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Kitchen Printers for Restaurants, Cafés & Bars — Order Printing Done Right
Kitchen printers (also called KOT printers — Kitchen Order Terminal printers) are dedicated printers installed in a commercial kitchen, bar, or food preparation area. When a waiter or front-of-house staff enters an order into your POS system, it is automatically sent to the kitchen printer, where it prints as a docket for the kitchen team to action. POS Plaza stocks kitchen printers from Epson and Star Micronics, the industry-standard brands used in Australian restaurants.
Thermal vs impact — which kitchen printer do I need?
Impact (dot matrix) printers are the correct choice for most commercial kitchen environments. They use an ink ribbon and are completely unaffected by heat, steam, or grease — the three conditions that make thermal printers unreliable in kitchens. The Epson TM-U220 and Star SP700 are the most widely installed kitchen printers in Australian hospitality.
Thermal kitchen printers can be used in cooler prep areas, bars, or pass-through stations where heat and steam are not a factor. They print faster and more quietly than impact printers. If the printer location is away from hot cooking equipment, a thermal printer is a viable option — check with your POS software provider that their kitchen printing supports your chosen model.
How does kitchen printing work with a POS system?
The standard workflow:
- A waiter takes a table order on a POS terminal (or tablet app) and submits it.
- The POS software instantly sends the order to the kitchen printer over your local Ethernet network.
- The kitchen printer prints a docket with the table number, items ordered, and any special instructions.
- Kitchen staff work from the docket to prepare and plate the order.
This replaces handwritten tickets, reduces order errors, and speeds up service. The kitchen printer is connected to your venue's network via Ethernet cable — it does not need to be physically near the POS terminal.
How many kitchen printers do I need?
It depends on your kitchen layout and menu structure:
- Small café or single-kitchen restaurant: 1 kitchen printer is usually sufficient.
- Restaurant with separate sections (hot kitchen, cold prep, grill): 2–3 printers, one per station. Your POS software routes specific menu items to specific printers (e.g. entrées to cold prep, mains to hot kitchen).
- Venue with a separate bar: A dedicated bar printer for drink orders, separate from food orders.
Most POS software allows you to configure routing rules — contact your POS software provider to confirm how many printers their system supports.
Which POS software supports kitchen printing in Australia?
Kitchen printing is supported by all major Australian hospitality POS platforms:
- Square for Restaurants — supports Ethernet kitchen printers. Epson TM-U220 and Star SP700 are compatible.
- Kounta / Lightspeed Restaurant — full kitchen printer support via Ethernet. Widely used with Epson TM-U220.
- TouchBistro — supports Star kitchen printers via Ethernet.
- Impos — supports Epson and Star impact printers.
- H&L Hospitality — supports Epson TM-U220 series.
Kitchen display systems vs kitchen printers — which is better?
Kitchen Display Systems (KDS) show orders on a screen rather than printing tickets. They offer real-time order tracking and timing alerts, and eliminate paper waste. However, they require power, a screen mount, and can be harder to read in bright or cluttered kitchen environments. Kitchen printers are simpler, more robust, and widely preferred in venues where kitchen staff move between stations. Many restaurants run both — a KDS for the main kitchen view and a printer for expediting at the pass.
Frequently asked questions — kitchen printers
Q: Do kitchen printers need to be near the POS terminal?
A: No. Kitchen printers connect via Ethernet to your local network. They can be installed anywhere in the venue within network cable reach — typically up to 100 metres without a network switch. The POS terminal sends print jobs over the network by the printer's IP address.
Q: What paper do kitchen printers use?
A: Impact kitchen printers (Epson TM-U220, Star SP700) use 76mm paper rolls, available in single-ply and two-ply formats. Thermal kitchen printers use standard 80mm thermal rolls. POS Plaza stocks both roll types.
Q: Can a kitchen printer be used wirelessly?
A: Most kitchen printers connect via Ethernet cable, which is preferred for reliability in busy kitchen environments. Some thermal kitchen printer models support Wi-Fi, but Ethernet is recommended for kitchen printing due to its stability. Wireless connections can drop in environments with heavy electrical interference from kitchen equipment.
Q: Can I add a kitchen printer to an existing Square or Kounta setup?
A: Yes. Kitchen printers can be added to an existing POS setup at any time. You'll need to connect the printer to your venue's network via Ethernet and configure it in your POS software settings. Contact POS Plaza if you need guidance on compatible models for your specific POS platform.