial), and that you are within the ordering hours.

The order does not sound in the kitchen

The sound requires that the tab of the panel is open. Activate the speaker icon in the header of the Orders panel and increase the volume of the kitchen device.

An order arrived at the wrong table

Open the order → "Move table" → choose the correct table. You can move the loose order or all rounds of the session.

Ready for your tables to order on their own?

Try iaMenu for 14 days free — orders included in the trial, no card required.