- What should a thali board show?
- The thalis you actually serve today, priced, and the one line that says what a thali includes. A customer choosing between butter chicken and paneer makhani is comparing two numbers and one word, so give them exactly that. Keep the roti and rice add-ons on the same screen since they decide the final bill. If the lunch thali is unlimited, say so on the offer slide with its hours, because that is the fact that moves a decision at noon.
- Does it work in Hindi or Gujarati?
- Yes. The board is text you type, so it renders whatever script you type into it, and a mixed board with English dish names and a Devanagari line under them is common and reads fine. Two practical notes: pick a font that actually carries the script rather than relying on a fallback, and give a Devanagari line a little more height than the Latin one, because the matras sit above and below and a tight line clips them.
- How do I handle a dish running out?
- Mark it sold out rather than deleting it. A struck line with the words in place answers the question before it is asked, which is what the counter is being asked all afternoon anyway, and it means nobody retypes the line tomorrow morning. Deleting it is destructive and slow, and it is why boards go stale: staff will not touch a control that feels irreversible when there is a queue.
- What does it cost to run a board like this?
- Three separate lines, and ask for them separately. The screen, which can be a TV you already own. The thing driving it, which is nothing extra if the TV has a browser. And the software, charged per screen per month. Our first screen is free and stays free, so the honest cost of trying this is the electricity. If somebody quotes one installed price, ask which of the three it covers.
