Designing a kitchen routing map that works
Drinks to the barista, food to the line, desserts to prep — without the shouting. A practical guide to routing that holds at peak.
A kitchen display is only as good as the routing behind it. Get the map right and tickets land exactly where they're needed; get it wrong and you've just put the chaos on a screen.
Start from stations, not the menu
Map your real stations first, then route each item to one of them. Servio keeps the source, table reference, timer and status on every ticket so each station only sees what it owns.
- Barista — all drinks
- Hot line — mains and sides
- Cold prep — salads and starters
- Desserts — plated sweets
- Expo / pass — the single source of truth
Use timers as a pace, not a panic
Colour bands (on pace / watch / needs action) let the expo see risk at a glance. The goal isn't to rush — it's to spot the one ticket slipping before it becomes a cold plate.
Multi-station, multi-venue
If you run more than one site, the same map scales: each venue keeps its own stations while the group view rolls everything up.
“New to preparing to ready, in a tap. The pass finally has a single source of truth.”
Revisit the map after a few busy shifts. The best routing is the one your team stops thinking about because it just works.