Keeping the Line Connected: Understanding Included Routing Groups 📋🍳
When a ticket fires to a specific kitchen station, chefs usually only want to see the items they are responsible for cooking. However, there are times when one station needs visibility into what another station is preparing for the same table—for instance, the Kitchen line might need to know what the Pantry station is plating so they can time the hot and cold items perfectly.
To handle this seamlessly without cluttering your main prep tickets, NX uses a feature called Included Routing Groups.
What is an Included Routing Group? 🤔
In plain terms, this setting allows Routing Group A to say: "Whenever my items are being printed, check if this order also has items for Routing Group B. If it does, pull them onto my ticket too."
When the ticket prints at Station A, it will display Station A's native items first. Then, it will cleanly append a separate, clearly labeled section at the very bottom showing Station B's items.
💡 Crucial Note: This feature does not hijack the other station's orders. Station B will still receive its own normal, independent ticket at its own printer exactly as usual.
How It Appears on the Kitchen Ticket 🧾
To keep things organized and prevent the expediter or line cooks from getting confused, NX separates these pulled-in items from the station's main workflow:
Native Items First: The items belonging directly to that station print normally at the top of the ticket, respecting your standard sorting and seat position layouts.
Centered Header: Directly below the main items, the printer will stamp a centered, double-height header displaying the name of the included group (e.g.,
*** PANTRY ***).Included Items Section: All pulled-in items are listed cleanly under that header, utilizing the exact same formatting options (such as item consolidation) so they are perfectly legible.
How to Configure Included Groups in the NX Portal ⚙️
You can establish these visibility relationships through your back-office routing settings:
Navigate to Printing > Routing > Groups in the NX Portal.
Select the primary Routing Group you want to configure (e.g., Kitchen).
Click on the Included Routing Groups tab.
You will see two columns: Available and Selected.
Use the arrow buttons to move the groups you want to peek into into the Selected column (e.g., moving Pantry over so the Kitchen can see its items).
Click Save.
Common Use Cases 💡
Hot Line & Cold Line Coordination: Drag your Pantry/Salad group into your Kitchen/Hot Line group so the hot line knows when a well-done steak needs to cross the pass at the same time as a quick Caesar salad.
Appetizers & Entrées: If your venue routes appetizers and mains to separate groups, adding apps to the entrée printer ensures the wheelman knows what started the table's meal.
Bar & Expo Support: Pulling Bar items onto a service bar expo ticket so food runners can grab both the drinks and the plates simultaneously for large parties.
Need Help? 💡
An included item printed twice on my station's ticket.
The system has a built-in safety net that deduplicates items by their unique order ID. An item will never print twice in the same section. If you see it twice, double-check that the item wasn't accidentally assigned to both routing groups simultaneously within your main menu configuration.
The included section didn't print at all for an order.
Included groups are dynamic! The extra section will only print if the guest actually ordered an item belonging to the included group during that specific transaction. If a table only orders hot food, the Pantry header won't print as a blank section.
Still fine-tuning your kitchen ticket layouts?
Reach out to your local NX Operational Partner or browse our guide on Customizing Kitchen Ticket Formats to maximize your line's efficiency! 🆘✨