Owner's manual · every feature, plainly explained

Run your kitchen with Coal & Coin.

Coal & Coin (रसोई OS) is a restaurant operating system built for how Indian food businesses actually run — sold by the kilo, spiking every festival, cash-heavy, filed with excise. This guide explains the whole tool, then walks through all ten desks: what each is for, every tool on it in plain words, and exactly what you type in to make it yours.

How the tool works

Coal & Coin gives each kind of restaurant its own desk — just the handful of tools that place needs, not one giant dashboard. Whichever desk you land on, the shape is the same:

1 · The toolkit

A short, curated set of tool pages — pour variance, batch planner, cash close. Each opens at its own address. Only what your kind of place needs.

2 · The fleet

The centrepiece: a few AI specialists that read your live records and surface what needs attention — ranked urgent → ok, each showing the facts behind it.

3 · The copilot

A plain-language assistant. Ask “why is my milk spoiling?” and it answers from your actual data — and never invents a number.

The one idea to hold on to

Every desk opens filled with sample data so you can look around freely. The moment you enter your own numbers, that same desk turns live and every tool and AI helper starts working off your counter — not the demo. Coal & Coin never shows an invented testimonial, review or figure as if it were real.

Turning sample data into your real numbers

This is the single most important thing to do. Until you do it, a desk is a convincing demo; after, it's your business.

  1. 1

    Open the setup wizard

    From any desk, tap “Set up live data →”. You’ll see the exact things your desk tracks — bottles, cocktails and wastage for a bar; sweets, sales and bulk orders for a mithai shop.

  2. 2

    Enter a few rows, or start from sample

    Type your real items, or tap “Start from sample data” to drop in editable starter rows and change them one by one. Even a handful of rows lights up the tools.

  3. 3

    Or feed it in automatically

    Every desk has an integration bridge — a weighing scale, a POS export, a Swiggy/Zomato settlement file, a reservation form — that posts your data in so you never re-type.

  4. 4

    Watch it go live

    The moment real rows exist, the sample badge becomes live, the fleet re-reads your figures, and the get-set-up checklist ticks off.

Saving needs an account

You can explore, quote and calculate without signing in. To persistwhat you enter — so it's there tomorrow — create a free account at the end of onboarding: one step, e-mail and password. Without a saved account Coal & Coin runs in demo mode and won't keep your rows.

The AI fleet — propose, you approve

Each desk's centrepiece is its fleet: a small team of AI specialists, each with one job. Every item it raises is ranked by urgency, carries a one-line title, a short explanation, and the exact facts it used — so you can check its reasoning, not just trust it. The fleet proposes; you decide. Approve an action and it's carried out and written to an audit log. Nothing acts on your business behind your back.

Asking the copilot

Every desk has a grounded assistant you can ask anything in plain language — “which brand actually makes money?”, “what should I prep for tonight?”. It answers over your live data when you have it, or the sample context when you don't, held to a strict rule: never invent a figure. If it doesn't have the number, it tells you which data to enter.

Your first ten minutes

Describe your place in a line

Type “rooftop cocktail bar in Pune” or “highway dhaba” and Coal & Coin picks the right desk — no hunting through a grid.

Run the whole thing signed-out

Pick your desk, see your menu read, meet your agents — all before making an account. You only sign up at the final step, to save it.

The get-set-up checklist

Each desk shows a progress ring and a short checklist — one tick per kind of data — so you always know what’s left to go live.

Start from sample

One tap seeds editable starter rows so your desk opens populated instead of blank. Change or delete any of them.

Plans & pricing

Four tiers, each strictly adding to the one before it, plus a genuinely free tier for the smallest places. You can preview any plan live in the dashboard before paying.

Core

Run the floor

₹799/mo

  • Billing, KOT & table management
  • Live Floor — real-time dine-in & kitchen tickets
  • Direct, WhatsApp & table-QR ordering — commission-free
  • Virtual Brands — many delivery brands, one kitchen
  • Inventory — stock, par levels & reorder points
  • Zomato & Swiggy aggregator sync

Growth

Popular

Predict the rush

₹2,999/mo

  • Everything in Core
  • Shift Commander — the AI agent fleet that proposes, you approve
  • AI demand forecasting, India-calendar aware
  • Forecast explainability & auto-reorder suggestions
  • Prep Sheet — the forecast turned into mise-en-place
  • Menu Engineering — margin × popularity, dish by dish

Network

Compound the advantage

₹5,499/mo

  • Everything in Growth
  • Supplier Network + Procurement Intel — your prices vs the network median
  • Aggregator Economics — true delivery margin + ad ROAS
  • Delivery dynamic pricing, daypart-aware
  • Win-back campaigns — approval-gated, over WhatsApp
  • Benchmarks — anonymised peer comparison

Enterprise

Run every outlet

Talk to us

  • Everything in Network
  • Multi-Outlet Console — cross-outlet view
  • Central Kitchen — commissary production planning
  • Chain Control + Anomaly Watch — variance & leakage flags
  • AI-suggested inter-outlet stock transfers
  • Roles, approvals & org-wide controls

Coal & Coin Saathi is ₹0 — a separate, mobile-first, Hindi-first product for dhabas, thelas and tea stalls (see the end of this guide). Not a discounted Core; a different tool for a different owner.

The ten desks

Every vertical, in plain words

Each desk below lists who it's for, the everyday pains it kills, every tool explained simply, the data you enter to go live, and the one integration that removes manual typing.

For breweries & brewpubs

Brewery / Brewpub

Network

You brew on-site, pour on tap and file with excise. Coal & Coin runs the brewhouse a POS can't, and the tank ERP charges dollars for — at an Indian price.

Lives at /brewery

Your top beer dry-taps with nothing brewingFoam & over-pour quietly bleeding ₹Excise register + monthly returns by hand

The toolkit

  • AI brew-vs-demandThe fleet tells you what to brew next — before your best seller dry-taps.
  • Fermentation & tanksEvery litre, every vessel, and when each frees — the production board a POS never has.
  • Recipe cost-per-litreHouse beer's real COGS, costed to the pint — your edge over bottled liquor.
  • Tap yield & pour lossDrawn vs billed, so foam and over-pour show up in ₹, not vibes.
  • Excise, automatedDaily stock register + the monthly return, drafted from your pours.
  • Batch QAGravity → ABV, with off-spec and stuck-fermentation flagged automatically.
  • Mug Club & off-salesMembership MRR + growler take-home — recurring revenue no aggregator touches.
  • One system, Indian priceTank + tap + excise + AI, billed in ₹/mo — not the dollars Ekos or Breww charge.

What you enter to go live

Vessels

Vessel, Capacity (L), Beer, Status

Powers: Fermentation & tanks · brew-vs-demand · vessels committed

Pours

Beer, Poured (from vessel) (L), Billed (L)

Powers: Tap yield & pour loss · tap revenue

Batches

Beer, Original gravity, Final gravity

Powers: Batch QA · ABV · off-spec alerts

Removes typing: Tilt / Plaato gravity sensorThe sensor POSTs each reading to /api/vertical-import (kind=batch); a flow-meter feeds kind=pour. No manual entry.

For delivery-only kitchens

Cloud kitchen

Network

No dining room — just aggregators, direct orders and per-brand economics. Coal & Coin runs the kitchen that never seats a guest.

Lives at /desk/cloud

~30% aggregator commission on every orderMany virtual brands, one set of burnersNo idea which brand actually makes money

Command

  • OverviewOrders, commission, net across brands and the payout shortfall to dispute — at a glance.
  • Cloud fleetFive AI specialists on brand P&L, payout recovery, ad ROAS, item margin and the prep line.
  • Shared prep lineAll brands cook off one line — the station running hot before dispatch, and your rating, slips.

Delivery economics

  • Brand P&LWhich virtual brand actually makes money after commission, packaging and ads.
  • Item marginContribution per order once ~25% take comes off — an item can bleed on delivery.
  • Take-home calculatorWhat a ₹400 order really banks after commission, GST on it, gateway, food and packaging — plus the price floor.
  • Payout recoveryStatement vs bank, reconciled — the aggregator's silent short-pays, drafted as a dispute.
  • Reconcile payoutsLog each settlement's expected vs received — short-pays total into the recoverable figure. Persists live.

What you enter to go live

Brands

Brand, Cuisine, Commission (%)

Powers: Per-brand P&L · ad ROAS

Orders

Brand, Order value (₹), Food cost (₹)

Powers: Brand P&L · item margin

Payouts

Platform, Expected (₹), Received (₹)

Powers: Payout recovery

Removes typing: Swiggy / Zomato settlement fileUpload the weekly settlement CSV (or wire the partner API) to /api/vertical-import (kind=payout, kind=order). Real P&L, no re-typing.

For bars & pubs

Bar / Pub

Core

Liquor plus food, tracked to the peg — Coal & Coin catches the over-pour and keeps the excise register clean through the late rush.

Lives at /desk/bar

A peg over-poured on every roundPilferage hidden in the noiseExcise register kept by hand

Command

  • OverviewBar revenue, over-pour leak, dead-stock capital and excise-linked SKUs today.
  • Bar fleetPour variance, cocktail margin, dead stock, par-reorder, distributor pricing, comps and licence — watched.

Pour & margin

  • Pour varianceOpening vs billed vs measured close — over-pour and pilferage priced in ₹.
  • Cocktail costingEvery pour + mixer costed to the glass, so menu prices hold their margin.
  • Menu engineeringStars, Plowhorses, Puzzles & Dogs — every cocktail placed by margin × volume.

Stock & compliance

  • Inventory & parCapital on the shelf, days of cover and the reorder list — the stockroom a POS never shows.
  • Excise registerPurchase/sale volumes in your state's format, a printable return, plus the licence renewal clock.
  • Dry-day calendarIndia's mandated no-serve days — plan the closure ahead instead of getting caught serving.
  • Wastage & compsSpills, comps and breakage logged by shift and valued — the leak that isn't over-pour.

Floor & events

  • Covers by hourWhere the night is quiet — the window a timed happy-hour offer should fill.
  • Running tabsOpen a tab, add rounds, close it — a real running-tab register that persists the night's takings.
  • Private bookingsReserve the big nights — party size, occasion and advance held, with a dry-day clash warning.
  • Events & DJ ROICover + bar spend vs the act's fee — which nights actually pay for themselves.
  • Bartender scorecardSales, pour variance and comps by bartender — the pattern behind the leaks, named.

What you enter to go live

Bottles

Bottle, Category, Cost / bottle (₹), Price / peg (₹), Peg size (ml), Opening (ml), Pegs sold, Closing (ml), Sealed backups, Par level (bottles)

Powers: Pour variance · pour-cost % · inventory & par · dead-stock

Cocktails

Cocktail, Price (₹), Recipe cost (₹), Sold today

Powers: Cocktail costing · margin · menu engineering

Wastage entries

Item, Amount (ml), Reason, Shift

Powers: Comp/spill watchdog

Tabs

Tab, Rounds, Amount (₹)

Powers: Running-tab register · night's takings

Bookings

Guest, Phone, Date, Party size, Occasion, Advance (₹)

Powers: Private-party & table bookings

Removes typing: Bottle-weigh scaleWeigh open bottles at close; the scale export POSTs to /api/vertical-import (kind=bottle). Real variance + inventory, not eyeballed.

For cafés & coffee shops

Café

Growth

Espresso to all-day bites — Coal & Coin balances counter speed with the regulars who camp for three hours, and rewards them for it.

Lives at /desk/cafe

Counter queues at the rushRegulars you never rewardMilk & beans quietly over-ordered

Command

  • OverviewRevenue, covers turned away at peak, Brew Pass MRR and perishables at risk.
  • Café fleetPeak-seat overflow, freshness, loyalty, win-backs and per-cup margin — each with its facts.

Floor & demand

  • Covers & dwellWhere the rush is and how long people stay — the daypart rhythm of the room.
  • Seats vs demandSeat capacity sized from dwell, and the covers you turn away at the peak.

Regulars & margin

  • Regulars & Brew PassTurn daily regulars into a prepaid coffee subscription an aggregator never touches.
  • Brew Pass signupSign a regular up to the prepaid pass — persists live and books the recurring MRR.
  • Bean & milk freshnessOver-ordered milk and day-old pastry, flagged before they become wastage.
  • Per-cup marginCosted to the cup — alt-milk and syrups are where the margin quietly goes.

What you enter to go live

Cover logs

Daypart, Covers, Avg dwell (min)

Powers: Covers & dwell · seat overflow

Regulars

Name, Visits / week, Brew Pass?

Powers: Brew Pass · loyalty · win-backs

Perishables

Item, On hand, Unit, Shelf-life left (days)

Powers: Freshness sentinel

Removes typing: POS covers exportNightly covers/dwell export CSV → /api/vertical-import (kind=cover). QR seating can post dwell live.

For fine-dining restaurants

Fine dining

Growth

Reservations, coursed KOTs and a reputation that lives or dies on the last review. Coal & Coin holds the pass and watches every plate's cost.

Lives at /desk/finedining

A single bad review stings for weeksCoursing & pass control by memoryHigh food cost on premium plates

Command

  • OverviewCovers booked tonight, deposits held, average spend per cover and the VIPs expected.
  • Fine-dining fleetNo-show risk, VIP & allergy alerts, course margin, cover pacing and uncollected deposits — watched.

Reservations

  • ReservationsBook covers with seating and a deposit — no-show risk and cover pacing flagged. Persists live.
  • Guest bookThe VIP & allergy book — brief the kitchen on who's in tonight and what they can't eat.

Menu & wine

  • Tasting-menu costingEvery course costed to the plate — so the tasting menu holds its margin.
  • Wine by the glassBy-the-glass margin — glass price vs pour cost, the program's quiet profit.

What you enter to go live

Reservations

Guest, Date & time, Party size, Seating, Occasion, Deposit (₹)

Powers: Cover pacing · deposits · no-show risk

Guests

Name, Tier, Allergies, Notes

Powers: VIP & allergy book

Courses

Course, Menu price (₹), Food cost (₹)

Powers: Tasting-menu costing · margin

Removes typing: Reservation platformA reservation platform (or your website form) posts each booking to /api/vertical-import (kind=reservation). Cover pacing and deposits go live.

For quick-service restaurants

QSR / Fast food

Core

Tokens flying and a short, fast-moving menu — Coal & Coin keeps throughput up and cost down at the counter and on delivery.

Lives at /desk/qsr

Peak-hour token chaosFast-movers stocking out mid-rushDelivery eating the thin margin

Command

  • OverviewOrders today, the peak hour, average ticket and combo attach at a glance.
  • QSR fleetPeak understaffing, slow service, combo attach, prep-ahead and slow-movers — each with its facts.

Throughput

  • Hourly logLog orders, revenue and staff by hour — throughput and peak staffing go live.
  • Speed of serviceOrders per hour vs staff on shift — where the queue forms and service slows.

Menu

  • Combo attach & marginMeal-deal attach rate and margin — the upsell that lifts the ticket.
  • Item velocityFast and slow movers by the count — what to prep ahead and what to cut.

What you enter to go live

Hourly logs

Hour, Orders, Revenue (₹), Staff on

Powers: Throughput · peak staffing · avg ticket

Combos

Combo, Price (₹), Cost (₹), Attach rate (%)

Powers: Combo attach · margin

Items

Item, Sold today, Prep time (min)

Powers: Item velocity · slow-movers

Removes typing: POS hourly exportThe POS hourly sales export POSTs to /api/vertical-import (kind=hourly, kind=item). Throughput and velocity go live.

For sweet shops & namkeen

Mithai shop

Core

Sold by the kilo and spiking every festival — Coal & Coin handles ₹/kg billing, box packing and the Diwali surge without the guesswork.

Lives at /desk/mithai

₹/kg + GST + box maths by handFestival demand hard to predictGhee & khoya spoilage

Command

  • OverviewCounter revenue, perishable stock at risk, bulk pipeline and the festival countdown.
  • Mithai fleetFestival surge, perishable freshness, ingredient procurement and the bulk pipeline.

Counter

  • Weigh & billPrice by the gram — or the piece for Bengali sweets — with GST and box charge.
  • Freshness & marginMade vs sold, shelf-life and margin — khoya lines are the perishable risk.
  • FSSAI tray labelsOne-tap date-of-mfg + best-before tray cards — the loose-sweet rule almost no shop follows.
  • Festival pre-ordersTake advance pickup orders so the counter isn't mobbed on Diwali day — slot held, advance booked.
  • Box & giftingGift-box SKUs plus last season's corporate buyers to re-pitch before the festival.

Production

  • Batch plannerTomorrow's make-list — sell-through × festival pressure, net of counter stock, as kadhai batches.
  • Batch recipesWhat one kadhai consumes and yields — true plate cost, plus milk→khoya intake.

Supply

  • Ingredients & mandiGhee, khoya and dry-fruit by par, with the weekly mandi move.
  • Bulk ordersWeddings and corporate gifting — lead time, advance and balance tracked.

What you enter to go live

Sweets

Sweet, Price / kg (₹), On hand (kg), Shelf-life (days)

Powers: Weigh & bill · freshness & margin

Sales

Sweet, Grams (g), Amount (₹)

Powers: Weigh-bill revenue · fast-movers

Bulk orders

Customer, Quantity (kg), Due in (days), Advance (₹)

Powers: Bulk pipeline

Pre-orders

Customer, Phone, Order, Pickup date, Advance (₹)

Powers: Festival pre-booking · pickup slots

Removes typing: Weighing-scale feedA serial/Bluetooth scale posts each weigh-and-bill to /api/vertical-import (kind=sale). The counter becomes live.

For caterers & banquets

Catering

Core

Quote by the plate, prep by the batch, settle by the event — Coal & Coin runs the kitchen that has no live floor and every rupee on a spreadsheet.

Lives at /desk/catering

Quotes guessed, margins slipBatch prep for hundredsAdvances & settlements scattered

Command

  • Build a quoteGuests × per-plate package → total, service, GST and advance in seconds.
  • Catering fleetChase cold enquiries, catch date clashes, collect balances and plan the big event — each with its facts.

Bookings

  • Book an eventLock a banquet with its advance — muhurat clashes and double-bookings flagged. Persists live.
  • Event pipelineEnquiry → advance → confirmed, every banquet tracked to its date.
  • Wedding muhurat calendarThe auspicious wedding dates demand clusters on — plan capacity, staff and stock ahead.

What you enter to go live

Packages

Package, Per plate (₹)

Powers: Quote builder · package tiers

Events

Client, Date, Guests, Per plate (₹), Advance (₹)

Powers: Event pipeline · advance & settlement

Removes typing: Website enquiry formYour enquiry form posts each lead to /api/vertical-import (kind=event) — it lands in the pipeline as a draft quote.

For dhabas & highway kitchens

Dhaba

Core

Highway or local, cash-heavy, Hindi-first — Coal & Coin (and free Saathi) keeps the khata and the stock straight without the complexity of a big POS.

Lives at /desk/dhaba

Cash & udhaar in a paper registerStock guessed, not countedNo time for a complex POS

Command

  • OverviewPlates today, cash + UPI collected, the best thali margin and staples below par.
  • Dhaba fleetRush prep, thali margin, staple reorder against the mandi and cash variance — watched.

Counter

  • Cash closeReconcile counted cash + UPI against expected — the cash-heavy dhaba's day-end. Persists live.
  • Thali costingEvery thali costed — the margin on the plate that does the volume.

Rush & supply

  • Highway rushFootfall by hour, trucker vs family — the windows to batch-cook ahead.
  • Staples & mandiAtta, dal, oil and rice by par, with the weekly mandi move — buy before the spike.

What you enter to go live

Day closes

Date, Plates served, Cash counted (₹), UPI (₹), Expected (₹)

Powers: Cash reconciliation · takings

Thalis

Thali, Price (₹), Cost (₹)

Powers: Thali costing · margin

Staples

Staple, On hand (kg), Par (kg), Mandi trend (%)

Powers: Staple par · mandi reorder

Removes typing: Cash-drawer / UPI exportThe day's counted cash and UPI settlement POST to /api/vertical-import (kind=dayclose). Reconciliation goes live.

For casual & family dining

Casual dining

Growth

Table service, family footfall and a full menu — Coal & Coin keeps the floor, the kitchen and the margins in sync through every rush.

Lives at /desk/casual

Tables turning slow at peakKitchen firing out of orderWafer-thin margins on a big menu

Command

  • OverviewCovers today, reservations tonight, the top-margin dish and average spend per cover.
  • Casual-dining fleetPeak-seat overflow, menu stars and dogs, big-party prep and slow turns — each with its facts.

Floor

  • ReservationsWeekend bookings by area (indoor/outdoor/bar) — big parties flagged to prep for. Persists live.
  • Covers & turnsCovers by daypart and the turn count — where a table sits too long.

Menu & guests

  • Menu engineeringEvery dish placed by margin × volume — Stars to push, Dogs to cut.
  • Guest feedbackFood, service and ambience ratings — where the room is slipping.

What you enter to go live

Reservations

Guest, Date & time, Party size, Area, Occasion, Phone

Powers: Weekend bookings · big-party prep

Dishes

Dish, Price (₹), Food cost (₹), Sold today

Powers: Menu engineering · margin × volume

Cover logs

Daypart, Covers, Turns

Powers: Table turns · peak-seat overflow

Removes typing: POS covers exportNightly covers export and your reservation form POST to /api/vertical-import (kind=cover, kind=reservation). The floor goes live.

Coal & Coin Saathi — the free tier

₹0

Saathi (साथी, “companion”) is a separate, mobile-first, Hindi-first product for the smallest places every POS ignores — dhabas, thelas and tea stalls. No KOT, no menu engineering; just the three things that actually matter to that owner:

Digital udhaar book

A khata for credit — who owes what, when they last paid — replacing the paper register that gets lost.

Daily takings

Cash and UPI adding up through the day, with a free UPI QR — the value is simply seeing it total.

WhatsApp orders

Incoming orders from motels and regulars land in one place, in Hindi.

Honesty & common questions

Is the data I see real?

On a fresh desk, no — it’s clearly-labelled sample data so you can explore. Once you enter your own numbers it turns live. Coal & Coin never shows an invented testimonial, review or figure as if it were real.

Do I have to type everything in?

No. Start from sample rows and edit them, enter a few by hand, or use your desk’s integration bridge (a scale, a POS export, a settlement file, a booking form) to feed data in automatically. Even a handful of rows lights up the tools.

Will the AI do things without asking?

No. The fleet proposes; you approve. Approved actions are carried out and written to an audit log. The copilot answers questions but never acts on your business on its own — and never invents numbers.

What do I need an account for?

Exploring, quoting and calculating work signed-out. Saving your data so it persists needs a free account — one step at the end of onboarding.

Which desk is mine if I’m a mix?

Type a one-line description in onboarding (“brewpub with a full bar”, “cloud kitchen family meals”) and Coal & Coin picks the most specific fit. You can always switch desks — the grid is the override.