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Bundle your kitchen printer with your POS to create a seamless connection between your restaurant’s front and back of house.
A good kitchen printer keeps your restaurant running smoothly. It speeds up communication between the front and back of the house, reduces order errors, and helps your team stay organized, even during a rush.
For most restaurants larger than a small café, a reliable kitchen printer (or several) is essential. These devices are affordable, easy to set up, and often included in POS hardware bundles for new restaurants.
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A kitchen printer connects to your restaurant’s POS system and automatically prints tickets when an order is entered. Instead of servers running handwritten notes to the kitchen, every order prints instantly at the correct station, complete with modifiers, special instructions, and timestamps.
This automation improves order accuracy, reduces delays, and helps staff focus on prep and service rather than communication errors.
When a server enters an order into the POS, it automatically routes to the appropriate kitchen printer. The printer produces a clear, formatted ticket that your cooks can immediately reference.
This simple setup replaces manual note-taking and speeds up your workflow, allowing your kitchen to serve more customers with fewer mistakes.
Not all kitchen printers are created equal. Before buying one, consider how your kitchen operates and what features will save you the most time during a rush.
The biggest choice you’ll make is between an impact or thermal printer.
| Printer Type | How It Works | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impact Printer | Uses an ink ribbon to print on paper | Busy kitchens that need loud, reliable alerts | Louder (a plus in restaurants), durable, less heat-sensitive |
| Thermal Printer | Uses heat to print directly on paper | Smaller or quieter operations | Quieter, faster, but can overheat or smudge during long shifts |
Most restaurants prefer impact printers because their loud printing sound doubles as a notification that an order just came in.
Your kitchen printer will take some abuse — expect spills, heat, and the occasional drop. Choose a model designed for high-traffic restaurant environments.
Also, look for an option with an internal battery backup so it keeps running during brief power interruptions or accidental unplugging.
In a fast-paced kitchen, simplicity matters. Choose a printer that’s easy to set up, reload with paper, and operate quickly. Complicated feeds or clunky interfaces can slow service when it matters most.
Handwritten tickets may have old-school charm, but if you’re after speed, accuracy, and smoother service, kitchen printers are the way to go. Here’s why:
Kitchen printer prices vary, but most impact printers — the preferred choice for busy restaurants — range from $150 to $350.
You can find models from major retailers or office supply stores, and you’ll likely need a few extras like receipt paper and an Ethernet cable, depending on your setup.
Before buying, check:
If you’re opening a new restaurant, consider buying a hardware bundle directly from your POS provider. These usually include everything you need at a lower total cost. Still, it’s smart to price-check elsewhere to make sure you’re getting the best deal.
Whether or not you need a kitchen printer depends on your setup and pace.
If you run a small café or food truck where the register and kitchen are within shouting distance, handwritten tickets might still work fine. But once you have multiple servers, cooks, or high order volume, a kitchen printer quickly becomes essential.
In a busy restaurant, speed and accuracy are everything. Kitchen printers eliminate communication errors, reduce wait times, and keep orders organized in real time — all of which lead to happier customers and higher revenue.
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Square is an industry-leading point-of-sale and payment processing provider. Sign up for a free account and get a complimentary card reader for use with Square POS. Start For Free.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
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Run your entire restaurant on an iPad, including reservation management.
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