Restaurant Terms Glossary: KOT, BOT, KDS, 86 and More

Every restaurant runs on its own shorthand. A waiter shouts "86 the prawns", a chef talks about mise en place, the manager checks covers and food cost, and the new hire has no idea what any of it means. This glossary collects the restaurant terms you actually hear on a busy floor and explains each one in plain language, with a link to a longer guide where it helps.

We grouped the terms by where you meet them: the kitchen and ticket flow, the dining room and service, and the numbers an owner watches. Most of these appear inside everyday restaurant software too, so we point out how a tool like Rosuii uses them where it fits. Use the headings to jump to the part you need.

Kitchen and order-ticket terms

These are the words that move an order from the floor to the line and out as a finished plate.

KOT (kitchen order ticket)

The ticket the kitchen cooks from. It lists items, quantities and notes like "less spicy", with the table or token number, and no prices. One order can create several KOTs at different times. Full guide: what is KOT.

BOT (beverage order ticket)

The same idea as a KOT, but for drinks. It routes borhani, lassi, tea, soft drinks and the like to the bar or drinks station instead of the hot kitchen. Full guide: what is BOT.

KDS (kitchen display system)

A screen at the line that replaces paper tickets. Orders arrive as cards with timers, cooks tap them from new to preparing to ready, and nothing gets lost under a pan. See kitchen display system (KDS) and the comparison KOT vs BOT vs KDS.

CDS (customer display system)

A customer-facing board, usually a TV, that calls token numbers when food is ready so guests know to collect. Full guide: customer display system (CDS).

86

Kitchen slang for "we are out of it". To 86 an item means it is sold out or unavailable, so the floor stops selling it until it is back. Full guide: what does 86 mean in a restaurant.

Mise en place

French for "everything in its place". It is the prep a cook does before service: chopping, portioning, sauces ready, so the line can fire orders fast when the rush hits. Full guide: mise en place.

Production

Making a finished or semi-finished item from raw ingredients ahead of service, like cooking a big pot of biryani rice or a base gravy. In Rosuii this is recorded as a production, turning raw stock into ready stock.

Station

A section of the kitchen, such as grill, curry, tandoor or drinks. Each menu item is assigned to a station so its ticket goes to the right cook.

Front-of-house and service terms

These cover the dining room, the guests and the people serving them.

Covers

The number of guests served, counted per head rather than per table or per bill. Two tables of four are eight covers. Full guide: covers in a restaurant.

FOH and BOH

Front of house (FOH) is everything guests see: the dining room, the cashier, the waiters. Back of house (BOH) is the kitchen, store and prep. Full guide: FOH vs BOH.

Table turnover

How many times a table is used by new guests in a service. Faster turnover on a busy night means more covers and more sales from the same seats. Full guide: table turnover rate.

Walk-in

A guest who arrives without a booking. On the POS, a walk-in order is one not tied to a named reservation or saved customer.

Void, comp and discount

Three different ways an item or charge is removed or reduced. A void cancels something before it is paid, a comp gives it free (often to fix a mistake), and a discount lowers the price. Full guide: void, comp and discount.

Service charge and VAT

Service charge is a percentage added for service; VAT is the government tax. In Bangladesh both appear on the bill and are calculated by the POS. See VAT and service charge in Bangladesh.

Dine-in, takeaway and delivery

The three main order types. The same kitchen handles all three, which is why a single screen for all of them matters. See managing dine-in, takeaway and delivery.

POS and technology terms

The systems that tie the floor, the kitchen and the books together.

POS (point of sale)

The system where orders are taken, sent to the kitchen and turned into bills. Modern ones run in a browser on a phone, tablet or terminal. Full guide: what is a POS system and restaurant POS system.

QR ordering

Guests scan a code on the table to open the menu and order from their phone, which lands as a ticket in the kitchen. See QR code menu and contactless ordering.

Variation, add-on and combo

A variation is a size or option of an item (regular vs large biryani). An add-on is an extra (extra raita). A combo bundles items at one price. These shape both the menu and the KOT.

Inventory and purchase order

Inventory is your stock of ingredients with units, cost and low-stock alerts. A purchase order is a record of what you buy from a supplier. See restaurant inventory management.

Money and reporting terms

The numbers that tell you whether the restaurant is actually making money.

Food cost percentage

What your ingredients cost as a share of the price you sell food for. A dish that costs ৳90 to make and sells for ৳300 has a 30 percent food cost. Full guide: food cost percentage.

Restaurant KPIs

The handful of numbers worth tracking, such as average order value, covers, food cost and table turnover. Full guide: restaurant KPIs.

Day close and Z-report

The end-of-day summary of everything sold, paid and owed, used to reconcile the cash drawer and close the books for the day. Full guide: day close and Z-report.

Menu engineering

Looking at which items sell and which earn, then arranging the menu so the profitable favourites get pushed. Full guide: menu engineering.

Terms people mix up most

A few of these get confused constantly, so it is worth pinning down the difference once.

• KOT vs bill. A KOT is for the kitchen and shows no prices; the bill is for the customer and shows prices, VAT and service charge. One order can make several KOTs but one final bill.
• KOT vs KDS. A KOT is the ticket (the list of food); a KDS is the screen that displays it. You can print a KOT on paper with no KDS at all.
• Covers vs tables vs bills. Covers count guests, tables count tables, bills count cheques. A table of six is one table, six covers, and possibly two bills.
• Variation vs add-on. A variation changes the item itself (large biryani); an add-on is an extra alongside it (extra raita).
• Void vs comp vs discount. A void cancels before payment, a comp gives something free, a discount lowers the price. They look similar on a screen but mean different things in your reports.

Getting these straight matters because they drive different numbers. Mixing covers and bills makes your busiest nights look quieter than they were. Treating every removed item as a discount hides how much you actually comp or void. Clear terms lead to clear reports.

How these terms show up in one system

On paper these are separate ideas, but in a working restaurant they connect. A guest is a cover. Their order becomes a KOT (and a BOT for drinks) on the KDS. The ingredients come out of inventory, some prepped earlier as productions. If a dish runs out, the kitchen 86s it. At the end of service the same orders roll up into the day close, food cost and the KPIs you review.

Rosuii ties this chain together so the words match the buttons. A waiter sends an order to the kitchen, the line works it on the display, the customer board calls the token, and the numbers land in your reports without anyone retyping them. If a term here is new to you, follow its link for the full explanation with Bangladeshi examples.

Want to see these restaurant terms working in one place, from KOT to Z-report? Create your free Rosuii account and set up your menu, kitchen display and reports.