Chit
Write the order like you always do.
Chit is a guest check on your phone. Your shorthand, your seat numbers, your pen. It reads each line back typed, so you can key it into the POS without squinting at your own handwriting.
Free for your first 30 tickets, then $6.99 for a full year. Android is next.
It reads the way servers write.
There is no menu to tap through and no button to start a ticket. Turn to a blank page and write. The conventions are the ones printed on a paper pad: a number in the margin is the seat, an indented line modifies the item above it, a line across the page starts the next course.
| You write | Chit reads |
|---|---|
| 12 4 | Table 12, four guests Written on the top line. Becomes the tab for this table. |
| 12 chz brgr MR | Seat 1: 2 × cheese burger, medium rare The margin digit sets the seat for every line below it. |
| - no oni | no onion Indented or dashed lines attach to the item above. |
| ffr / ranch OTS | french fries, ranch on the side |
| Next course Or write APPS, ENT, DESS. | |
| swt | Whatever you tell it Press and hold any line to fix a reading. Teach it your shorthand once and it remembers. |
Three moments in a shift.
-
At the table
Eyes on the guest, one finger on the pad. It is exactly as fast as paper because it is paper, with a phone underneath.
-
At the terminal
Open the ticket. Every line is typed, grouped by seat and course. Tap each one as you key it in so nothing gets missed on a six-top.
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At checkout
Closed tables go to history with the times they opened and closed. Your record of the night, on your phone, not on a pad in a bus tub.
Not a POS. On purpose.
Handheld POS terminals make you look at a screen and tap through a menu while the guest waits. Chit does not connect to any POS, and it never will. It is your pad, and it works in the walk-in, in a basement dining room, and when the Wi-Fi dies on a Friday night.
Nothing to install at the restaurant. Nothing to ask a manager for. If you change jobs, it comes with you.
Learns your shorthand.
Every restaurant abbreviates differently, and so does every server. Chit ships knowing the common ones, and when it reads something wrong you fix it once. It remembers. You can also paste in the menu so item names come out right.
Your handwriting never leaves your phone.
Your tickets are read on the phone, by the phone. There is no account to create, no server that stores your orders, and no analytics on what you write. The handwriting model downloads once, then Chit works with the phone in airplane mode.
- No account, no sign-in, no email required.
- No cloud. Tickets live in the app on your phone, and in your own device backup if you keep one.
- No tracking. Nothing records when you open Chit or what you tap.
- If Chit crashes it sends a report of the crash, with no part of any ticket in it and nothing that identifies you or your phone.
Read the whole privacy policy. It is short.
One price. Less than a drink's tip.
Your first 30 tickets are free, which is about one busy shift. After that, the whole year is $6.99, paid through the App Store. That works out to a few cents a shift.
- No monthly plan, no tiers, no upsells.
- The pad, seats, courses, and your history stay free forever. The year unlocks the reading.
- Cancel in your App Store subscriptions like anything else.
Questions servers ask.
Does it work with our POS?
No, and it never will. You still key the order into the POS the way you do from paper. What changes is that your ticket is typed and grouped by seat when you get there.
Do I need a stylus?
No. Chit is designed for a finger. The rows are tall for exactly that reason. A cheap capacitive stylus works too, and on phones with a real pen like the Galaxy S Ultra you can turn on pen-only mode so your palm never draws.
What if it reads my handwriting wrong?
Press and hold the line. You get the alternatives it considered, a place to type, and a way to teach it what your abbreviation means. Once taught, it remembers.
Can I split a check by seat?
The seat is the split. Write the seat number in the margin as you take the order and the ticket view groups everything by seat, so the POS split takes seconds.
Is there an Android version?
It is built and being tested. iPhone ships first.
Can my restaurant buy it for the whole floor?
Not yet. Right now Chit is for individual servers. If you are a manager who wants it for your staff, tell us; that is how we will know it is worth building.