comandas

Comanda is a hospitality term referring to a written or electronic ticket used to record and communicate customer orders and service actions in restaurants, bars and hotels. The comanda functions as the primary record that guides kitchen and bar staff and as the basis for billing. In many Spanish-speaking countries, a comanda may also refer to the final bill presented to the guest or charged to a room; context determines usage, but the core idea is a documented transaction trail.

A comanda typically includes the table or guest number, date and time, item descriptions, quantities, special requests, course sequence and any modifiers. It can be created by the waiter at the table (service comanda), sent directly to the kitchen (kitchen comanda) or used by the bar to track drinks. Many establishments maintain both physical slips and digital equivalents through a point-of-sale system or kitchen display system.

Process: staff take orders, record them on the comanda, pass it to the kitchen/bar, prepare and stage items as they are completed, and update the comanda to reflect status. When the guest finishes, the server uses the closed comanda to compile the bill or to charge to the guest’s room; the comanda is archived for record-keeping and inventory control.

Variations: terminology and practice vary by country and establishment. In modern operations, electronic comandas integrated with POS improve accuracy, speed and cost control.