What are the best POS systems for restaurants?
I am looking for recommendations on the best POS system for restaurants. My restaurant will have 38 tables, mostly 4-tops. Which POS would your recommend and how many terminals would I need for roughly a 40 table size restaurant?
Some other considers I have:
1. A system that makes it easy to do split checks.
2. A way to ring in appetizers/entrees together with appropriate bill times for the kitchen to manage which menu items come out first.
3. An easy way to make communicate modifications to menu items on the POS.
Expert Answers
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Oct 4, 2018
Restaurants, bars, and hotels use POS (point of sale) machines as part of their restaurant management system to:
-Streamline operations
-Generate revenue
-Control costs
-Improve customer service
POS machines – which are sometimes known as EPOS (electronic point of sale) are robust handheld devices that allow serving staff to take orders and payments quickly and easily at tableside.
They can be dedicated hardware, or the software can be used on tablets and even smartphones.
POS software such as Aloha by NFS help a restaurant to serve customers quicker and more accurately, with orders sent straight to the kitchen – the POS system integrates with kitchen automation.
The affordable software also provides valuable business intelligence by capturing data that gives an end-to-end view of the business, available via mobile device or laptop wherever the restaurant manager or owner is.
In addition, the software helps restaurants:
-Take online reservations
-Increase table turn
-Control stock
-Identify best-selling dishes
-Control labor more effectively
-Reduce fraud
-Create effective loyalty programmes
Aloha by NFS is one of the leading EPOS systems in the UK and is supported by a 24-hour live helpdesk – find out more at www.alohaepos.co.uk.
Jul 19, 2018
Just Billing Restaurant POS is a unique software specially designed for the food business to run restaurants smoothly and quickly. Our system captures the food order and passes it to the kitchen (Kitchen Order Ticket). Same way when food is prepared, it notifies the waiters and serving time gets reduced.
Just Billing POS provides services from point of sale billing to GST return filing like GST invoice, inventory management, business accounting, expenses management, purchases recording, customer loyalty management, customer feedback, etc.
Visit for more information: https://justbilling.in
May 25, 2018
Restaurant POS systems these days do much more than accept payments. They track inventory, text and email receipts, analyze customer and sales data, do invoice, and help manage employees, among other capabilities. Some of the best restaurant pos systems are:
For full-service restaurants: Breadcrumb
For restaurants that want simplicity: ShopKeep
For new restaurants: Square
For restaurants more comfortable with Microsoft: Dinerware
For restaurants with multiple locations: Revel
For restaurants that want to process payments tableside: TouchBistro
Jan 25, 2017
Charlie there are real good solutions available today and quite a few have been recommended here. To get started, make a features list for POS your Restaurant would need and then shop for the best fit. Taking help of an F&B consultant who has managed POS is extremely helpful. We are mobile application development company designing solutions for our global customers, some are from the hospitality industry.
Jan 25, 2017
If you want a system that completely blows all others away, offers customer recognition, loyalty and all sorts of other must-have solutions for marketing and loyalty, check out
Wisely.com
Jan 25, 2017
Hi,
I would highly recommend POSist. It is a complete restaurant technology platform, providing all types of billing, inventory management, CRM, and reporting solutions for restaurants. I personally find it easy to use and has all the features that you have listed. Split billing, ringing in appetizers with the bill times, integrated menu management and recipe management etc are all there. You can check it out here: www.posist.com.
The number of terminals needed actually depends on the area and size of your outlet and the covers. For 38 tables, having 4 tops, anything between 1-3 terminals should work for you.
Hope this helped :)
Jan 24, 2017
I have three 30-seat cafe restaurants, and I use Revel POS. It is all iPad based, and runs off installed apps.
The back end is a cloud based CRM (for want of a better word), that quickly enables updates, menu item changes, pricing to be changed on site or back home in my office, or for that matter, anywhere I have internet access.
The support is really good, takes about 30 minutes to install on site, and errors are quickly rectified.
Its been easily scaleable so far.
The staff like using the iPad in store as the main terminal, and we've been able to install secondary wall based iPads as ordering stations quickly and easily.
Jan 24, 2017
The best to go with Open Source:
a) Unicenta
https://sourceforge.net/projects/unicentaopos/?source=directory
https://unicenta.com/
b) odoo
https://www.odoo.com/page/point-of-sale-restaurant
if need any service and support do let me know
Jan 24, 2017
I'd say go with Aloha POS. We used this software at Universal Studios CW stores such as Gladstone's, Howl at the Moon, etc. and it has all the items in your list and more.
Jan 24, 2017
Although we don't use it, I recommend touch bistro. It's a very complete solution. Check them out.
Jan 24, 2017
Ambur POS by a company named Shopkeep. amburapp.com. I am a F&B Consultant and I used this POS on my last project. Simple, efficient and easy to use. Also uses hand held tablets for you wait staff. Items can be put into the system and held as other items go through to the kitchen, so the control with regard to firing times would rest with the front of house staff. Split checks can also be done several ways. You can also split the cost of a single item. Have a look at it. Their customer service is very responsive also and it is an affordable system. Menu items are also easily manipulated. It is an IOS (Apple) based system. Let me know what you think and how it goes..... Cheers
Jan 24, 2017
There are many different software types available but a few stand out in the hospitality industry. We offer a POS Rental program which includes Clover, ShopKeep and Poynt POS so you would not have to purchase your system or be locked in to high interest leases. I personally have 24 years of experience in the payments and point of sale industry and would be happy to help.
Jan 24, 2017
Hello, Charlie! My name is Kate and our company has a great experience in working with POS systems. We have done one good POS app for our client and we could create a new one for you, if you want. Please, feel free to contact me directly and we could help you.
Jan 24, 2017
I have past experience with Lightspeed's POS for retail. Lightspeed also offers a restaurant platform that may be worth considering. Fix That Mac is a local reseller. http://lightspeedhq.com/