How do customers order and pay at the table?

What a customer sees with Order & Pay — scan the table QR, build an order from the live menu, pay by card and get an itemised receipt.

Where a venue has Order & Pay switched on (it comes with the Complete plan, or on its own as the standalone Order & Pay product), the per-table menu QR codes become ordering codes. Here's the customer's journey, start to finish.

Scanning the code. The customer scans their table's QR code and sees the venue's live menu with a "Table X" badge. A search icon in the header opens a live filter over dish names, descriptions and category names, and dishes carry small colour-coded badges for any dietary flags (V, VG, GF, DF) and symbol badges for declared allergens (the standard symbols — a wheat ear for gluten, a milk bottle, a crab, and so on) — tapping a badge shows its full name. Dishes in categories that are orderable right now can be added to an order. A dish with choices opens a step-by-step picker from the bottom of the screen — one question per screen ("Choose your size", then "Pick your sauces"), with progress dots, each option's extra cost shown inline, a live running price, and the count stated plainly ("Pick 2 — 1 of 2 chosen"; a skippable step's button reads Skip until something is picked, and an optional "exactly 2" step honestly says "Pick 2 or none"). The last screen carries an optional note box ("no onions") and the priced Add to order button, which stays off until every step's count is met. Every line in the basket can carry a short note — tap the small pencil next to a dish to add or change one. Orderable dishes also list their declared allergens in writing ("Contains: gluten, milk"), and the ordering screens carry the standard allergen disclosure — dish information is provided by the venue, and customers with allergies are asked to tell the team directly. Categories outside their serving times, and venues without Order & Pay on, simply show the normal browse-only menu — never an error. If a customer scans a table code while the venue's ordering is switched off or nothing is currently orderable, a friendly notice explains "Ordering at the table isn't available right now — please order with our team", with the browse menu still below it. When the team has used the orders board's temporary Pause new orders instead, the notice says "Ordering is paused — back shortly. You can order with our team in the meantime."

Without scanning a table code. Unless the venue has switched Flexible table entry off (it's on by default), customers can also start an order from the plain menu page (an "Order & Pay at your table" card with a Start an order button), or by scanning the venue's one general Order & Pay QR code — either way they're asked "Which table are you at?" and simply type it ("12" and "Table 12" both work; typed tables are checked against the venue's real tables, and a wrong one gets a friendly "we can't find that table" message). Mid-order, a small Change table link next to the table badge moves the whole basket if the party switches tables. (If the venue has switched Flexible table entry off, a scanned general code shows a polite "To order here, please scan the QR code on your table — or ask a member of the team" note instead, with the menu still browsable below it.)

Set menus & deals. Where the venue runs set menus or meal deals, a highlighted Set menus & deals section sits above the menu's first category — or, where the venue has placed a deal inside one of its categories, the deal's card sits in that section instead (a deal can also sit in both places at once), announced as a small chip with the deal's name and price just under the category heading, with a small "Part of …" marker on each dish in the deal. Each card shows the deal's name, its one bundle price and its times ("Mon–Fri 12:00–17:00"). Tapping Choose your dishes opens a step-by-step picker, one slot per screen: the slot's dishes as a simple pick-list with their dietary and allergen badges, any supplement shown inline ("+£4.00"), a dish's normal choice steps opening right there, and a live running price at the bottom. A slot that asks for more than one dish ("any 3 for £15") shows "Pick 3 — 2 of 3 chosen" and lets the customer tap the same dish more than once. The finished deal lands in the order as one line with the chosen dishes listed beneath it — the quantity buttons step the whole deal. A deal outside its times shows "Available Mon–Fri 12:00–17:00" and can't be started. Most deals also apply by themselves (it's the venue's choice, on by default): if the customer's basket contains dishes that fill a deal, the basket names the deal and shows the saving without the customer tapping anything — always in the customer's favour, folding the dearest qualifying dishes into the bundle price. A promo code the customer types can also come off a deal's bundle price where the venue allows it (most do — it's the venue's choice); offers that apply automatically, and codes limited to certain items, only ever discount individually priced dishes.

Checkout. A floating bar shows the running total; tapping it opens checkout:

• An itemised summary of the order.
• An optional tip — no tip, 5%, 10%, 15% or your own amount. Some venues preselect a suggested percentage; "No tip" is always one tap away and your choice is never overridden.
• An email address (required — it's where the receipt goes) and an optional name.
• Two quick confirmation rows sit just above the pay button: an allergies note every order must tick ("Allergies or intolerances? Please order with a team member — I understand") and, when the order contains alcohol, an amber 18-or-over tick. The allergies row has a Details link revealing the full wording; when alcohol is in the order, the venue's failed-ID refund policy is always shown in a small box under the 18-or-over tick (a neutral "please ask our team" note until the venue writes its own), so customers know what happens if they can't show photo ID at the table before they pay.
• A promo code box where the venue runs table-order promotions, and a gift card box where the venue accepts gift cards for table orders — any remaining balance stays on the card, and a card that covers the whole order skips the payment step entirely. Some promotions only cover part of the menu — their label says exactly what ("20% off food", "50% off cocktails"), the discount applies only to those items (everything else is paid in full), and if nothing in the order qualifies yet the applied code says so honestly ("This code only applies to cocktails — nothing in your order qualifies yet") instead of silently doing nothing.
• Where the venue has switched it on, a signed-in loyalty member with an affordable reward sees a "Use a reward?" picker. One reward per order: it comes off after any promotion and never touches the tip — and where the venue allows it (most do — it's the venue's choice) its value can come off set menu & deal prices too, so even a deal-only order can use one. If the reward is worth more than the order the checkout says so up front — "covers your order — no change given", with the unused value not carried over. A reward that covers the whole order skips the payment step, exactly like a gift card. The reward's stamps or points come off the member's balance when the order is placed, and the venue's usual limits (daily redemption cap, one-per-member rewards) apply just as they do at the venue.
• A small "By paying you agree to [the venue]'s Order Terms" line linking the venue's terms.

Paying. The customer pays by card — Apple Pay and Google Pay work too. The payment goes straight to the venue's own Stripe account (the price is exactly what the menu showed — customers are never charged a platform fee (the small platform fee is the venue's, never added to your bill), and prices are re-checked server-side so a stale page can never mis-charge). On success they see "Thanks — your order is on its way to the team!" and the order rings on the venue's orders board.

The receipt. An itemised receipt email follows — every dish with its chosen options, the tip, any promotion or gift-card cover, and the total, plus a VAT breakdown and the venue's VAT number where the venue is VAT-registered. At venues that also run a loyalty scheme, members who sign in at the checkout (a quick emailed code the first time — the checkout remembers the device for 30 days after that) earn on the order automatically, and the receipt quietly says what they earned and how close the next reward is; ordering as a customer always works, it just doesn't earn. Customers who aren't members see a one-line invitation to join the venue's loyalty scheme.

Order history. Customers who sign in to the venue's customer account page (where the venue's plan — Pro and above — or its Loyalty product includes customer accounts) see a My Orders section alongside their bookings — every past table order itemised, with what they paid and anything refunded. It matches by the email they ordered with, so it works even if they've never made a booking.

If something goes wrong. Customers can't cancel a placed order from their phone — it's already with the kitchen, so they should speak to the team at the venue. If the venue rejects an order, the customer is refunded in full automatically (card money back to their card, gift-card cover back onto their card, and a loyalty reward used on the order straight back onto their loyalty balance) and emailed the reason. If the venue refunds just some item(s) — a dish that ran out, say — the rest of the order carries on as normal, the refunded item shows struck through in the customer's order history, and the confirmation email names exactly what was refunded. And if a payment ever completes while the venue's ordering is switched off, it's refunded automatically — a paid customer is never left stranded.

Related: How do I set up and run Order & Pay? · How do I build my menu? · What does the customer see when paying a deposit or saving a card?