Course management in an order

In a restaurant where guests sit, eat, and chat over multiple courses, the kitchen needs to know when to start each one. Courses in HotelBee let you take the whole order up front but tell the kitchen "don't fire mains until I say so" — which keeps food hot, plates synchronized, and timing tight.

Make sure courses are turned on

Course management is per-POS-point. Open POS → POS Points, edit the POS point (Restaurant, etc.), and tick Course Management. The Courses button on the POS screen only appears when this is on. Turn it off for bars, shops, or anywhere course timing is irrelevant.

Step 1 — Open courses on the order

Start the order normally — pick the table, etc. Tap the Courses button. The order panel splits into course sections. The default set is Starters, Mains, Dessert, Drinks; rename or add new ones to fit how your kitchen works.

Step 2 — Add items to the right course

Tap a course to make it active. Anything you add to the order goes into that course until you switch. So:

• Tap Starters → tap Caesar Salad, Bruschetta. Both go into Starters.
• Tap Mains → tap Lasagna, Risotto, Grilled Salmon. Mains gets all three.
• Tap Dessert → tap Tiramisu × 4.
• Tap Drinks → tap a bottle of red wine, water still, water sparkling.

Step 3 — Save the order

Saving the order doesn't fire any courses by default. The kitchen ticket prints with the courses listed but each section marked "hold." The kitchen sees what's coming and can prep ingredients, but won't plate anything yet.

Step 4 — Fire courses one by one

When the table is ready for the next course, reopen the order from the Open Orders drawer and tap Fire on that course. HotelBee prints a kitchen ticket for just that course, marked "FIRE — start cooking." The kitchen knows to plate now.

Typical flow during a meal:

• Take the order — fire Starters and Drinks immediately.
• Guests finish starters — fire Mains.
• Plates cleared — fire Dessert.
• Coffee and digestif requested mid-dessert — add to a new course or to the Drinks course and fire when ready.

Adding to a fired course

Guests order extras mid-course — "can we get one more glass of wine", "add a side of fries." Reopen the order, add the item to the course it belongs in, save. HotelBee prints a follow-up ticket marked "ADD to fired course" so the kitchen knows it's not a duplicate.

Custom courses for your menu

The four default courses fit most restaurants but you can rename them or add more. Examples that work well in practice:

• Italian — Antipasti, Primi (pasta), Secondi (mains), Dolci, Bevande
• Sushi — Drinks, Starters, Sashimi, Rolls, Hot dishes, Dessert
• Tasting menu — Course 1, Course 2, … Course 7 (one per plate)
• Brunch — Drinks, Sweet, Savoury (no main/dessert distinction)

Courses don't change billing

Whether items are in courses or not has no effect on the total, taxes, or the customer receipt — courses are a kitchen-side concept. The bill prints by category as configured for receipts (or grouped by course if you've enabled that in receipt settings).