Full tables, too few staff, slips getting lost, guests waiting for the server — and by the end, the evening was more stressful and the revenue smaller than it needed to be. That's what service without a system looks like.
A digital gastro ordering system connects the menu, ordering, and internal processes into one shared digital solution. With Beat & Bite, guests open their menu via QR code and order — depending on the business's settings — on their own, while orders are routed directly to the responsible areas (service, kitchen, bar). More on the QR code ordering system for restaurants page.
Beat & Bite turns this completely around. Whether beer garden, café, restaurant, beach bar, or club house: the gastro system combines digital menu, counter entry, kitchen, bar, number-call monitor, and tips in one place — no app, no sign-up for the guest, and no expensive specialized hardware. It takes the running around away from your team while keeping you in charge of your business at all times.
This overview shows you everything the gastro module can do today — feature by feature, with a brief explanation of what it does for you in daily operations.
The Core: Menu via QR Code
The heart of it: guests scan a QR code at the table and instantly see the digital menu — no app and no sign-up.
With the scan, the guest simply opens a web page and has the complete menu with photos, prices, and allergens in front of them — always up to date, instead of on a worn paper menu. And right from the same view, they can send a tip to their server via PayPal. Everything else in this article builds on this one beautifully simple idea.
✅ Zero barrier for guests: No app download, no registration, no data entry. That's exactly why even the less tech-savvy guests join in — from teenagers to great-aunts.
The Four Building Blocks
The gastro system consists of four parts that seamlessly work together — from the guest all the way to the kitchen.
- QR menu: the entire menu on the guest's phone, scanned in seconds.
- Service app: your staff takes orders conveniently via smartphone or tablet — and can even log in with their own personal smartphone. So if you don't have a company device handy, this is a fully functional option that works brilliantly.
- Kitchen & bar monitor: orders sorted by table, separate views for kitchen and bar.
- Number call-up on monitor: the ready number appears on screen — perfect in self-service mode: the guest orders at the counter and sees on the monitor, both inside and outside, when their food is ready, then picks it up themselves. Ideal for beer gardens, patios, and older guests.
The result: fewer trips, faster service, fewer errors, and more revenue per table — all in one system instead of five separate tools.
BASE & PREMIUM — You Decide
Beat & Bite deliberately comes in two versions, so every business only pays for what it actually needs. First you understand what the system fundamentally does — here you see directly which package offers what. All details and prices are on the product page for the digital gastro ordering system.
BASE — Without Fiscalization
The simple entry point for businesses that want a digital ordering and workflow system but handle fiscalization/TSE through a different system.
- Digital menu & QR code ordering
- Table service mode for staff, counter entry
- Kitchen & bar display, monitor for number call-up
- Table management, order overview, reorders
- Bill splitting, multilingual guest view
- Use on smartphone, tablet, PC & laptop — no app for guests
BASE: €14.90/month or €169/year
PREMIUM — The Complete System with Pager
Extends BASE with features that are especially interesting for self-service, high guest volumes, and short pickup routes.
- PREMIUM pager & self-service ordering via smartphone
- Instant routing to kitchen/counter, order/pickup status, number call-up
- Online payment & payment processing via connected payment providers
- Fiscalization / TSE integration
- Split bill / split payments, table service mode
- Flexible use of existing devices
PREMIUM: €24.95/month or €285/year
✅ Pay only for what you need: BASE gets you digitally up and running immediately; PREMIUM adds pager, self-service, online payment, and the planned POS/fiscalization integration.
Runs on Existing Devices — No Extra Hardware
A common misconception: that you need expensive terminals or tablets for a digital ordering system. That's not true.
- For guests: their own smartphone.
- For kitchen & counter: a regular tablet.
- For office & management: laptop or desktop.
- For the big overview: a large monitor that you simply connect to the laptop via HDMI cable for the kitchen area — or an internet-enabled TV that connects directly. In both cases, no login is needed: open the view and hang it up right away.
The guest monitor in self-service mode works just as easily: if your business offers self-service, this screen shows guests when their food is ready. You connect it the same relaxed way via laptop — or the TV itself is internet-enabled and can be plugged in right away.
✅ Ready in minutes: Set up your business, create tables with QR codes, enter your menu — done. No technician, no installation, no leasing contract.
Which Device for Which Role?
Since everything runs in the browser, each role simply uses a suitable, usually already available device:
- Guest: own smartphone or tablet
- Server: smartphone, tablet, or PC
- Kitchen: large screen, TV, or tablet
- Call-up/numbers: TV or monitor
- Manager/office: laptop, PC, or tablet
Managing the Digital Menu
The menu is completely digital and can be changed live at any time — you never depend on printed menus or a web designer again.
- Multiple menus & time-based switching: create separate menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and switch which one is active with a click. Renaming, activating, and deleting included.
- Freely sortable categories: create, rename, and sort categories in any order.
- Items with photos: name, price, description, and your own photo per item — you determine the order yourself.
- Kitchen/bar assignment: each item is assigned to kitchen or bar and automatically appears on the correct monitor.
- Available/sold out toggle: when something runs out, you hide it with one tap — without having to delete it.
- Allergens per item: EU-compliant allergen labeling displayed directly to the guest.
- Automatic English translation: via DeepL, adjustable before saving — ideal for international guests.
✅ Unlimited & instantly live: Unlimited categories, your own photos and prices, changed in seconds at any time. The daily menu is set before the first guest arrives.
Counter: Quick Entry for Staff
At the counter, your staff takes every order in no time — quickly, cleanly recorded, and directly distributed to kitchen and bar.
- Order with a tap: expandable, color-coded category boxes for fast entry.
- Free note field: special requests like "no onions" attached directly to the order.
- Wait number or table: assign a number or specify a table — for reorders, the table number is carried over automatically.
- Automatic separation: food goes to the kitchen, drinks go to the bar, all by itself.
Orders: The Service Overview
This is where everything comes together. Each screen shows only what it actually needs — service, kitchen, or bar.
- Alert sound on new order: nothing gets lost in the rush.
- Three switchable views: service, kitchen, and bar separated — every screen stays clean.
- Service by table: all orders for a table in one color-coded card with a total, each table in its own color.
- Table number jump bar: one click on the number jumps directly to the table.
- Kitchen status traffic light (green/yellow/red): shows your team at a glance where each order stands.
- Order merging: identical items are combined — 4× cola instead of 2×+2×.
- Bill splitting calculator: select items per person, the subtotal updates live, the rest stays until it's settled too.
- Set status & close table: from "in progress" through "ready" and "served" to "picked up"; clear the kitchen and retrieve closed orders if needed.
✅ Fewer errors, calmer service: Because each screen only shows its tasks and everything is sorted by table, the paperwork disappears — and with it the typical mix-ups.
Kitchen, Bar & Number Monitor
The monitor makes operations visible — for your team behind the counter and for guests in the dining area.
Kitchen and bar see their orders neatly sorted by table on a regular screen. And for everyone who doesn't want to use a phone, there's the number call-up: the guest orders at the counter, gets a number, and as soon as their food is ready, that number appears large on the monitor — readable from any seat.
✅ No one is excluded: In self-service mode, the guest orders at the counter and sees their number on the monitor — inside and outside. No phone needed, no app, no explanation. Even older guests are instantly on board.
Self-Service: Guests Order Themselves
Especially interesting for beer gardens, cafés, fast food, food trucks, beach bars, or businesses with minimal staff: the guest scans the QR code, puts together their order, and submits it directly to the system — it arrives where it's needed, e.g., on the kitchen or counter monitor.
✅ No double entry: The order doesn't need to be transferred from a slip or phone — that saves trips and reduces transcription errors.
The PREMIUM Pager
One of the most important PREMIUM features: the guest orders via their smartphone, and the order goes directly to the business. As soon as it's ready, the guest is notified through the built-in call-up/pager workflow.
Ideal for businesses where guests pick up their order themselves rather than having it served at the table — the digital order is complemented by a simple, immediately understandable pickup notification.
✅ Without expensive radio pagers: The call-up runs through the existing system instead of additional specialized devices.
Table Service Mode for Traditional Service
Beat & Bite isn't only for self-service — traditional table service works just as well. A server logs in with a smartphone or tablet and takes orders directly at the table.
A server's own personal smartphone can also be used — practical when a device breaks on short notice or an extra person steps in. All that's needed is a browser and the login credentials.
✅ Less hardware dependency: If the tablet breaks, the server simply continues on their own smartphone.
Payment & Tips
Tips and payment at Beat & Bite run via PayPal — directly from the guest's phone, without cash.
- Tips via PayPal to the server: The guest selects an amount (€2, €3, €5, €10, or a custom amount), taps the server from the name list — and the tip goes via PayPal directly to them, not through the register and not through the owner.
- Payment via PayPal, per-table activation: You decide flexibly and for each table individually whether PayPal payment is allowed there. This way, you can open payment only for the patio, for example, and continue collecting at the counter inside.
✅ Tips that arrive: Since hardly anyone carries cash anymore, the digital route is often the only way. It goes directly to the team — happy staff without any detours.
Setup note: You register the PayPal account for your register yourself — once set up, the function is ready for the enabled tables.
Online Payment and Payment Providers
For online payment, a payment provider can be connected: the restaurant owner connects their own account with the respective provider to the platform. Stripe is currently supported; the payment provider architecture is built so that additional providers can be added in the future. For an online order, the guest pays directly through the designated payment flow.
The business's payment data stays assigned to its own payment provider; the specific fees are determined by that provider's current terms.
✅ Your account, your terms: Online payment runs through your own account with the respective payment provider (currently Stripe).
Fiscalization & TSE — Separate from Payment Method
For businesses with fiscalization requirements, there is a separate technical workflow — for example via integration with helloCash.
The key point: payment method and fiscalization path are separate from each other. The payment method describes how the guest pays (cash, card, online). Which fiscalization is required depends on the business's configuration and its POS system.
✅ No double processing: This way, a business can use an external card system without Beat & Bite additionally processing the same transaction through its own fiscalization.
My Business: Setup & Tables
You set up your business yourself — in just a few minutes and without prior knowledge.
- Business & logo: create your business, rename it, and upload your own image or logo.
- Self-service mode: choose between "view only" and "guest orders themselves."
- Allow or block QR ordering: freely configurable per business.
- Tables with their own QR code: create, rename, pause, delete tables — each with its own code and print-ready stand.
- Staff with their own login: your personnel gets access only to orders, kitchen, and bar — not to your management dashboard.
- PayPal per server & business: tips per server and restaurant PayPal for food, each optional.
✅ Discreet kitchen statistics: You see which dishes sell well (winners) and which sit around (losers) — and calculate your purchasing more precisely accordingly.
Statistics & Analytics
Digital orders automatically generate structured data. From this, you can see, for example, which products sell particularly well and which sit around — helpful for purchasing, offerings, and menu planning.
The Guest View After Scanning
What the guest sees after scanning is deliberately kept as simple as possible.
- View the menu — without any app and without login.
- Order themselves — if you've enabled it.
- Tip the server — select an amount, tap the server, via PayPal directly to them.
- Wait number & status display — the guest sees "food ready" at a glance.
- Reorder — anytime, even for drinks only.
- Allergen display — transparent and EU-compliant.
- Multilingual — German and English.
Why Beat & Bite Is Ahead of Other Systems
Other providers often solve the same fundamental problem with significantly more friction — for your guests and for your wallet.
⚠️ With many other systems: Your guests have to install an app first or register before they can even see the menu. Every additional barrier costs you participation — some guests drop out before they start.
⚠️ Expensive specialized hardware: Many POS systems rely on their own terminals, buzzers, or leased devices that quickly run into four figures for purchase — plus maintenance and replacements.
✅ With Beat & Bite: The guest just scans the code — no app, no sign-up, no data. You use existing devices instead of expensive hardware. And you have everything in one system: menu, counter entry, kitchen, bar, number monitor, and tips — without double data entry and with minimal training.
Who It's Made For
In short: for any business where orders are taken, food is served, and payments are collected — indoors and outdoors.
- Beer gardens & patios — long distances, many guests, where the number monitor plays its greatest strength.
- Cafés & bakeries — fast throughput during breakfast and lunch rush.
- Restaurants — the table is freed up faster, a second seating in the evening becomes realistic.
- Beach bars & beach clubs — order and pay from the lounge chair.
- Bars, pubs & wine bars — especially when it gets packed and loud.
- Food trucks, fast food & ice cream shops — high frequency, minimal staff, short routes.
- Hotels, campgrounds & club houses — large premises and rotating helpers who can't learn a complicated system.
Made in Germany & GDPR
Reliability isn't an afterthought — it's built in.
Beat & Bite is fully developed in Germany — in Saarland, runs on German servers, and is GDPR-compliant — with German support instead of some anonymous overseas website builder. Because your guests don't need to register, no user accounts are created that would need to be stored. Available nationwide — from the coast to Bavaria.
Conclusion
From the digital menu via QR code to counter entry, kitchen and bar monitor, number call-up, bill splitting calculator, tips, and PayPal: Beat & Bite isn't a single gadget — it's a well-thought-out complete system that takes the running around away from your team and makes you look more professional. No forced app downloads, no sign-up for guests, no expensive hardware — instead, Made in Germany and GDPR-compliant.
For beer gardens, cafés, restaurants, and any business that wants faster service and more revenue per table, this is simply a massive advantage.