The Best POS Systems for Restaurants in 2024

At the end of a meal at your restaurant, you want to make guest payment as easy as possible. That’s where point-of-sale (POS) systems come into play — and that’s far from their only use in restaurants. In fact, many of the best POS systems for restaurants include features such as floorplan and table management, self-service kiosks and shift scheduling.

To help you decide which POS system is best for your restaurant, we researched and tested some of the top solutions on the market today. We narrowed these down to five platforms that excel on fronts such as customer experience, hardware and overall value.

Restaurant POS systems charge a monthly subscription fee that gives you access to POS software and at least one POS hardware device. These subscriptions start at $59 per month, though Toast offers a free plan for new restaurants. You can upgrade to higher-priced plans that include more software features, such as customer loyalty plans and QR code ordering, as well as additional hardware devices. These add-ons and upgrades may increase your monthly cost from just under $100 to several hundred dollars more.

Most POS vendors also sell hardware devices independent of your subscription. You’ll often need to request a quote for this equipment, which may include kitchen display systems and customer-facing displays. For a full equipment setup, you might spend $200 on the low end and $1,600 on the high end, depending on which vendor you partner with and the capabilities your restaurant needs.

Payment processing fees are also part and parcel of any POS system. These often take the form of a percentage of each transaction, which may fall between 1.5 percent and 3.5 percent. There may also be a small additional flat fee for each transaction. In most cases, you can’t avoid these fees, though Lavu’s dual pricing model enables you to easily offload them to the customer.

A feature-rich restaurant POS will prove more effective for streamlining your operations, from back of house all the way to the front. Here are some key features to seek out in a great POS system for restaurants.

Online and Mobile Ordering

The average consumer expects your restaurant to provide delivery or takeout options that they can access from anywhere. Many POS systems come with tools for setting this up via dedicated websites. You can include the URL for this site on your Google Business Profile to get customers right to your menu and order page. With the right restaurant POS, these pages will be one and the same, making everything easier for your customers.

Mobile POS

With mobile POS tools, your restaurant can process customer payments at the tableside. This massively reduces the time between a guest getting their check and signing the receipt’s merchant copy. Plus, since a mobile POS is compatible with just about any mobile device, it reduces the need to buy POS hardware.

Self-Service Kiosks and Payment

The future of the restaurant customer experience may be in fully self-sufficient dining experiences. POS self-service kiosks and payment options bring this future into the present. Your guests place their orders, add customizations and tender payment whenever they’ve decided what to eat — all without a server’s involvement.

Check Splitting

Sometimes, with large groups of guests, each person prefers to put down their own card instead of loading the bill onto one patron’s card. You can enable this with restaurant POS check-splitting features. Your servers can use these tools to assign items to patrons, who then use their cards to cover their own costs. Not every restaurant offers this flexibility, so implementing this feature can improve your customer experience and keep guests returning.

Inventory Management

The best POS systems for restaurants include inventory management tools for tracking the stock levels of each ingredient you use in the kitchen. Some platforms include vendor management and purchase order tools, and these advanced features may be necessary to keep your kitchen properly stocked. The same is true for tools that indicate to customers which menu items are sold out based on your inventory levels.

Payment Processing

Payment processing tools for restaurant POS systems should cover contactless payments as well as card and cash transactions. They should also allow for payments to be processed when your internet connection is down and completed once you’re reconnected. This way, you can keep running your restaurant amid even the most severe network outages.

Employee Management

Many restaurant POS systems include tools for adding employees and managing their schedules and shifts. You might also find platforms with built-in time clocks for employee clock-in and clock-out, as well as tools for managing servers’ tips. These features pair neatly with restaurant POS tools for managing your tables, menu and everything in between.

Customer Management

Certain restaurant POS systems all but double as CRM platforms for storing customer profiles. This CRM functionality has numerous applications in email marketing and customer loyalty programs. For example, you can use this information to maintain and serve an email list and offer special rewards on customers’ birthdays.

Add-Ons and Integrations

POS systems often integrate with the best accounting software platforms, such as QuickBooks and Xero. They may also integrate with the best email marketing platforms, such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact. With these integrations, the data in your POS always matches that in your other platforms. That means you can execute functions in one to execute parallel functions in the others rather than manually taking the same steps on each platform. The end result is more streamlined financial and marketing processes.

Customer Support

The best POS vendors for restaurants keep their customer support teams available well outside standard weekday business hours. After all, your restaurant likely operates well into the evening or even past midnight. That’s why POS vendors offering 24/7 support make all the difference. You’ll get the help you need on key issues whether it’s 1 p.m. or 1 a.m.

Reservation and Waitlist Management

You can use POS systems to oversee guest reservations and manage your waitlist. This includes offering reservations in the first place and alerting customers to their place in line and changes in their wait time. Leveraging this technology can give your customer experience an edge over similar establishments. More foot traffic could result.

Menu Management

Top-notch restaurant POS systems give you the tools to build an online menu and auto-update your items’ availability based on your inventory levels. This way, customers never put in an order only to be told that what they wanted is unavailable. You’ll prevent a major customer complaint and keep guests coming back for seconds.

Floor Plan and Table Management

With many restaurant POS platforms, you can set and modify a floor plan as well as visualize how your guests and staff will move through your establishment. This feature usually goes hand in hand with table management tools for taking each table’s orders, assigning serves to tables and overseeing your seating availability. Smoother, more coherent operations should result.

Reporting

As with any type of high-quality technology, POS systems for restaurants often include a bevy of reporting features. For example, you might be able to run reports detailing your staff’s performance and activity. With this information, you can make smarter scheduling decisions and find ways to cut costs. You might also be able to run sales reports showing which menu items your guests like best and when these items’ sales peak. This data can inform how you build your happy hour menu or seasonal promotions.

Take the following steps to decide which restaurant POS system is best for your operations.

1. Research Vendors and Read Reviews

Vendors’ websites typically include pricing tables that detail the features you get with each membership tier. Compare and contrast several vendors’ tables to determine which providers give you the best bang for your buck.

Consider restaurant-specific POS features such as menu management, kitchen display systems and curbside pickup. Not all POS vendors offer these, and you should only consider those that do. It’s also important to look for 24/7 customer support, as your restaurant probably operates well outside weekdays and standard business hours.

Then, read guides such as this one as well as customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This should give you an idea of which vendors’ reputations and offerings justify their price points.

Trustpilot reviews, on the other hand, are usually plentiful and mostly positive. Disgruntled reviewers seem to take to the BBB, whereas all types of customers leave Trustpilot reviews.

2. Try Out High-Ranking Candidates for Yourself

There’s nothing quite like testing a platform yourself before signing up for it to know whether it fits your needs. It’s paramount to get a demo or — even better — a free trial before you register for any POS vendor. Try out the software and hardware devices for both your online and in-person operations to see what guests and your staff think. Seek out feedback and make your choices based on that.

3. Review Your Final Pricing Offers

In some cases, POS vendors will offer you a quote, and in other cases, your price will be the amount listed on the vendor’s website. Consider these final prices alongside the features and usability you’ve experienced to decide which platform is best for you.

Below are some key ways POS systems for restaurants can benefit your operations and bottom line.

• Restaurant infrastructure. Restaurant POS systems go well beyond facilitating sales — they build out your establishment’s entire backbone. You can use your POS system to create an online menu, take online and mobile orders, and manage your inventory. With certain platforms, you can also manage your staff, run customer loyalty programs, and execute marketing campaigns. POS systems can be a one-stop shop for restaurant infrastructure.
• Increased customer satisfaction. With online menus that update in real time, tableside order placement and payment, easy check splitting, and self-service kiosks, customers get everything they need.
• Diversity of payment options. Customers are increasingly demanding payment options beyond cash and card, such as contactless smart device payment. With the right POS system for your restaurant, you can offer these payment options as well as QR code payments. You’ll bring your restaurant into the modern age — and customers to your tables.
• Comprehensive reporting. No POS system for restaurants is complete without analytics tools for assessing your sales, staff performance and scheduling needs. These reports tie your data to actionable steps you can take to meet customer needs and maximize your bottom line.
• Payment processing. POS systems either come with their own payment processing suites or integrate seamlessly with the best credit card processing platforms. These systems ensure you can accept customer payments and get the cash your restaurant needs.
• Supplementary services. Add-ons and ancillary tools such as CRM, marketing and employee management further streamline your processes. From one simple platform, you can take the reins over all your most important processes — even ones not directly related to restaurant operations.