Step onto the line or behind the expo station for the first time and the tickets look like code: 86, SOS, MR, all day, on the fly, plus whatever shorthand your kitchen invented. You have to read these at a glance, under time pressure, while tracking timing and modifiers. The fastest way to stop puzzling over chits is to turn the shorthand into flashcards and drill it until it is automatic. An app like MenuFlashcards lets you build and quiz a custom deck of your kitchen’s abbreviations. It is in early access on iPhone.
The base method is how to memorize a restaurant menu fast; this guide is about the shorthand, and it pairs with learning the POS screen layout.
Learn the universal shorthand first
Some abbreviations are common across kitchens, so start there:
| Shorthand | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 86 | Out of an item, do not sell it |
| SOS | Sauce (or dressing) on the side |
| MR / MW / WD | Medium rare / medium well / well done |
| All day | The running total of an item across all open tickets |
| On the fly | Needed urgently, fire it now |
| VIP / PPX | Special guest, extra care |
Get these instant first; they show up almost everywhere.
Then learn your house shorthand
Every kitchen adds its own: abbreviations for dishes, station codes, modifier shortcuts, and timing marks. This is where a custom deck matters, because no generic list covers your house. Photograph or note your kitchen’s cheat sheet, build cards for each, and quiz yourself. The “all day” count especially trips up new cooks and expos, so drill the idea of reading a board and calling the running total correctly.
Why quizzing beats just reading the list
Reading a shorthand list builds recognition, which is too slow when tickets are flying. You need instant recall, and that comes from testing yourself. A review of retrieval practice in the National Library of Medicine found that testing yourself produces stronger long-term retention than re-reading. So flip the abbreviation, say the meaning, then check, until there is no pause between seeing “SOS” and knowing what to do.
A worked example
A chit reads “2x salmon MR, 1 SOS, on the fly.” The new cook who only read the list pauses to decode each part; the one who drilled it reads it at a glance: two salmon medium rare, one with sauce on the side, fire immediately. During a rush, that half-second per ticket is the difference between keeping up and falling behind, and it is pure recall.
”All day” is the one to drill hardest
Of all the shorthand, “all day” causes the most new-cook mistakes, because it is not a fixed term but a live count. If one ticket calls two salmon, another calls one, and a third calls three, the expo calls “six salmon all day,” the running total across every open ticket. Misread it and you fire the wrong number, which either backs up the pass or wastes a plate. So drill it as a small mental-math exercise, not a vocabulary card: practice reading a few mock tickets and calling the all-day total out loud. Getting fast at this is most of what makes an expediter look calm on a busy night.
Space your sessions
Space the practice; research on the spacing effect shows short sessions over several days beat one long cram. A few short quizzes across your first shifts will make the shorthand second nature faster than one long study session, and it fits a kitchen schedule.
Do not forget allergen and modifier marks
Many kitchens mark allergies and modifiers in shorthand on the ticket, and misreading one is a real risk. In the United States the FDA recognizes nine major allergens, and an allergy note on a chit must never be misread, so drill your kitchen’s allergy and modifier marks especially hard, the same care as allergen flashcards for servers. A “NO NUTS” or “ALLERGY” flag is the one piece of shorthand where a half-second of hesitation is the right move, slow down, read it twice, and confirm, because this is the abbreviation that protects a guest.
A fast plan
- Build a deck of the universal shorthand and your house shorthand.
- Quiz the universal terms to instant recall first.
- Add your kitchen’s dish, station, and modifier codes.
- Drill “all day” totals and the allergy marks hardest.
- Space short sessions across your first shifts.
Bottom line
Reading kitchen shorthand fast is about turning the abbreviations into instant recall, not puzzling them out mid-rush. Build a deck of the universal and house shorthand, quiz it with active recall, and drill the all-day totals and allergy marks hardest. MenuFlashcards lets you build and drill that custom deck, and it is in early access, so join the list and start with the free deck when it opens.
