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If you’re looking for the best restaurant point-of-sale (POS) system for your quick-service eatery, fine-dining establishment, cafe, bar or food truck, TouchBistro is the ideal solution. This robust POS system is perfect for restaurants of all sizes and types, whether you have a single store or have grown into multiple locations. It’s affordable, provides transparent pricing, and offers growth-oriented features for food service businesses, including inventory management, customer loyalty programs, online ordering and reservations. TouchBistro also enables table-side ordering and payment processing, which speed up order taking, payment and table turnover.
9.4 / 10
We like that TouchBistro POS is made specifically for restaurants; it doesn’t try to cater to all industries and pack in retail POS system features as many other platforms do. This focus allows TouchBistro to offer restaurant-specific tools, including drag-and-drop table management, customizable menu dashboards and ingredient-level tracking. TouchBistro also has features that make life easier for servers and bartenders, including seat management, forced modifiers, upsells and various bill-splitting options. While these features may not be relevant to a retailer, they’re incredibly helpful for restaurants and can streamline your overall operations and set up for future growth.
TouchBistro impressed us as a reliable POS system that streamlines restaurant management. It reduces operational headaches and allows restaurant owners to focus on excellent, efficient customer service.
In addition, TouchBistro was one of the only hybrid POS systems we reviewed. Hybrid POS systems combine the flexibility of cloud-based POS software with the reliability and stability of a locally installed connection. Restaurants will continue to operate on a server if they lose their internet connection during a dinner rush — a benefit that can significantly impact your restaurant’s bottom line.
TouchBistro’s restaurant-specific table management features help boost table turn times, reduce errors and improve the customer experience. Source: TouchBistro
When we tested the software, TouchBistro impressed us with its ease of use; it’s one of the most straightforward POS systems we evaluated. We particularly liked how effortlessly businesses can set up the TouchBistro POS dashboard to match their menu and table layout. Here are some other ease-of-use features we noted:
TouchBistro’s comprehensive feature set serves restaurants in all phases of growth. Additionally, we like that TouchBistro updates its software frequently, regularly adding new POS system features and enhancements.
Here’s an overview of TouchBistro’s most impressive features.
TouchBistro is a server-friendly system that makes floor management easier during busy times. Here are some of its notable general restaurant management tools:
TouchBistro’s online ordering functionality can boost restaurants’ sales. Source: TouchBistro
We like that TouchBistro allows restaurants to customize employee management, freeing you up from time-consuming personnel tasks.
TouchBistro allows you to set user profiles and permissions for staff members. Source: TouchBistro
We found TouchBistro’s inventory management among the industry’s best. The platform’s integrated MarginEdge back office solution is a significant aspect of this functionality, allowing you to use digital inventory management to track food costs and pinpoint areas of consistent waste.
We were very impressed that MarginEdge has a team of real people — not AI — reviewing costs line by line by menu category before publishing food cost numbers. This data can help restaurant owners determine which parts of the menu to keep and which parts to change to ultimately help increase your restaurant’s profits.
TouchBistro allows you to manage your inventory down to the specific ingredients used in each dish. The platform can flag items that are running low and automatically remove offerings from the menu when you’re out of a specific ingredient. You can add inventory using a barcode scanner or enter items manually.
During our testing, the initial inventory setup required some time and patience when we were manually adding ingredients, recipes and associated menu items. However, once the initial work is done, stock levels are updated automatically as customers place orders. This high level of inventory management can streamline kitchen and restaurant management functionalities because you won’t need to track ingredients by hand at the end of every shift.
TouchBistro’s digital inventory management system (powered by MarginEdge) helps you track food costs and minimize waste. Source: TouchBistro
A restaurant that earns repeat business and customer loyalty is well-positioned for stable revenue and future growth. TouchBistro excels in these areas with its customer accounts feature, which allows you to record customer preferences, view purchase histories and manage balances. You can track 24 different data points as customers interact with a restaurant location onsite or online.
We were also impressed by the platform’s in-house TouchBistro Reservations platform (available as an add-on for a flat monthly fee), which facilitates two-way texts and emails between establishments and their customers. It also helps to provide detailed reports by tracking spending versus a customer’s in-restaurant time.
TouchBistro Reservations helps you manage your restaurant’s capacity and note customer needs and requests. Source: TouchBistro
We like that TouchBistro makes it easy to create and use loyalty programs. The platform helps you collect customer data to provide branded loyalty cards, gift cards and other rewards.
Although most POS system competitors have some customer loyalty features, we were impressed that TouchBistro offers a dedicated program, TouchBistro Loyalty, as an add-on (customized pricing). TouchBistro Loyalty provides the following functions (many can be customized with your restaurant branding):
We also really like that TouchBistro can help you set up a customer-facing web app, which makes their loyalty info easy to see and access on the go.
TouchBistro Loyalty ensures customers earn rewards whether they dine in-house or place an online order. Source: TouchBistro
TouchBistro’s POS reports impressed us. The platform stores reporting data in the cloud, which makes the information easy to access from anywhere, even when you’re away from the restaurant. This functionality is excellent for restaurateurs that have multiple locations and need a detailed bird’s-eye view and the ability to make informed changes on the go.
TouchBistro has roughly 90 detailed reports, including the following:
TouchBistro’s mobile app, TouchBistro Reports To Go, is geared specifically toward reports. This is great for employers and managers who want to review daily sales data and reports while they’re away from the restaurant. However, employers should remember that this app is not intended to be a full-service mobile POS system like some competitors offer. Its functionality is limited compared with the standard TouchBistro POS dashboard.
TouchBistro doesn’t have the plethora of integration options that some competitors offer. However, the platform provides essential integrations that many restaurants will appreciate. In particular, it has partnered with companies to provide functionality in areas such as loyalty, marketing and reservations.
TouchBistro has also partnered with several payment processors to provide payment processing services. Because it outsources payment processing, it can offer transparent pricing and doesn’t tack on fees to make more money. It also supports third-party payment integrations, so if you’re looking for a new POS setup and really love your payment processor, you could keep it with TouchBistro.
When it comes to POS system costs, we appreciate that TouchBistro is transparent with its pricing. Its website clearly lists its POS plans’ starting costs and prices for add-on services. As your business grows, you can add more functionality on an as-needed basis.
Here are TouchBistro’s starting prices (your needs may incur additional costs):
TouchBistro also gives you access to TouchBistro Payments (powered by Chase), its in-house payment processing service.
We were impressed by TouchBistro’s easy implementation and onboarding process, particularly its seamless customizability. You can easily do the following:
Although modifying your system is straightforward, setting up and customizing it will take time, as with any new restaurant software.
When it comes to hardware, we appreciate that a TouchBistro onboarding team will help you decide what’s best for your restaurant. Depending on your business-specific needs, the company may recommend implementing a mix of stationary terminals, line busters and table-side devices.
Once your system is set up, training employees should be straightforward and quick. We like that the POS dashboard is intuitive and user-friendly, so the learning curve isn’t steep. Setting up forced modifiers within the system can reduce the overall time you spend training employees on the menu.
We were particularly impressed that you get a dedicated onboarding manager to help guide you through onboarding and implementation and ensure your system is set up correctly. Not all competitors provide this service.
TouchBistro hardware offerings are iPad-based, with options for stationary terminals, line-busting devices and table-side ordering. Source: TouchBistro
TouchBistro offers 24/7 customer support, which is on a par with the industry standard. You can contact a representative by phone, email or chat. You can also access a wealth of POS system knowledge via TouchBistro’s searchable support hub. From the support hub, you’ll find articles, videos, workshops and a VIP community willing to help out. TouchBistro continually updates its software with new features and performance enhancements, so we like that it offers a user tutorial on keeping the software updated.
TouchBistro’s searchable help center boasts a wealth of information on numerous topics to supplement the company’s 24/7 service. Source: TouchBistro
TouchBistro is a robust solution for restaurants, but we discovered a few limitations you should be aware of:
We researched and analyzed dozens of the best POS systems to identify the top industry solutions. We examined pricing, contracts, hardware, platform compatibility, must-have POS features, reports, payment processing, integrations, usability and customer support to help businesses choose the right POS system for their needs. When looking for the best POS system for restaurants specifically, we prioritized features such as inventory management, customer management, loyalty programs, table management, usability and customization.
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Elizabeth Crumbly contributed to this review.