THE CHALLENGE

Restaurants often rely on manual, disconnected processes for table management, order taking, and kitchen coordination. This causes bottlenecks, prep errors, and delays—especially in busy service windows—while managers lack clear performance visibility across shifts.

Key Challenges

• Real-time synchronization between front-of-house and kitchen roles
• Complex multi-step cooking workflows with prioritization
• Tablet-friendly, high-contrast UI for fast-paced environments
• Reliable order history, analytics, and exports

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OUR SOLUTION

We built a modern restaurant management system with dedicated views for hostess/waitstaff, kitchen, management, and beverage operations. The platform runs a multi-step order workflow with real-time updates, audio alerts, and a dynamic menu system that staff can adjust on the fly.

Key Features

• Hostess/Waitstaff table & order interface
• Kitchen dashboard with 5-step preparation workflow
• Management views: menu editing, history, metrics
• Beverage/Drink management and tracking
• Dynamic menu categories (Meat/Fish/Vegetarian) with live edits
• Allergy & special-request tracking
• Real-time status updates with audio notifications
• Exports & reporting (order history, performance)

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TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION

The platform is engineered for performance, reliability, and tablet-first UX:

Frontend: Next.js (TypeScript) with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui for a consistent, accessible dark theme.
State & Data: Redux Toolkit with RTK Query for cache-first fetches, optimistic updates, and background revalidation.
API Layer: Next.js API Routes for orders, tables, menu, beverages, and metrics with typed contracts.
Database: MongoDB + Mongoose models for orders, steps, tables, menu categories; indexes for fast lookups.
Realtime Sync: Lightweight polling every 5s (extensible to WebSockets) to propagate status across roles.
UX: Touch-friendly controls, large tap targets, and high-contrast layouts for variable lighting conditions.

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DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Our 2-week development cycle was structured around iterative delivery and continuous stakeholder feedback.

The project was delivered in four key phases: discovery & workflow mapping (weeks 1), core modules (orders/tables/menu/beverages) (weeks 2), kitchen 5-step workflow, audio alerts & analytics (weeks 9–12), and QA, performance, deployment & runbooks (weeks 2).

Throughout the process, we maintained transparent communication and delivered working previews every two weeks for stakeholder review and feedback.

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THE RESULTS

Streamlined operations and a unified workflow across FOH and kitchen, leading to measurable improvements in speed and reliability.

• Faster order turnaround through real-time syncing
• Reduced preparation errors via step-based workflow
• Improved service coordination across staff roles
• Higher data quality with centralized history & exports