Try These Tips to Increase Your Restaurant’s Ticket Times

Sluggish ticket times can wreak havoc on your restaurant. They can ruin the guest experience and stress out your team. But with the right systems and habits, you can shave off minutes—and I mean minutes — and speed up service without sacrificing quality. Today, we’re going to tackle a common frustration: slow ticket times. If your kitchen lags behind during busy shifts or you’re getting complaints about long wait times, it’s time to take a hard look at your operation.

Let’s jump into a few powerful strategies that can speed things up.

Prep to par based on product mix

The first thing I check when ticket times are slow is prep. Are your cooks scrambling because they ran out of mise en place right in the middle of a shift? If they run out of diced onions and have to jump off the line to prep more, your ticket timing is completely thrown off.

That’s a prep system problem. You should be using a prep sheet that’s built off your product mix report — not just guessing or relying on habit from last week. This keeps your team ready, not reacting.

Set up your line for speed

Your kitchen layout is either helping you or hurting you. Small inefficiencies add up fast.

Are tools within arm’s reach? Are ingredients organized in the right order? Are stations getting in each other’s way?

Take a walk through your kitchen during peak service and look for choke points. A few layout changes can trim serious time off every ticket.

Improve communication on the line

Your kitchen should operate like a symphony. Tickets come in and everyone should be on the same page.

Are your team members calling back orders? Are they coordinating cook times across stations? Is there a clear lead or expediter managing the flow?

Poor communication leads to delays, errors, and frustrated staff. Tight communication is the glue that holds it all together.

Use a board or screen system to manage your orders

Whether it’s a physical ticket rail or a digital kitchen display system (KDS), how you manage the flow of tickets matters. You want a system that everyone understands and follows without guessing.

The clearer the workflow, the faster your team can move.

Bonus tip: Reward speed and accuracy together

If your team knows they’ll be recognized for fast, accurate service — not just speed alone — they’ll naturally take pride in moving efficiently without cutting corners.

One of the restaurants I worked with shaved six minutes off their average ticket time over the course of a month by making just two changes: reorganizing their sauté station and having their expediter call out every ticket with time goals. That’s the power of well-focused improvement.

If you want to speed up ticket times, you don’t need to overhaul everything. Small, strategic tweaks can deliver big results. Focus on prep, layout, communication, and workflow — and watch your kitchen performance transform.

Be sure to visit my YouTube channel for more helpful restaurant management video tips.