32 terms you'll hear from suppliers, accountants, software vendors and your own kitchen — defined in one paragraph each.
Kitchen slang for "sold out" or "remove". "86 the salmon" means stop selling it. In OnyxDine, marking an item 86'd hides it from QR menus and the POS instantly.
An option attached to a menu item — extra cheese, no onions, size. Modifiers can change the price and are printed on the kitchen ticket.
Total sales divided by number of orders in a period. The fastest way to see whether upselling and menu design are working.
The kitchen, prep, dish and storage areas — everything guests don't see.
The float and cash movements for a shift: opening float, cash sales, payouts, closing count. The difference is the "over/short".
One guest served. "300 covers on Saturday" means 300 people ate. Reservation platforms often charge per cover.
A screen facing the guest at the counter showing their order and total as it's built. Reduces disputes and speeds payment.
Cost of ingredients used divided by food sales. 28–35% is typical for full-service restaurants in Canada.
The dining room, host stand, bar and anything guest-facing.
Canadian sales taxes. GST is federal (5%). HST combines GST with provincial tax in some provinces. QST is Québec's tax (9.975%), calculated on the pre-GST price.
A time-boxed discount (e.g. 3–6pm weekdays) applied automatically to selected items or categories on POS and QR orders.
Ingredients and supplies on hand. Tracked by counting, then reduced automatically as recipes sell.
A screen in the kitchen that replaces printed tickets. Orders appear in real time, colour-coded by wait time, and are "bumped" when done.
A self-service touchscreen where guests order and pay without staff. Common in quick-service.
The order as sent to the kitchen — printed or on a KDS. One order can generate several KOTs if items go to different stations.
Points or rewards earned by returning customers, usually tied to a phone number, redeemed against future orders.
Analysing each dish by popularity and margin to decide what to promote, re-price, re-work or remove.
The company that legally sells to the customer and handles tax and payment compliance. OnyxDine subscriptions are sold through Paddle as merchant of record.
Several POS terminals in one restaurant sharing the same orders and tables — bar, counter, patio.
A big screen showing "preparing" and "ready" order numbers for pickup counters. Runs on Android TV.
The service that processes card payments (Stripe, PayPal, Moneris). Fees are typically 2.5–3% plus a fixed amount per transaction.
The system where orders are entered, bills are built and payments are taken. The heart of restaurant software.
Food cost + labour cost. Should sit around 55–65% of sales for a healthy full-service restaurant.
Charging or crediting only for the part of a billing period actually used — e.g. when upgrading a plan mid-month.
Guests scan a code at the table, see the menu on their phone, order and pay — no app, no waiting for a server.
Assigning ingredient quantities and costs to each dish so the system knows its true cost and margin.
Booked tables for a future time vs walk-ins queued for the next free table. Both feed the same floor plan.
Dividing one table's bill by seat, by item or evenly. A POS feature that saves servers the most time on group tables.
How many times a table is used in a service. Faster ordering and payment raise turns without rushing guests.
Sharing tips among staff by rule (percentage to kitchen, bar, bussers). Tracked per shift in the POS.
Percentage of time the platform is available. OnyxDine commits to 99% monthly for the web platform.
A button on the QR menu that pings a server: water, bill, help. Shows on the waiter app and POS.