Glossary
Restaurant operations glossary
Plain-English definitions of the POS and restaurant-ops terms operators actually use, from 86 and coursing to prime cost and recipe costing.
86 (Out of Stock)
Restaurant shorthand for an item that is sold out or unavailable.
Accounts Payable (AP) for Restaurants
The supplier bills a restaurant has received but not yet paid, and the process of approving and paying them.
Authorization vs. Capture
Approving a card for an amount, then actually claiming the money: two separate steps.
Average Check
Net sales divided by covers: what a typical guest actually spends.
Back of House (BOH)
The kitchen and operational side guests don't see.
Batch & Settlement
Closing out the day's approved transactions so the money actually moves.
Bilingual Kiosk
A self-order kiosk that lets the guest order in their own language, with the menu text translated too.
Bump Bar
A hardware keypad used at a kitchen display to clear (bump) tickets without touching the screen.
Card-Present vs. Card-Not-Present
Whether the card was physically dipped or tapped at the point of sale, or entered remotely.
Cash Discounting
Posting a higher list price and discounting for cash, rather than adding a card fee.
Chargeback
A card network reversal that pulls funds back from the merchant after a guest disputes a charge.
COGS (Cost of Goods Sold)
What the ingredients in everything you sold actually cost you over a period.
Contribution Margin
What a dish contributes in cash after its own food cost, not its cost percentage.
Coursing
Timing the kitchen so dishes from a table arrive in the intended order.
Covers
The number of guests served, counted per person rather than per table.
Customer-Facing Display (CFD)
A second screen at the register that shows the guest their order and total as the cashier rings it.
Dayparting
Splitting the day into trading periods and managing each as its own business.
Digital Menu Board
A TV screen that shows the menu and prices from the same data the register uses, instead of a printed board.
Effective Rate
Total card fees divided by total card volume: the only processing number worth comparing.
Embedded Payments
Card processing built into the POS itself, rather than bolted on through a separate gateway.
EMV
The chip-card standard that authenticates a card at the terminal instead of trusting the magnetic stripe.
Expo (Expediter)
The person who coordinates the pass between kitchen and dining room.
Expo Ticket
A whole-order slip printed for the pass so the expediter can check every item before it goes out.
Food Cost Percentage
The share of revenue spent on the ingredients in what you sell.
Front of House (FOH)
The guest-facing side of the restaurant: dining room, host stand, bar.
Gross vs. Net Sales
Sales before and after discounts, comps, voids and refunds are taken out.
Interchange-Plus Pricing
A processing model that passes through the card network's cost and adds a stated markup on top.
KDS (Kitchen Display System)
A kitchen screen that replaces paper tickets and routes orders to the right station.
Labor Cost Percentage
Total labor spend as a share of sales over a given period.
MCC (Merchant Category Code)
The four-digit code that tells the card networks what kind of business you are.
Menu Engineering
Analyzing each item's profitability and popularity to optimize the menu.
Modifier
An add-on or change to a menu item, like 'no onions' or 'extra cheese.'
Multi-Location / Multi-Unit
Operating more than one restaurant under shared management and systems.
Open Check (Tab)
A bill still accumulating items, not yet settled.
Order Ahead (Pickup Time Slots and Cutoff)
Letting a guest order now for pickup at a chosen time, inside the hours and lead time the kitchen can handle.
Order Routing (Station Routing)
Sending each ordered item to the kitchen station that prepares it, instead of one ticket for the whole line.
Par Level
The target on-hand quantity of an ingredient to keep service running.
Pay-First Ordering
A checkout design where no order exists until the guest's payment has actually gone through.
PayFac (Payment Facilitator)
A company that onboards merchants under its own master account instead of sending each one to a bank.
PCI DSS
The card industry's security standard for anyone who handles cardholder data.
PLU (Price Look-Up)
A short code used at the register to quickly ring up a menu item.
POS (Point of Sale)
The system where orders are entered, sent to the kitchen, and paid for.
Pour Cost
Beverage cost as a percentage of beverage sales: food cost's equivalent behind the bar.
Predictive Scheduling
Local laws requiring advance notice of schedules, with penalty pay for late changes.
Prime Cost
Cost of goods sold plus total labor: the two biggest controllable expenses.
Print Routing (Kitchen Printer Routing)
The rules that decide which printer, if any, gets each receipt or kitchen ticket.
Purchase Order (PO)
A written order to a supplier listing what you want, how much, and at what price, before the truck arrives.
QR Ordering
Guests scan a code at the table to order and pay from their own phone.
Recipe Costing
Calculating the exact ingredient cost of a dish from its recipe.
Reorder Point
The on-hand level at which an ingredient should be reordered so it arrives before you run out.
Restaurant Operating System
One platform running the register, kiosk, kitchen screen, online ordering and boards on a single order record.
Seat Numbers
Tagging each item to the guest who ordered it.
Self-Order Kiosk
A customer-facing tablet where guests browse the menu and order themselves.
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)
A unique code identifying a purchasable inventory item.
SPLH (Sales Per Labor Hour)
Net sales divided by hours worked: the cleanest read on whether a shift was staffed right.
Split Check
Dividing one table's bill across several guests or payment methods.
Surcharging
Adding a fee to card transactions to offset processing cost: legal in some states, not all.
Table Turn
How many times a table is seated with new guests during a service period.
Ticket Time
How long an order takes from fired to finished on the line.
Tip Adjustment
Editing an approved transaction to add the tip before the batch settles.
Tip Credit
Counting a portion of tips toward the minimum wage a tipped employee must be paid.
Tip Pooling
Combining tips across staff and redistributing them by a defined formula.
Tokenization
Replacing a card number with a meaningless substitute so the real number never lands in your systems.
Void vs. Comp
A void removes an item before it's made; a comp gives away an item already prepared.
Waste Tracking
Recording what was thrown away, so theoretical and actual cost can be reconciled.