Heat-Safe Carbonless Restaurant Guest Checks & Kitchen Tickets

A carbonless guest check gets the order to the kitchen and leaves a copy in the server’s book without anybody rewriting it. A 2-part check means the top copy runs to the line or the bar and the bottom stays with the server for the table’s running tab and the end-of-shift reconciliation. Numbered checks are also how you know a ticket didn’t walk out the back door.

Forms restaurants and bars order

Guest check — numbered, the order and the tab in one. Kitchen ticket or dupe, the copy that hits the rail. Bar tab slip. Server bank / cash-out sheet — sales, comps, voids, tips declared, cash owed. Catering contract and banquet event order (BEO) — headcount, menu, timing, deposit, signature. Delivery ticket with an address block and driver signature. Temperature logs, line check sheets, prep lists. Purchase order and receiving ticket. Comp / void slip with a manager signature line — the one that catches problems.

Part count and who gets which copy

2-part is the standard guest check:

• White (original) — kitchen or bar. Torn off and spiked, or dropped at the expo window.
• Canary — server’s book, then the guest. Holds the running order and becomes the presented check.

3-part in table-service houses that route separately: white to the kitchen, canary to the bar, pink for the server. Catering contracts and BEOs are usually 3-part — client, kitchen, sales file. Cash-out sheets and comp slips are usually 2-part: manager and server.

Typical size and quantity

Guest checks are small and narrow by design — around 3.5″ x 6.75″, 4.2″ x 7″, or 3″ x 8″ so they fit a server book and a check presenter. Kitchen dupes are similar. Full 8.5″ x 11″ is for catering contracts, BEOs, purchase orders, and cash-out sheets; 8.5″ x 5.5″ works for delivery tickets and comp slips. Quantity is where restaurants differ from trades: a busy house writes hundreds of checks a day, so 2,500 or 5,000 sets is normal and 1,000 is a low order. Catering forms and manager slips go 250 or 500.

Fields most guest checks carry

Restaurant name and location. Pre-printed sequential check number. Date. Server name or number. Table number and guest count. Time in. Ruled order lines with quantity, item, and price columns — most houses want more lines than they think. Modifier space for allergy, temp, and substitutions, with room to actually write it. Course break markers for fine dining. Subtotal, tax, gratuity, total. For bar tabs: a card-on-file box and an initial line. For catering: event date, arrival time, guaranteed headcount, menu, rentals, deposit paid, balance due, client signature.

Recordkeeping — what’s real and what isn’t

There is no federal rule that says your guest checks must be carbonless or printed a particular way. Don’t let anyone sell you a form on a made-up regulation.

What is real is the ordinary tax record. The IRS lists cash register tapes, deposit information for cash and credit sales, receipt books, and invoices among the supporting documents that show the amounts and sources of your gross receipts, and says you should keep those documents because they support the entries in your books and on your return. For a restaurant, numbered guest checks are exactly that: the per-transaction backup behind the day’s sales figure. Sequential numbering is what makes the pile auditable — a gap in the run is something you can chase the same night instead of discovering at year end.

If your house has tipped employees, tip reporting is its own federal subject; talk to your accountant, not a printer. Local health departments set their own temperature and food-safety log requirements — if yours specifies fields on a cooling log, send us the list and we’ll lay it out.

FAQ

Can you print guest checks in my restaurant’s size, not a stock size? Yes. Tell us the finished width and height. Guest checks usually land around 3.5″ x 6.75″ to 4.2″ x 7″, but we cut to what you ask for.

Can each part be a different color so the kitchen copy is obvious on the rail? Yes. 2-part is white and canary by default; tell us if you want a different second color. On 3-part, white / canary / pink is standard.

Can you number my checks and start them where my last order ended? Yes. Give us the start number. Numbering is included free — it’s not an add-on.

I need my logo and menu categories pre-printed on the check. Is that extra? Artwork cleanup is included free. Send whatever you have — a logo file, a photo of your current check, a Word doc — and we’ll set it and send a inspected PDF proof within 4 business hours.

How many should I order? We go through checks fast. Minimum is 250 sets, but for a restaurant that’s a few days. 2-part, 8.5×11 Letter (8.5×14 Legal +14%), is $57/250, $84/500, $148/1000, $322/2500, $595/5000. 3-part is $57/250, $97/500, $169/1000, $349/2500, $619/5000 — that’s our published range. Past 5,000 sets, call (254) 290-6337 and we’ll price it for your volume.

Get a quote: call (254) 290-6337 or send artwork. Minimum 250 sets. Numbering, artwork cleanup, and a inspected PDF proof are included free. Production runs 2-3 business days after you approve the proof.

Sources

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/what-kind-of-records-should-i-keep — IRS — What kind of records should I keep