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Each physical location you cook from is its own kitchen on CaterCow, with its own address, hours, menus, delivery areas, team, and bank account. Add a kitchen from your Kitchens page, then work through its six-step setup checklist. The video above walks through adding a kitchen, finishing its checklist, and deleting it.
Your Kitchens page lists every location in up to three groups: Inactive Kitchens (setup isn’t finished), Active Kitchens (taking orders), and Deactivated Kitchens (turned off by you).
Adding a new kitchen
1. Go to your Kitchens page, under Operations in the menu, and click Add Kitchen.
2. Under Kitchen Address, start typing the address, then pick it from the list of suggestions. The address only counts once you pick a suggestion.
3. Under Kitchen Name (Optional), enter a name your team will recognize, like “Brooklyn Kitchen.” Without a name, the kitchen shows by its address.
4. If you sort your kitchens into groups, choose one under Kitchen Group (Optional). A kitchen in a group delivers to the group’s delivery areas. To start a new group, click Add New Kitchen Group.
5. Leave Pickup Allowed At This Kitchen on if customers can pick up orders here, or turn it off.
6. Under Order Channels, choose where this kitchen takes orders: In-House (your own ordering page) and Marketplace (listed on CaterCow). Both start on. Then click Create Kitchen.
7. The setup checklist opens on Business Hours. A new kitchen starts with every day closed, so open the days you take orders and set their times. Here, Monday is open from 9 AM to 7 PM and copied to every day with Apply To All. See how to set your business hours for the details. Click Save & Continue: Menu.
8. The Menu step lists the menus this kitchen offers. Any menus you’ve set up for your whole brand are already offered here. To create another menu, click Add A New Menu. Click Save & Continue: Delivery Settings.
9. The Delivery Settings step lists the areas this kitchen delivers to. A kitchen in a group already has the group’s areas. To change them, click Edit Kitchen Delivery Settings (see delivery areas and fees). A kitchen with no delivery areas shows a box to confirm it’s pickup-only; check it if that’s right. Click Save & Continue: Team.
10. The Team step shows who covers three roles at this kitchen: Team Admin, Receives Actionable Order Notifications, and Receives Financial Notifications. Check each one and click Confirm. If a role has nobody, click Edit Kitchen Team Settings to assign someone (see managing your team). Then click Save & Continue: Legal & Bank Account.
11. On Legal & Bank Account, choose the legal entity this kitchen’s payouts go to. Its bank accounts then appear in the second list; choose one, then click Save & Finish. See what a legal entity is if you’re not sure which to pick.
12. You’re back on your Kitchens page, and the new kitchen is listed with your other locations.
How multiple kitchens work
- You can leave the setup checklist at any point and come back later. An unfinished kitchen waits under Inactive Kitchens with a Finish Kitchen button that opens the next step it still needs. See kitchen health checks for what each step checks.
- A kitchen in a group shares the group’s delivery areas, and a menu can apply to the whole group, so you don’t set each kitchen up separately. See sharing a menu across kitchens for how menus are shared.
- Your own ordering page (In-House) can take orders once the checklist is done. The CaterCow marketplace also needs a menu we’ve approved and a bank account verified with Stripe.
Why a step can stay unchecked for the marketplace
Each order channel has its own requirements, shown at the top of the kitchen’s page. In-House can take orders once the checklist is done. Marketplace also needs a menu that CaterCow has approved for the marketplace and a bank account verified with Stripe. Until both are in place, the kitchen shows Marketplace: Setup Incomplete and the Menu or Legal & Bank Account step stays unchecked, even after you save it. See verifying your identity with Stripe for the bank side.
Deactivating or deleting a kitchen
Click Edit Kitchen on the kitchen’s row, then open the Kitchen Information tab. The Deactivate or Delete This Kitchen box is at the bottom.
- Deactivate Kitchen hides the kitchen from search and stops new orders. Its settings, hours, and stats are kept, and you can click Reactivate Kitchen at any time.
- Delete Kitchen removes the kitchen and its hours, days off, and delivery settings. Deleting can’t be undone.
Either way, we’ll ask you to confirm first, and any pending orders at that kitchen still need to be fulfilled.
If a teammate’s access is limited to just that kitchen, you’ll need to change their access on your Team page before you can delete it.
Who can add or remove kitchens
Admins on your account can add, deactivate, and delete kitchens. An admin for a single kitchen group can add kitchens only within that group. Other roles can view kitchens, and managers can edit them. See what each role on your team can do.