Restaurant POS for Kenya: from the table to the kitchen to M-Pesa
BlueDuka for restaurants runs the floor, the kitchen and the till in one system: waiters take orders at the table on a phone, the kitchen sees them on a screen or printed ticket, and the bill is paid by M-Pesa or cash and split as the guests like. Every new restaurant gets a month free.
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Tables and waiters
- A plan of your tables showing which are free, ordering, waiting for food or ready to pay
- Waiters take orders on their own phone; each waiter sees their tables and their sales
- Waiters are told the moment the kitchen marks a dish ready, wherever they are in the app
- Areas and tables given to each waiter for their shift
- Move a table, merge tables or hand an order to another waiter
- Takeaway and delivery orders next to the tables
Connect your front-of-house, kitchen and finances
A waiter takes the order at the table on their phone. Food goes to the kitchen and drinks to the bar, each on its own ticket or screen, and the waiter is told when the food is ready. Every plate takes its ingredients out of stock through its recipe.
The bill is split between guests and paid by M-Pesa or cash, and each waiter's shift has its own report. Low ingredients go on a purchase order, waste is recorded with a reason, and the day's sales, costs and profit are in the books without anyone copying them.
With rooms, a guest's dinner and drinks go on their room and are paid with the nights at check-out, and a wedding or conference books the hall, the meals and the guests' rooms on one bill.
The kitchen and the bar
- Each round prints a kitchen ticket without prices, food to the kitchen and drinks to the bar
- A kitchen screen shows every order in the order it came in; the cook taps ready
- Item options like sizes, add-ons and "no onions" go straight to the cook
- Recipes: each dish sold uses up its ingredients, so stock and food cost stay right
- Waste and batch cooking recorded, so you know where food goes
- Bottled drinks with barcodes: scan them onto an order or into stock with a scanner, or just the phone's camera, so no scanner needs to be bought
Bills and payments
- Split a bill by item or share it between payers
- Tips and service charge on the bill
- M-Pesa PIN prompt for the exact amount, or cash, or both
- Receipts printed, or sent on WhatsApp
- Waiter shifts closed with the cash and M-Pesa each waiter took
Rooms, for hotels, lodges and guest houses
On Restaurant Pro, a restaurant with rooms runs the rooms in the same account: reservations, check-in and check-out, deposits by M-Pesa, restaurant and bar bills charged to the room and paid at check-out, housekeeping, and occupancy, average rate and RevPAR reports. Guests can also book a room online, with photos of each room, and confirm it with an M-Pesa deposit. Calendars stay in step with Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia. Halls and spaces are booked for weddings, conferences and group stays, with meals, extras and the group's rooms on one bill. There is no limit on the number of rooms.
Only what a restaurant needs
A restaurant account shows restaurant screens: tables, kitchen, menu, recipes, waste, shifts and reports by dish and by waiter. Shop features like promotions and loyalty points are left out, so staff learn less and make fewer mistakes. Staff roles include waiter, kitchen, cashier and manager, each seeing only what their work needs.
Plans for restaurants
- Café, KES 1,499 a month: 1 branch, 15 tables, 5 staff, tables, kitchen tickets and M-Pesa
- Restaurant, KES 2,999 a month: 3 branches, 60 tables, 20 staff, kitchen screen, stations, recipes, QR menu, split bills and accounting
- Restaurant Pro, KES 5,999 a month: 10 branches, unlimited tables, self-service kiosk and buffet tickets, rooms and stays for hotels and lodges, all-branch reports and the API
- Every new restaurant gets a month of everything free, no card needed
Questions
Is there a restaurant POS in Kenya that works with M-Pesa?
Yes. BlueDuka for restaurants takes M-Pesa from your own till or paybill: send a PIN prompt to the guest's phone for the bill, and the payment confirms itself. Cash and M-Pesa can be mixed on one bill.
Do I need to buy a barcode scanner?
No. Drinks and packaged items with barcodes can be scanned with the camera of a phone running BlueDuka, both when receiving stock and when adding them to an order. A USB or Bluetooth scanner works too, if you have one.
Do waiters need their own devices?
No. Waiters can use their own Android phone or iPhone in the browser, or share a tablet. Each logs in with their own account, so every order and payment shows who took it.
How does the kitchen get orders?
When a waiter sends a round, the kitchen gets a printed ticket without prices, or sees it on a kitchen screen. Drinks can go to the bar instead. When the cook marks a dish ready, the waiter is told at once.
Can I run a restaurant and a shop with one login?
Yes. Add the shop as a separate business next to the restaurant: each keeps its own stock, staff, reports and plan, and you switch between them. More restaurants or cafés are added as branches.
Can BlueDuka run a hotel or lodge with a restaurant?
Yes. Restaurant Pro includes rooms and stays: room types and prices, reservations, check-in with a guest register, deposits, bills from the restaurant and bar charged to the room, one receipt at check-out, housekeeping, events and group bookings with halls and meals, calendar sync with Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia, and an online booking page with photos and an M-Pesa deposit. Rooms are unlimited.
Is there a free trial for restaurants?
Yes. Every new restaurant or café gets every feature free for a month with no card. After that it chooses the Café, Restaurant or Restaurant Pro plan, paid monthly by M-Pesa.
See also: One business platform · Hotels, lodges and guest houses · Cafés and takeaways · QR menu and self-order kiosk · POS with M-Pesa · Pricing
Step-by-step guide: Restaurants and cafés