How to set up QR code ordering in one afternoon with KuKA
You can set up QR code ordering with KuKA in one afternoon: create your account and venue, add your menu, add your tables, print the QR codes and open the staff screens. No hardware is needed beyond the phones, tablets or computers you already have. If you want to look around first, open a free demo venue; it comes with sample menus, tables and orders.
Step 1: Create your account and venue
Start at Get started. You create your user, your business and your first restaurant in one form, then pay the first month (€49 plus VAT) through Stripe Checkout. Your venue is activated as soon as the payment is confirmed, and you confirm your email address from the message KuKA sends you.
Step 2: Add your menu
In the backoffice, add your dishes and drinks with a name, description, price and photo. Then group them into menus. Each menu can have its own schedule: the days of the week and the hours when it is available. Breakfast, lunch and happy hour menus then switch on and off by themselves.
Tip: write the allergens into each dish's description so guests can see them. In Portugal, also keep allergen information available without a phone (see QR menus in Portugal).
Step 3: Add your tables
Open your restaurant's Tables page and add one entry per table, named the way your team already refers to them. Each table gets its own QR code, so every order arrives labelled with the right table.
Step 4: Print the QR codes
On the Tables page, use Print all QR codes to print every table's code in one go, or download a single code to reprint it later. Place each code where guests can scan it easily: a table tent, a sticker or a holder works well.
Step 5: Open the staff screens
KuKA has three live screens for the team:
- Room shows every table, new orders and waiter calls, in the order they arrived.
- Kitchen shows only the food items to prepare, and cooks mark each one ready.
- Bar does the same for drinks.
Open each screen on whatever device suits the station: a tablet in the kitchen, a phone on the floor, a laptop at the bar.
Step 6: Test one table before service
Scan a QR code with your own phone, place an order, reorder something, call the waiter and ask for the bill. Check that each request appears on the right screen. Then mark the tab as paid once you have taken payment the way you normally do; KuKA does not process guest payments.
Step 7: Tell your guests
A short line from the team helps on the first days: "You can order from the QR code whenever you are ready, or just call us." Guests who prefer to order from a person still can.
How long does it take?
The account and venue take a few minutes. Most of the afternoon goes into entering the menu and printing the codes. Many venues go live the same day.