First day: cafe, restaurant, canteen

A coffee shop, a restaurant with a dining room and a canteen at a factory or an office building all run on the same product — what differs is the service mode and which sections are switched on. The venue type is chosen at sign-up and immediately tunes the system to the format:

The format is a set of defaults, not a cage: any section can be switched on and off in the App Store, and the service mode is changed in the POS settings.

What you need to get started#

You do not need to buy any special equipment to start taking orders.

• The guest's phone. The menu opens from a QR code in a browser — the guest does not install anything, and the storefront works in 45 languages.
• Any computer or tablet for the POS. The POS is a page in the admin panel; it installs "as an app" (PWA) and keeps working when the connection drops. A dedicated POS appliance is not required.
• A tablet or a monitor for the kitchen display — if orders go to the kitchen. ⚠️ The kitchen screen is built for a tablet or a monitor: it is not adapted to a phone.
• A receipt printer — through the bridge. Printing receipts, kitchen tickets and labels goes through Cenaly Hardware Bridge, a Windows or Linux service you install on the same computer that runs the POS. The bridge discovers USB/LAN/Bluetooth printers itself. Without the bridge the POS works — just without paper.
• A fiscal printer is needed where the law of the country requires it, and it connects through the same bridge. Live fiscal receipts today are Russia (54-FZ) and tax invoices for the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the UAE; for other countries see Fiscalization.

You do need the internet, but losing the connection does not stop the POS — see If the internet goes down.

The common frame of the first day#

Four steps are the same for all three formats; after that the checklists diverge.

1. Sign-up and venue type. After registration the system offers a step-by-step wizard or an AI copilot in a chat — both roads lead to the dashboard with a readiness checklist. The location is created automatically with a default name: renaming it and filling in the address is the first item on the checklist.
2. The menu. The fast path is import: photograph the paper menu, upload an Excel file, or give a link to a site where the menu already exists. Leaving Poster, iiko or r_keeper? Export Excel from there and import it (there is no direct connector to those systems). Details — Migrate to us and Catalog import.
3. Check the storefront with your own eyes. Open the menu on a phone from the QR code: prices, photos, categories, languages. What the guest sees is the source of truth for the POS, the kitchen and the kiosk.
4. QR codes. Printing QR codes for tables, the counter or the entrance — the QR codes and devices section: as sheets, posters or one at a time.

⚠️ If you chose the light mode at sign-up, the "POS", "kitchen display", "tables", "inventory", "staff", "finance" and "couriers" sections are switched off — deliberately, so that 44 sidebar items do not scare you in the first hour. They are switched on one by one in the App Store; the final step of the wizard says so explicitly.

Checklist: coffee shop and cafe#

The goal of day one is to take payments and not lose a single order.

1. A menu with variants and add-ons. Cup size, type of milk, syrup — these are modifiers and variants of an item, not separate menu lines.
2. The POS — POS. Check the service mode: "tables" if guests sit down, and "pay right away" if they take away. Both modes work on the same POS.
3. A cash shift. Open the shift with a float — Cash shift and Z report. Until a shift is open, payment is blocked.
4. The bridge and a receipt printer — Cenaly Hardware Bridge. Verify printing with one test receipt.
5. QR codes on tables and at the counter — the guest orders on their own and you do not lose people from the queue.
6. A menu schedule: breakfast until 12:00, happy hour on coffee — Scheduling and happy hour. One source of truth for the storefront, the POS and the kiosk.
7. The 86 list — the croissants ran out, the cashier takes the item off in one click and it disappears from the storefront.
8. Tips — Tips; presets are filled in from the location's country.

Checklist: restaurant with a dining room#

The goal of day one is that the server, the kitchen and the POS all see the same order.

1. The floor plan: rooms, tables, zones — Floor plan. Without a plan the POS still works, but "table 7" will live only in the server's head.
2. QR codes on tables — the code knows its table, so the guest's order arrives already attached to it.
3. The POS in "tables" mode — POS: the order is open on a table, add-ons go into it, the bill is closed at the end.
4. A kitchen display by station — KDS: grill, cold station, bar. An item goes to its station according to the dish setting.
5. Kitchen printing (if there will be no screens in the kitchen) — Kitchen printing: tickets by station through the bridge.
6. Staff and roles — Staff. A server needs a login, a cashier needs a PIN: deleting items, discounts and refunds require a manager's confirmation.
7. The floor panel — Floor panel: the plan with open orders, waiter calls, the waitlist.
8. Table reservations — Reservations, if guests book ahead.

Checklist: canteen#

A canteen is about the speed of the serving line, staff meals and a production plan, not about "a menu with photos". The format already comes with counter mode on the POS, a kiosk and a queue display; reservations are off.

1. The POS in "counter" mode — POS: an item is rung up and paid for immediately, no table is opened.
2. A menu of the day on a schedule — Scheduling and happy hour: the set lunch is visible from 12:00 to 15:00 and disappears afterwards on its own. One setting covers the storefront, the POS, the kiosk and the queue display.
3. Price by weight. Items priced per kilogram are weighed on the serving line: scales connect through the bridge, the POS opens a weighing dialog and calculates the amount — Inventory: goods by weight, Hardware.
4. "Build your lunch" combos — combo slots: the guest (or the cashier) picks a soup from one slot and a side from another, and the surcharge is calculated automatically — QR menu: combos.
5. An employee account and an employer allowance — Corporate accounts: the organization, employee accounts, a daily allowance limit, payment at the POS from that account and a spending report for the employer. ⚠️ The section is off by default — switch it on in the App Store.
6. Pre-ordered lunches and a production plan — Meal plans: an employee subscribes to lunches by calendar, and you know in advance how many portions to cook. This section is opt-in too.
7. A self-service kiosk and a queue display — Kiosk: the guest assembles the order themselves and the number goes to the display. It takes the peak off the lunch-hour queue.
8. Nutrition facts and allergens — for a canteen nutrition is on by default: calories and portion weight are visible to the guest and printed on the label.

⚠️ Russian regulatory contours — EGAIS, Chestny ZNAK, VetIS (Mercury), 54-FZ — exist only on the Russian brand and appear when the location's country is set to Russia. On other brands they are absent and are not even loaded.

What can wait#

None of this stops you from opening tomorrow.

• Inventory with recipe cards and cost of goods — Inventory. Set it up once the menu has settled: before that you would be rewriting recipes after every menu change.
• Financial dashboards — Finance. There is nothing to count until sales accumulate. ⚠️ The section runs on the AWS contour; on the Russian brand (cenaly.ru) finance, guest statistics and kitchen analytics are unavailable.
• Own delivery and couriers — Delivery: switch it on when you actually deliver.
• Aggregators (Wolt, Glovo, Yandex Eda, Deliveroo). The integrations are written and verified on mocks, but there are no live partner connections yet — you cannot plan day one around them.
• Online payment on the storefront — Payments: the provider registry is large, but live connections number eight; on the Russian brand there is no online payment at the moment. Cash and card at the POS always work.
• Loyalty, gift cards, newsletters — once you have regulars.
• Your own website and domain — Venue website, Custom domain.

Troubleshooting#

I do not see the "POS", "Kitchen" or "Tables" sections. Either the light preset switched them off at sign-up, or they are not part of your venue type's set (for canteens and fast food, tables are off deliberately). Switch the section you need on in the App Store — App Store.

The import did not bring in the whole menu. On the free plan there is a limit on the number of items: a batch import does not refuse outright, it loads as many as fit and explains the remainder with a banner. Items that were selected but did not fit stay selected and will arrive after a plan change.

The POS will not take payment. No cash shift is open — open one with a float, see Cash shift.

The printer does not print. Check that the bridge on this computer is "connected": without the bridge printing does not work at all. Then — Cenaly Hardware Bridge and Kitchen printing.

A guest sees a dish that is not available. Check the 86 list and the availability schedule — Scheduling and happy hour.

FAQ#

Do I need to buy hardware to start?#

No. The menu opens on the guest's phone, and the POS runs in a browser on any computer or tablet. A printer, scales and a fiscal printer are added later through the bridge.

How long does launching take?#

Sign-up and the first location take minutes. The menu takes as long as the import: the system parses a photo of a paper menu or an Excel file itself, and then you fix prices and photos.

Can I change the venue type later?#

Yes. The type sets defaults — which sections are on and which mode the POS runs in. Both can be changed manually at any time.

Is a canteen a separate product?#

No, it is a venue type. It turns on counter mode on the POS, the kiosk and the queue display, turns off reservations and shows nutrition facts. Employee accounts and meal-plan subscriptions are separate sections switched on with a toggle.

We have several locations — do we need several accounts?#

No. Locations live in one account, each with its own prices, menu and hardware — see Multi-location.

What if the internet goes down on day one?#

The POS will keep ringing up and printing — orders and receipts will reach the cloud once the connection is back. Details: If the internet goes down.

Related articles#

• Quick start — sign-up, the first menu and the QR code, step by step
• Migrate to us — importing menu, stock and store from another system
• POS — orders, payments, service modes
• Kitchen display (KDS) — tickets by station
• Corporate accounts — staff meals on an account with an allowance
• Meal plans — pre-orders and a production plan
• If the internet goes down — what works without a connection and what staff should do