For full-service restaurants
Kitchen software for full-service restaurants.
A sit-down kitchen runs on stations, a line check before doors and plates that look the way the chef designed them. Zatila gives every station its own prep, records the line check with real temperatures, puts each plate on a tablet with photos and amounts, and gives servers the allergen answers the line has. Upload your recipe book, and Zatila sets up everything for you.
30-day free trialNo card neededUnlimited tablets
What does kitchen software do for a full-service restaurant?
For a full-service restaurant, kitchen software keeps every station ready for service and every plate on spec. Zatila gives each station its own prep list on a live board and runs the pre-service line check with a temperature for every well and cooler. Each dish is a plating guide with photos and the amount of every component, in half or full portions. A printable allergen chart gives servers the same answers as the line, and an 86'd dish shows on every tablet at once.
- Stations
- Grill, sauté, garde manger and pastry, each with its own list
- Line checks
- A recorded temperature for every well and cooler before doors
- Plating
- Photos and amounts for every component, half or full
- Front of house
- A printed allergen chart for servers
The problem
Where a full-service kitchen slips
More stations, longer menus and a dining room asking questions: there's more to keep in step than on a counter line.
One prep list for six stations
Grill, sauté, fry, garde manger and pastry each have their own mise en place. A list taped to the walk-in makes the sauté cook read past thirty items to find their five.
The line check lives on a clipboard
The chef walks the line at 4:30 with a probe and a sheet. On a short-staffed night it gets skipped, or the numbers get filled in after service.
Plates drift from the chef's version
The garnish moves, the sauce gets heavier, the fish gets bigger. The plate from the menu tasting isn't the one leaving the pass on Saturday.
Half portions come out at two-thirds
Pasta in half and full, a salad as a starter or a main. Without the amount for each, every cook splits the difference their own way.
Servers guess on allergens
A guest asks if the risotto has nuts. The server walks to the pass, the cook isn't sure, and the answer depends on who's working tonight.
The 86 doesn't reach everyone
The last short rib goes out at 8:10, and the line keeps reading tickets for it until someone shouts across the kitchen.
How Zatila handles it
How Zatila runs a full-service kitchen
Station prep in the afternoon, a recorded line check before doors, and the chef's plate all night.
Station prep
Each station sees its own mise en place.
The prep board groups items by station, like hot line, cold line, proteins and sauces. Each tablet can filter the board to its own station, so garde manger sees greens and dressings and the grill sees proteins. Cooks mark items stocked, low or out and claim what they're prepping, and pars can change by weekday for Friday and Saturday covers.
- "I'm on it" shows who is prepping what
- The chef sees every station's board from the admin
Line checks
A line check with real temperatures.
Build your pre-service line check as a checklist, with a reading on each step that needs one: the walk-in, each reach-in, the hot wells and the cold rail. It comes due at the time you set for each location, and a late check moves to the top of every screen with a sound. When a reading is out of range, the cook writes the corrective action before the check can be finished.
More on kitchen checklists
Plating guides
The chef's plate, with photos and amounts.
Every dish is a plating guide: components, sauce, garnish and plating, one step per screen, with a photo on any step you want to show. Give a dish sizes like half and full, and each component has its amount in each, so a half rigatoni is half. Change a garnish in the admin with a live preview, and every tablet has it within seconds.
More on recipe guides
86'd and alerts
When it's gone, every station knows.
86 a dish for today with one switch in the admin, and every tablet shows it as 86'd on the menu, the dish and its guide. When a prep item runs out on the board, every guide that uses it says so on the step. Cooks raise alerts, like a broken fryer, that reach the right managers right away.
- What's late comes first, on every screen
- Works offline, and syncs when the Wi-Fi is back
Allergen chart for servers
Print every dish against the allergens on one sheet with the date, for the server station and the host stand.
Logs for the inspector
Every reading with the time, the target, the result, the action and the cook's name, as a CSV.
Training for new cooks
Flashcards and a quiz made from your own menu, so a new hire learns the plates before working a station.
Pre-service line check
What a pre-service line check records
A starting point for the checklist on your tablets. Change the targets to match your plan and your equipment.
| Station or unit | Target | If it's out of range |
|---|---|---|
| Walk-in and reach-in coolers | 41°F or below | Move product to a working unit, call for service and tell the chef |
| Freezer | 0°F or below | Check the door and the seal, and move product if it's thawing |
| Hot wells: soups, sauces, purées | 135°F or above | Reheat to 165°F, or throw it out if you can't say how long it was low |
| Cold line: salads, dressings, raw fish | 41°F or below | Ice the inserts or swap the pans, then check again |
| Poultry cooked to order | 165°F | Keep cooking until it reaches the target |
How it works
Get your restaurant kitchen on Zatila
- 01
Choose Full-service
Start with example starters, mains and desserts as plating guides, prep items and checklists you can change.
- 02
Upload your recipe book
Plate specs, recipe cards and prep lists, set up as guides and recipes for you to review.
- 03
Pair a tablet per station
Grill, sauté, garde manger and the pass. Tablets are unlimited on every plan.
- 04
Check, then serve
Line check before doors, plating guides all night, and the logs in your admin after close.
What is a line check in a restaurant?
A line check is a walk of every station before service: the temperatures of coolers, hot wells and cold rails, and whether each station has its mise en place. In Zatila, it's a checklist with a reading on each step that needs one, due at the time you set and signed with a name.
Can each station see only its own prep?
Yes. Prep board items belong to a station, and each tablet can filter the board to one station. It remembers the choice, so the grill tablet opens on the grill's list every day.
How can servers answer allergen questions?
Print the allergen chart from the admin: every dish against the allergens you entered, with the date. It doesn't show shared fryers or cross-contact, so for a serious allergy, servers still check with a manager.
Can a dish have a half and a full portion?
Yes. Give the dish sizes, like half and full, and set each component's amount in each. The cook picks the size on the tablet, and the guide shows those amounts on every step.
Can the line read the tablets in Spanish?
Yes. Each tablet switches between English and Spanish with one tap on EN | ES, so the grill can read Spanish while the pass stays in English. Zatila translates your own plating guides, prep and line checks into kitchen Spanish, and you can review and change any line in the admin. Temperatures and amounts stay exactly as you wrote them, the printed allergen chart comes in English, Spanish or both, and the line check log and reports stay in English.
How does the line know a dish is 86'd?
Switch the dish to 86'd in the admin, and every tablet at every location marks it on the menu, the dish page and its guide within seconds. Switch it back when it's on again.
Pricing
Full-service kitchen software, priced per location.
Every plan has every kitchen tool and unlimited tablets, and coming soon and closed locations are free.
Starter
For one kitchen getting organized.
$39per location
/ month$35 from the 5th location, $29 from the 10th
Start free$390per location
/ year$32.50 a month, billed yearly. $350 from the 5th location, $290 from the 10th
- Menu guides, recipes and the prep guide
- Prep board, checklists and use-by labels
- Food-safety timers with temperature logs
- Unlimited tablets
- Zatila sets up 50 items a month for you
Recommended
Pro
For busy kitchens and growing teams.
$69per location
/ month$59 from the 5th location, $49 from the 10th
Start free$690per location
/ year$57.50 a month, billed yearly. $590 from the 5th location, $490 from the 10th
- Everything in Starter
- Zatila sets up your whole menu, with no monthly limit
Chain
For groups with 10 or more locations.
Talk to usCustom
- Everything in Pro
- Setup help for every location
- Custom terms and invoicing
Coming soon and closed locations are free.
30-day free trial, no card.
Prices in US dollars. Tax is added where it applies.
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