Restaurant ordering
One cash register and order system for counter, phone and online orders
A point-of-sale system, or POS, is the cash register screen at your counter: it rings up orders, sends tickets to the kitchen and records every sale. We set one up so phone and website orders arrive in the same line as walk-ins, with one menu behind all of them. If you like the system you have, we start by checking whether it can take those orders.
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Concept · sample data
- Order sources
- Counter, phone, website
- Hardware
- Listed by station before you buy
- Your current register
- Kept when it can connect
- Based in
- Cedar Grove, NJ
One system
What runs through the POS
A busy counter often has a tablet for each delivery app, a phone with a notepad beside it and a register that knows nothing about either. Each one keeps its own copy of the menu. When a dish goes up a dollar, someone has to remember to change it in four places.
Every order in one queue
Walk-in, phone and website orders show up as tickets in the order they arrive, each marked with where it came from. Calls answered by an AI receptionist can arrive as tickets too, if the POS accepts orders from outside software.
One menu
Items, prices, add-ons and sold-out flags are edited once and carry over to the counter screen and the ordering page on your site.
Kitchen tickets by station
Orders print at the right station or show on a kitchen screen, so the grill sees the burgers and the bar sees the drinks.
Payments and tips
Card, tap and cash at the counter, tips recorded against each order, and a close-out report at the end of the day.
Sales reports
Sales by hour, by item and by order source, plus daily totals you can export for your bookkeeper.
Staff logins
Each employee signs in with their own code, and managers decide who can give refunds or discounts. A separate employee time clock is a custom software job we also take on.
Decision
Keeping your current POS versus switching
| Keep your current POS | Switch to a new one | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup work | Keep your current POSConnect online and phone orders to it | Switch to a new oneRebuild the menu, settings and staff accounts |
| Staff training | Keep your current POSLittle, because the screens stay the same | Switch to a new oneEvery shift learns a new screen |
| Hardware | Keep your current POSReused where it still works | Switch to a new oneMay need new terminals, readers or printers |
| Phone and web orders | Keep your current POSOnly if the POS has a built-in connection for them (an integration) | Switch to a new oneChosen with those order sources in mind |
| Sales history | Keep your current POSStays where it is | Switch to a new oneExported from the old system before the switch |
| Processing contract | Keep your current POSUnchanged | Switch to a new oneCheck the old agreement for cancellation fees and leased devices |
Keeping the current POS is usually cheaper when its integrations cover your order sources. Switching makes sense when they do not, or when the hardware is due for replacement anyway.
Setup
Installing a POS around your service hours
- 01
Walk-through
We look at the counter, the kitchen line, the internet connection and what each station needs to see.
- 02
Hardware list
You get a list of every device by station, marked with what can be reused, before anything is bought.
- 03
Menu and settings
Items, add-ons, tax rates, tip options and staff roles are entered and checked against your printed menu.
- 04
Connect order sources
Your online ordering page and phone orders are connected, and each one is tested until it prints at the right station.
- 05
Test service
We run test tickets through every station on a slow afternoon, before the system takes a real order.
- 06
First shifts
Staff work on the new screens with a one-page guide taped by the register, and we stay reachable through the first services.
Reports
Reading the numbers once a week
Three reports answer most weekly questions about staffing, the menu and where orders come from.
Sales by hour shows when to add a cook and when to send one home. Sales by item shows which dishes sell and which only take up room on the menu. Sales by source splits revenue between the counter, the phone, your website and each app.
The source report is the one to watch while you move regulars from the apps to your own ordering page. If your website takes a larger share of orders each month, the move is working. Our restaurant page shows where the POS sits next to the website and phone ordering.
Try it
Try the online ordering
Order from a sample pizzeria menu, pick pickup or delivery, and see the ticket the kitchen would get.
Questions
POS questions before you buy hardware
What happens if the internet goes down during service?
It depends on the system. Some keep taking card payments offline and send them through when the connection returns, within limits the vendor sets. Others stop. We check how yours behaves before launch, and set up a backup connection if the kitchen relies on the POS for tickets.
Can DoorDash and Uber Eats orders come into the POS too?
It depends on the pair. Some POS systems accept delivery app orders directly or through a connector service, and others leave you with the app tablet on the counter. We check what your POS and your apps support before quoting, so the proposal says which tablets can go.
Does a new POS mean a new card processing contract?
Often it does. Some POS systems only work with their own payment processing, and some lease the hardware instead of selling it. Before you sign, look at the rate, the contract length, the cancellation terms and who owns the devices. We go through those terms with you as part of the proposal.
Why do POS quotes vary so much from one restaurant to the next?
The number of stations matters most, because each register, printer or kitchen screen is another device to buy and configure. Buying hardware costs more up front, while leasing usually costs more over the full term. Menu size and the number of order sources to connect add setup time. The proposal lists each item separately.
How do you train the staff?
On the actual screens, during a slow shift, with a one-page guide for the counter. Managers get a separate session on refunds, menu edits and reports.
Next step
Plan a POS around your counter and kitchen
Tell us how many stations you run, which POS you use now and where your orders come from. We reply with questions or a written proposal that lists the hardware.