A point-of-sale system touches almost everything in a restaurant: how orders are taken, how the kitchen hears about them, how guests pay, and what numbers you see at the end of the night. Switching later is disruptive, so it is worth choosing carefully.
There is no single best system for everyone. The right one is the one that fits how you run service. This guide lists the questions worth asking any vendor, grouped by area, so you can compare options on the same terms.
Before you talk to anyone: map your service
Write down how your business actually works. It takes an hour and makes every demo more useful, because you can ask vendors to show your situations instead of their favorite features.
- Order types: dine-in, counter, pickup, delivery, catering, online, phone.
- Stations: kitchen lines, bar, expo — and which items go where.
- Your busiest hour: roughly how many orders, and how many people using the system at once.
- Locations: one today, or more planned?
- Things it must connect to: payment terminals, delivery platforms, accounting, payroll, loyalty.
- Who uses it: servers, cashiers, cooks, managers, owners — and what each needs to see.
Taking orders
- How many taps does a typical order take? Ask to see your three most common orders entered live.
- Can modifiers, sides, combos and special instructions be set up the way your menu works?
- Can you split checks, move items between tables and merge tabs easily?
- Does it work on the devices you want — tablets, phones, fixed terminals?
- How are menu changes made, and how quickly do they reach every device?
Kitchen and service
- Can orders route to different stations (grill, fry, bar) automatically?
- Is there a kitchen display option, a printer option, or both?
- Can the kitchen see order timing, priorities and when a table is ready for the next course?
- How are table layouts, reservations and waitlists handled, if you need them?
Online and delivery orders
- Which delivery platforms can send orders directly into the system, and are there extra fees for each connection?
- Can delivery menus and prices be managed separately from the dine-in menu?
- Do online and delivery orders go into the same kitchen queue as in-house orders?
- What happens when an item runs out — can you pause it everywhere at once?
Payments and processing fees
Card processing is often the largest ongoing cost of a POS, so understand it before anything else. Fees are usually made of the card networks' base rates (interchange) plus the processor's own markup. Vendors package this in a few common ways:
| Model | How it works | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Flat rate | One percentage plus a fixed amount per transaction | Simple to predict; may cost more on some card types |
| Interchange-plus | Actual network cost passed through, plus a fixed markup | Most transparent; statements take more reading |
| Tiered | Transactions grouped into rate tiers (e.g. qualified, non-qualified) | Ask exactly which cards fall into which tier |
- Which processor(s) can you use? Are you required to use the vendor's own?
- What is the rate for tapped, inserted, keyed-in and online payments?
- Are there monthly minimums, statement fees, PCI fees or chargeback fees?
- Do you buy the card terminals, lease them, or get them with the service? Can you keep them if you leave?
- How quickly do funds reach your bank account?
- How are tips, service charges and refunds handled?
When the internet goes down
Every restaurant loses its connection eventually. The question is what still works when it does.
- Can you keep taking orders offline? Do they still reach the kitchen?
- Can you take card payments offline, and what are the limits or risks?
- What happens to offline orders when the connection returns — do they sync automatically?
- Is there a public status page, and how are outages communicated?
- What support is available during your service hours, including nights and weekends?
Your data and reports
- Which reports come included — sales by item, hour, server, order type, location?
- Can you export your data (sales, menu, customers) at any time, in a standard format like CSV?
- If you leave, what happens to your data and for how long can you access it?
- Who owns customer contact information collected through the system?
Security and access
Any business that accepts cards is expected to follow the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Version 4.0.1, published by the PCI Security Standards Council in June 2024, is the current version as of this writing — check pcisecuritystandards.org for updates. Your POS choice affects how much of that work falls on you.
- Does the system ever store full card numbers? (It shouldn't need to.)
- Is card data encrypted from the moment it is tapped or inserted? Is the solution validated for point-to-point encryption (P2PE)?
- Can the vendor share its PCI Attestation of Compliance?
- Which self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) would you likely fill out with this setup?
- Can you give each person their own login or PIN, with role-based permissions?
- Is two-step sign-in available for owner and admin accounts?
- Is there an audit log of voids, refunds, discounts and price changes?
Look, feel and fit
- Can screens, buttons and layouts be arranged to match how your staff work?
- Can you apply your own branding — colors, logo — to guest-facing screens and receipts?
- Can different roles see different screens?
- How much can you change yourself, and what requires the vendor?
More than one location
- Can each location have its own menu, prices, tables, staff and taxes?
- Can you also push a shared menu change to every location at once?
- Can managers switch between locations with one login, and see combined reports?
Setup, training and support
- Who builds your menu in the system — you or the vendor? Is there a cost?
- How is staff trained, and is training available for new hires later?
- What are support hours and typical response times? Phone, chat or email?
- How are updates rolled out, and can they happen during service?
Total cost and the contract
Compare the full first-year cost, not just the monthly subscription.
| Cost | What to ask |
|---|---|
| Software | Per location, per device or per user? What's included vs. add-on? |
| Hardware | Tablets, terminals, printers, kitchen screens, cash drawers |
| Processing | Estimate using your real monthly card sales and average ticket |
| Integrations | Delivery platforms, accounting, payroll, online ordering |
| Setup and training | One-time fees for menu build, installation, onboarding |
| Contract terms | Length, auto-renewal, early termination fees, price increase terms |
How to run a fair evaluation
- Shortlist two to four options that cover your must-haves.
- Send each one your menu and service map ahead of the demo, and ask them to show your real scenarios.
- Enter a busy-hour rush yourself — a table of six with modifiers, a split check, a delivery order arriving mid-rush.
- Ask to speak with a current customer whose business is similar to yours.
- Score each option with the same questions and weights (the scorecard below does the math).
- Read the contract before signing — especially renewal, termination and hardware terms.
Quick checklist
- Your service is mapped: order types, stations, busiest hour, integrations
- Each vendor demoed your own orders, not a generic script
- Processing fees are understood for tap, insert, keyed and online payments
- You know what works offline
- You can export your data at any time
- PCI responsibilities and card encryption are clear
- Year-one total cost is written down for each option
- Contract length, renewal and termination terms are read