Configure and Assign Prep Stations

Before you begin
Prep Station vs. Expediter
Create a Prep Station
Sequenced Prep to Expo Fulfillment
Route Menu Items to Prep Stations Using Advanced Properties
Archiving a Prep Station
Toast IQ and Prep Stations
Troubleshooting Prep Stations
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Articles

Before you begin

You need access to Toast Web with permission to edit Kitchen settings and Menus. If you do not see the Kitchen or Menus menus, check your permissions with your Toast administrator.
Printers must already be added in Toast Web before you can link them to a prep station. To add a printer, see the printer setup steps on your POS device (Setup > Printer Setup).
If you are setting up a Kitchen Display System (KDS) screen (also called a "KDS device") rather than a ticket printer, use the steps in Assign a KDS device to a prep station. This article covers printer-based prep stations and menu routing: Get Started With the Kitchen Display System.
Changes made in Toast Web take effect after you Save and Publish them.

This three-and-a-half-minute video covers how to create and configure prep stations in Toast Web. Plus, learn how to assign your menu items and menu groups to them.

Prep Station vs. Expediter

Two concepts control where kitchen tickets go in Toast:

A prep station is a station in your kitchen that prepares specific items — for example, Grill, Salad, Bar, or Pizza. Each prep station can be connected to a printer or a KDS screen.
The expediter (also commonly called the "expo") is the handoff station where completed items are assembled into the full order before it goes to the guest. The expediter sees the full ticket; prep stations only see the items assigned to them.

When you configure a prep station, you choose whether its items also appear at the expediter. The three options are:

Expediter only — the item skips prep stations and goes straight to expo. Use this for items that do not need preparation, like bottled drinks or pre-packaged sauces.
Prep station only — the item goes to the prep station and does not appear at expo.
Prep station and Expediter — the item appears at both the prep station and at expo.

If no prep stations are configured to send to the expediter, every prep station automatically sends to the expediter KDS device, and the expediter will show items from all prep stations.

Create a Prep Station

To create a prep station:

In Toast Web, navigate to Kitchen > Kitchen stations > Prep stations.
Select Create a prep station.
Enter a Prep station name and select Save. Your prep station name should be a short, recognizable name such as grill, salad, bar, etc.

The edit prep station workflow will open on the right side of your screen. Here you can:

Edit the prep station name
Use Menu Manager to connect applicable menus or items to this station. To learn more, see
Select an assigned ticket printer
Determine if you should send items to the prep station only, prep station and expediter, or expediter only.
Toggle on/off Always print tickets depending on your needs
Route items from this prep station to other stations if needed

Once your settings have been determined to your liking, select Save. Make sure to select Publish all changes when you are ready to push your new prep stations to your devices.

You can always edit your prep station settings. To update an existing prep station, select it from the list, or select the overflow menu (three vertical dots) on the right side of the prep station of your choice.

Note: You cannot assign more than one printer to a single prep station. If you need two printers to print the same tickets (for example, one by the cold line and one by the oven), see FAQ

Sequenced Prep to Expo Fulfillment

Sequenced Prep to Expo Fulfillment prevents the expediter from fulfilling a ticket until every prep station on that order has fulfilled its items. This is an optional setting recommended for kitchens that want strict prep-before-expo workflow.

In Toast Web, navigate to Kitchen > Printers, tickets, & KDS devices > Kitchen.
Scroll to the Expediter section and select the checkbox next to Sequenced Prep to Expo Fulfillment to enable it.
Select Save and then Publish.

When this setting is enabled, attempting to fulfill at the expediter before prep stations are complete will trigger an error pop-up. A manager's passcode or swipe can override it if needed. With this setting enabled, it is recommended to configure an expo-only prep station for items that do not require preparation (drinks, pre-packaged sauces). See Set Up an Expediter.

Route Menu Items to Prep Stations Using Advanced Properties

If you would rather use Advanced Properties to assign menus to your Prep Stations, you can do so by following these steps:

In Toast Web, navigate to Menus > Menu management > Advanced properties.
Open the Show/Hide drop-down and select Prep Stations. Deselect any other columns so you see only the Prep Stations column.
Use the caret icons to expand your menu, menu groups, and menu items as needed.
For each menu, group, or item, open the Prep Stations drop-down and select the prep station(s) that should prepare it.
- Items and groups inherit their parent's prep station assignments. You only need to set a prep station on an item if it should be different from the parent's.
- To remove a prep station assignment, open the Prep Stations drop-down and deselect the prep station. This is how you stop an item (for example, a retail merchandise item) from routing to the kitchen.
Select Save and then Publish.

Expected outcome: Items routed to a prep station will print at that station's connected printer (and appear on its KDS screen, if assigned) the next time an order is sent to the kitchen.

Archiving a Prep Station

If you no longer need a prep station, you can archive it by using the overflow menu (three vertical dots) and selecting Archive. Archived prep stations are always able to be unarchived. You can view your list of archived prep stations using the Show archived toggle at the top of the page.

Toast IQ and Prep Stations

To receive an overview of your prep stations, how they fit into your kitchen setup, and any issues you should fix, get help from Toast IQ! Select the Summarize my prep stations button to begin the workflow. You’ll be provided with potential issues to review, and recommended, prioritized actions to ensure everything is working seamlessly in your kitchen.

Troubleshooting Prep Stations

In your prep station list, you will be able to see:

Routing and device health visibility: Printer online/offline status, printer assignment, and role labels: Prep station only, Prep station and expediter, and Expediter only.
Proactive troubleshooting/setup issue detection: Warnings for unassigned printers, offline printers, missing menu routing, and configuration conflicts that could cause duplicate printing

If there is no menu routing, an amber warning icon appears in the Menu routing column reading “No menu linked,” with a Manage your menu link. The same warning will be seen on your edit prep station page with a warning reading “No menus or menu groups assigned to this prep station.”

For restaurants using a KDS, if there is no printer assigned, a blue info icon appears next to the message “No printer selected” in the Ticket printer column. This warning is advisory rather than blocking, since a no-print station can be intentional.

For restaurants that do not use a KDS, if there is no printer assigned an amber warning icon will appear with a message stating “Items routed to this prep station are currently not printing”. This is treated as a problem rather than advisory as without a KDS, the printer is the only source for the viewing ticket.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I print one prep station's tickets at two printers?

You cannot assign two printers directly to the same prep station. To achieve the same result:

Create two prep stations with identical Send to and Other Stations settings.
Connect one physical printer to each of the two prep stations (using the steps above).
Route the same menu items to both prep stations. Tickets will print at both printers.

Why route to prep stations and not specific devices?

The purpose of prep stations is to ensure items show up on the right device (KDS or printer) and that routing is easily replicable across multiple locations and duplicable in the event of a device change.

For instance, instead of saying all grill items go to Device #1234 and having to completely reconfigure your menu when you replace Device #1234 with Device #5678, all grill items are routed to a prep station called "Grill" and any KDS or printer can be set up to print/display "Grill".

Are prep stations and devices one-to-one (1:1)?

Prep stations and devices have a many-to-many relationship. One device (KDS or printer) can display/print items from multiple prep stations

For example: At location 1, a KDS is between the grill and fryer and displays both the "Grill" and "Fry" prep stations, but at location 2, they have two KDS devices -- one displays "Grill" and the other displays "Fry".

Multiple devices can also be set up to display the same prep station. This is useful when multiple people are working on the same items in different areas. If you are interested in this workflow, check out load balancing claiming tickets.

Which level of menu / item can be routed to a prep station?

Prep stations can be routed at multiple levels in the menu:

Route an entire menu to a prep station (e.g., bar menu routes to “Bar” prep station)
Route a menu group to a prep station (e.g., all steaks go to “Grill” prep station)
Route an individual item (e.g., the Burger menu group should go to “Grill” but the fried chicken sandwich should go to “Fry” prep station while all other burgers go to “Grill”)
Route an modifier (e.g., the grilled chicken add-on in a salad should go to the “Grill” prep station while the salad parent item goes to “Cold” prep station)