Top 10 POS Systems for Restaurants

Introduction

The best POS system for any restaurant business is the one that meets the most if not all business requirements and helps them succeed in their goals. However, picking the right solution can become a daunting task if businesses are not sure about what they really need. We have already covered things to consider when buying a restaurant POS system and benefits of a restaurant POS system in separate posts so you might want to have a look at them for more details.

Here is a recap of some key features to consider when buying a restaurant POS system:

  • On-premises vs cloud-based
  • Inventory management
  • Customer management
  • Employee management
  • Sales reporting
  • Payment options, including credit cards and mobile payments such as Apply Pay
  • Table management
  • Menu management
  • Reporting and analysis (sales, employee performance etc.)
  • Tableside ordering
  • Online ordering
  • Integration support
  • Offline functionality
  • Support for third-party hardware/software
  • Customer database
  • Ingredient and recipe management
  • Kitchen display system and customer facing display
  • Self-ordering kiosk
  • Communication and collaboration
  • Profit optimization
  • Upselling
  • Floor management
  • Trend and past performance analysis
  • Check splitting and emailing
  • Time clock
  • Remote management
  • Tip pool calculation
  • Automatic promotion scheduling
  • Customer support
  • Menu optimization
  • EMV and PCI compliance
  • Loyalty programs and gift cards
  • Marketing tools

This post covers some of the best POS systems designed specifically for the restaurant industry and aims to make it easier for buyers to make the right decision. Picking the right solution is important not only because it’s the central hub for all restaurant operations, but also because it can directly impact future revenues and productivity.

Top 10 POS Systems for Restaurant Businesses

1. TouchBistro

The iPad-based POS system is designed to help restaurants deliver exceptional customer experiences and boost revenues. It takes cares of most of the headaches associated with running a restaurant business manually and allows them to focus more on things that matter the most. Table side ordering, suggested upsells, and self-ordering kiosk are among some of the notable features.

The support team takes care of setting up the system and ensures that everything is up and running in less time. The success managers can help businesses set up their menus, whether quick service of full-service restaurants. Permission controls help leverage the built-in security and protect important information. The North America based 24/7/365 support is also there to help businesses reach the support staff when they need to.

TouchBistro offers POS solutions for both quick service and full service restaurants as well as food trucks, bar and nightclubs and breweries. The POS system supports integration with a variety of other systems, including accounting, business analytics, staff scheduling, online ordering and inventory management software. Pricing for Solo license starts from $105/month, which includes hardware and software, while software-only pricing starts from $69/month.

Key features

  • Tableside ordering
  • Inventory management
  • 24/7/365 support (North America based)
  • Payment processing solutions
  • Credit card processing
  • Table management
  • CRM software for restaurants
  • Staff management
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Menu management
  • Add-on apps including customer facing display, Self-ordering kiosk and kitchen display system
  • Free updates every 6-8 weeks
  • Daily data backups and built-in option for remote aid
  • Configuration support (additional fees)

2. Square POS System for Restaurants

The POS system helps streamline all restaurant operations, including front and back end tasks and allows managers to manage things from anywhere. The basic package includes all the essentials such as layout, inventory and menu management, while businesses also have the option to buy more add-ons if they need more functionality. The POS is easy-to-use and comes with plenty of features businesses need to stay on top of things.

Relatively affordable pricing and the option to purchase add-ons only when needed allows businesses to pay only for the functionality they need instead of paying for the full package. The provider offers a variety of solutions tailored according to requirements of different full-service restaurants including counter service, table service, coffee shops, bars, food trucks and bakeries.

Square POS integrates well with other systems, including QuickBooks, Avero and PlateIQ. Restaurants can also setup up their system to take orders from other platforms such as Doordash, Caviar and Postmates. The pricing model is also fairly straight forward and businesses are not required to get into long-term contracts.

The solution is available for $60/month/location and includes a single POS, while each transaction costs 2.6% + 10¢. Additional POS can be purchased @$40/month. Businesses that don’t need advanced features can still take advantage of the free version of the POS. Although Square POS offers both software and hardware POS options, businesses can also only purchase the software and use it with the iPads they already have to cut costs.

Key features

  • Reasonably priced
  • Hardware options
  • 24/7 support
  • One-on-one implementation services
  • Menu customization
  • Layout management
  • Sales tracking (per item)
  • Analytics and reporting
  • Additional add-ons include:
  • Employee management
  • Marketing
  • Loyalty programs
  • Gift cards
  • Square payroll
  • Discounts and flash sales

3. Lightspeed Restaurant

As the name suggests, the cloud-based system is optimized for speed and comes with an easy-to-use floor management system. The POS allows managing everything using a single platform, including order management, payment processing, performance management, employee scheduling and management, menu management, inventory management and reservations.

The intuitive interface is designed to make it easier for users to get started quickly and set up tables and menus using the drag-and-drop editor. Tableside ordering functionality improves handling efficiency and saves employees from having to rush between POS terminals and tables. The flexible payment framework supports bill splitting/merging and a variety of payment options, including cash, credit/debit cards, checks as well as gift cards.

The service provider also offers hardware and add-ons including kitchen display system and customer facing display, while the POS supports integration with a wide range of other systems. Pricing starts from $69/month with each additional register costing $29/month. Pricing for multi-location and large businesses is available by quote.

Key features

  • Custom floor plans
  • Workflow management
  • Staff management
  • Offline functionality
  • Tableside ordering
  • Direct-to-kitchen ordering
  • Flexible billing options
  • Unrestricted mobile access
  • Staff performance tracking
  • Advanced reporting
  • Free one-on-one onboarding
  • Free 24/7 support
  • Online learning resources
  • Tip distribution

4. ShopKeep Restaurant POS

Designed to help small and medium restaurant businesses succeed, ShoKeep features flexible payment solutions, auto inventory tracking, employee management, real-time sales reporting and 24/7 customer support. The intuitive and simple-to-use interface allows businesses to get started quickly, while the information is accessible through the web or the iOS app.

Although the POS might not be as well-known as other more expensive solutions, it is highly optimized for what it does and comes with an array of features. Streamlined menu management, real-time insights, built-in analytics capabilities, ingredient-level inventory management and automatic notifications improve the workflow and help boost productivity. Pricing depends on individual requirements and is available by quote.

Key features

  • Integrated payment processing and accounting
  • Tableside ordering
  • Staff management
  • Multi-location management
  • Online ordering
  • Customer loyalty program
  • Front and back end operation management
  • Business insights
  • 24/7 customer support
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Menu customization
  • Gift cards
  • Ingredient-level tracking
  • EMV-compliant
  • Apple Pay support

5. Lavu POS

The iPad-based POS is optimized for small and medium restaurant businesses, including restaurants, cafes, food trucks, pizzerias and breweries. The interface is customizable and allows managing multi locations with ease. The 24/7 support is US based to help businesses get started and resolve issues quickly.

The pricing plans include single terminal ($69/month, billed annually), multiple terminal and enterprise plans. The POS Station kit is available for $850 and includes an iPad, a receipt printer, a credit card reader and a cash drawer.

Key features

  • Open API
  • Menu customization
  • Restaurant layout optimization
  • Shift scheduling
  • Inventory tracking
  • Loyalty programs
  • Gift cards
  • Online ordering
  • Detailed reports
  • US-based 24/7 support
  • Chip-based ad magnetic stripe cards
  • Contactless payments
  • Competitive payment processing rates
  • Multi-location management
  • Real-time incoming/outgoing cash flow tracking
  • Sales and labor trends
  • Menu item tracking
  • Vendor POs
  • Support for 26 languages
  • Customer database
  • Access control

6. Toast POS

The POS is designed for fast-paced restaurants and helps them streamline operations, delight customers and ultimately boost revenues. The combination of a robust cloud-based solution and hardware and payment processing makes the POS a worthy candidate for restaurant businesses of all types.

Add-ons further extend the functionality and can be seamlessly integrated with the core system. Ability to run the POS on Android devices means restaurants don’t have to heavily invest in iPads and can get started without investing huge sums of money. The POS also offers a guest-facing display and kitchen display as well as its own (Toast Go) tableside ordering device.

Businesses can purchase POS hardware at competitive prices, including EMV-compliant credit card readers, guest-facing and kitchen display systems, barcode scanners, impact printers, toast terminals, cash drawers and cloud-enables routers. Pricing for the software starts from $79/terminal/month, while installation cost starts from $499. However, add-ons come at an additional cost and the only payment processing option is Toast’s own.

Key features

  • Compatible with Android devices
  • Flat-rate payment processing
  • Tableside service with notifications, payment and guest feedback
  • Analytics and reporting
  • Menu management
  • 24/7/375 support
  • Offline mode and hardwired terminals
  • Real-time reports
  • Inventory management
  • Cross-location tip calculation
  • Payroll management
  • Digital gift cards
  • Check splitting
  • Table management

7. Upserve POS

Formerly Breadcrumb, Upserve is optimized for reliability and speed and helps restaurant businesses automate processes, reduce workloads and streamline operations. It’s restaurant management, customer management, specialty order processing and table management tools are accessible from both Android and iOS devices. The all-in-one OPS system is designed to boost profits and margins without being difficult to implement and use.

US-based 24/7 customer support is always there to help in case of any issues while the library of information and videos, guides, ebooks and articles is also available for free. Pricing starts from $59 (subscription charges) plus $60/terminal per month.

Key features

  • Shift management
  • Inventory management
  • Payment processing
  • Reservation system
  • Check splitting, transfers and merging
  • Offline mode
  • Training mode
  • Deep insights and analytics
  • Menu intelligence
  • Personalized onboarding
  • Dedicated success manager
  • US-based customer support
  • Multi-location management
  • Tableside ordering/payments
  • Integrated online ordering
  • Employee scheduling
  • Menu search and bulk menu upload
  • Tip pooling
  • EMV-compliant
  • On-screen signatures
  • Online ordering
  • Discounts and voids

8. CAKE POS

The easy-to-use POS comes with comparatively affordable hardware, which can be purchased or leased, 24/7 customer support and transparent pricing for payment processing (2.5% + $0.15 per transaction). On-the-fly table and menu adjustments and customized workflows allows users to get started quickly and enter orders with accuracy.

Pricing for both software services and bundled services start from $69/month. However, this pricing is applicable for a 3-year and 2-year contract respectively, which is something businesses need to consider. The POS supports integration with a variety of other solutions including PayPal, QuickBooks, Xero, Ocra, ChefTab and 7Shifts as well as Sysco’s own solutions such as Cake Guest Manager, Online Ordering and OrderPad.

Key features

  • Easy-to-use, intuitive interface
  • Customized workflows
  • On-the-fly table and menu adjustments
  • Tableside ordering
  • Integration with other CAKE solutions and 3rd party apps
  • Dynamic reports
  • Performance tracking
  • Real-time tracking
  • Employee management
  • 24/7 support
  • Offline mode

9. BPA Restaurant Pro

Designed for a variety of restaurant businesses, the POS system comes with a wide range of features including inventory management, time tracking, loyalty programs and gift cards, accounting system and payroll. These features make the POS one of the most comprehensive solutions available. The solution helps businesses cut costs by offering a built-in accounting system, which also eliminates double entry.

Pricing for software-only stats from $70 per single station + $40 for license and support. Additional software-only station costs $400. Elite POS (hardware + software) costs $1,295, while license and support are charged separately @ $40/month. Each additional hardware + software station is priced at $1,000. Both solutions include US-based tech support, software updates and cloud backups, while there are no long-term contracts and obligations to worry about.

Key features

  • Inventory management
  • Auto product reorders
  • Loyalty programs
  • Gift cards
  • EMV/PCI compliant
  • Accounting system
  • Integrated payments
  • Cloud reporting
  • Online ordering
  • Tableside ordering

10. POS Nation Restaurant Pro Express

The POS is customizable according to requirements of various businesses, including pizzerias, Chinese and sushi, cafes and coffee shops, quick serve, bakeries and bars and night clubs. The POS seamlessly connects the floor with the kitchen and comes with all the essential features restaurant businesses need to streamline operations.

Upfront price for the hardware + software bundle is $999 after which businesses own the hardware and the POS software, while there are also no ongoing fees. This is especially beneficial for businesses looking for a more traditional license instead of paying for solutions on a monthly basis. The POS is also available at a monthly fee of $99 and suitable for businesses that want to minimize upfront costs.

Key features

  • Real-time sales metrics
  • Tip tracking
  • Order-by-table
  • Kitchen communication
  • Menu programming
  • Recipe tracking
  • Graphical menus
  • Check splitting and transfers
  • Inventory management
  • Food cost management
  • Bat tab tracking
  • Optional and forced modifiers
  • Employee tracking