Toast Point of Sale vs TouchBistro

Likelihood to Recommend

For restaurants it's great, and that's the only scenario I'm really use to seeing it. However I do have to say that during Christmas time, our city has a craft bizarre where local artists are featured and sell their wares, and this Bizarre was using Toast POS. Therefore, I think it can really span across all avenues. It's great because of how it categorizes menus, and how you can run reports like a p-mix to see your top sellers, and bottom sellers, etc. The more I think of it, now, really any business that sells something and needs to track those sales, could use this POS. A tire store? Sure. A hat shop? Absolutely. The great thing about Toast is that it is just SO customizable! You can even make the buttons different colors, that's how customizable it is. Lastly, the ability to sell online has been a game-changer. I wish there was a little bit better formatting for online ordering, but really, you can add pictures, descriptions, modifiers, use discount codes, and accept gift cards all online. We didn't have to build out an online store, we just had to build out our menu buttons and we were all set.

Read full review

Elizabeth Hyman

Director of Operations

Kome Sushi KitchenRestaurants, 11-50 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

TouchBistro has a very nice and user friendly point of sale system. They also have a very nice online ordering platform that integrates with the point of sale system. The customers are happy with the online ordering system and find it easy to use. The problem we have is that TouchBistro sent us a very small card reader and cumbersome to use for the clerks and customers. We have tried to get a card reader from TouchBistro that better suits our business but have not had any luck and little response

Read full review

Verified User

General Manager in Corporate

Restaurants Company, 1-10 employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

Pros

The ability for guest to select a receipt type.
Allowing to enter in different types of orders (current in-store orders, future orders, house account orders, and more).
The convenience of touch screen use and strong calibration.
Ability to swivel tablet from employee to guest.

Read full review

Jennifer Dryer

Assistant General Manager

SusieCakes BakeriesFood & Beverages, 201-500 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

The best thing about Touch Bistro is how user friendly it is! Works just like an iPhone. My younger employees hardly need any training on it.
Touch Bistro is very easy to set up and to maintain on a daily basis. Putting in my specific products and ingredients was simple. Adding modifiers, pricing and descriptions was simple enough. We have specials that change daily and updating the system in the morning is fast and easy.
Employees can clock in and out with Touch Bistro. Inventory can be tracked and updated.
Running reports is important in my business. Touch Bistro allows me to easily track my sales, for any period of time. I can easily find the numbers I need to pay my sales tax or do payroll. With just a few clicks I can compare my sales from month to month or year to year.

Read full review

Robin Lilly

Owner

Little Lilly's Island DeliFood & Beverages, 1-10 employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

Cons

Though sales details are available in real time, the analytics take 2-3 days to post. So if you are looking for specific modifications you'll have to wait.
Though you can edit the menus directly from the devices and move them around like you do on a smartphone, it doesn't give you a sorting option. If you're OCD like me, you have to alphabetize my hand.

Read full review

Jayelynn Willman

General Manager

12 West Brewing Co.Food & Beverages, 11-50 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

Online ordering can not be added on to once the customer arrives, can’t edit or change anything once placed
Slow speed to place next order, and syncing with debit machines
Frustrating that screen needs to be closed until payment goes through, hard in a very busy restaurant
New updates always cause glitches in the system. The last update I now have drinks printing to my kitchen that never did before.
Admin and servers not being able to do printouts
Discounts not displaying on day printouts

Read full review

Verified User

General Manager in Customer Service

Food & Beverages Company, 11-50 employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

$69 per month

Toast Point of Sale Editions & Modules

Edition

Starter	$69¹
Essentials	$99¹
Growth	$199¹

per month

Additional Pricing Details

—

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

$25 per month

TouchBistro Editions & Modules

Edition

POS License	$69¹
Reservations	$229¹
Online Ordering	$50¹
Gift Cards	$25¹

per month

Additional Pricing Details

—

Likelihood to Renew

Toast Point of Sale 8.0

Based on 1 answer

There are many features I wish Toast had that it currently does not, but we are likely to renew this year because given Toast's recent increase in funding and expanding of their staff, we are hopeful some of these issues will finally be resolved in 2019. Plus, though I've never done it, I'd imagine that switching to another POS system would take a ton of time, money, and resources---things most businesses don't have a lot of. So we'll sit tight with Toast for now and see what they come up with this year in terms of fixing our biggest pain-points.

Read full review

Erin Thorp

Finance Manager

Boss Lady PizzaRestaurants, 11-50 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Usability

Toast Point of Sale 6.0

Based on 1 answer

Toast POS is a great basic POS tool, having some features I didn't think would be possible at this price point, such as:

processing CC payments in "offline mode" in case there is an internet outage
kitchen display screens
collecting payment from customers using a handheld right at their table
pre-approving card payments to assure the customer has enough money to pay for their order, etc

That being said, I still feel that Toast misses the mark on some things that I truly would consider 'common-sense' features, such as:

providing hardware that connects the Register Screen (Elo) to the Cash drawer so it doesn't fall off the table when flipped over for customer signature
accepting physical and e-gift cards as payment on their own online ordering platform (ToastOO)
a Rewards Program that allows for online enrollment, rather than holding up quick-serve lines to sign up
a Promo code feature that allows you to add basic restrictions such as Limit 1 per customer, or date/time limitations
increasing in-store operations efficiency by creating more straight-forward ways to manage restaurant/ToastOO hours, and Delivery/Takeout quote estimates

Facing these issues after 3+ years has been a frustration. We hope Toast has some solutions in mind that they will be implementing in 2019.

Read full review

Erin Thorp

Finance Manager

Boss Lady PizzaRestaurants, 11-50 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Support Rating

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

TouchBistro 9.1

Based on 2 answers

First of all, I hardly ever need support for Touch Bistro, that’s how well it works. In the very instances over the years where I did need to call, customer support was easily accessible and fast and accurate with their responses

Read full review

Robin Lilly

Owner

Little Lilly's Island DeliFood & Beverages, 1-10 employees

View all 2 answers on this topic

Alternatives Considered

Toast is so much easier to use than Breadcrumb. The display is so much easier to navigate. The card readers are more quality with Toast. Chownow was hard because it had its own printer, different than our kitchen printer, for to go orders, but now with Toast's all in one ordering we get the to go orders sent to the kitchen with the same ease as if they were getting fired from the main floor.

Read full review

William Johns

Manager

Limestone BlueRestaurants, 1-10 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

Toast does their own credit card processing in house, so we didn't have to deal with a third party. It streamlined things for us and gave us access to options that we didn't have with TouchBistro as a quick service Taproom. Again, both are great, it truly comes down to your setup and needs.

Read full review

Jayelynn Willman

General Manager

12 West Brewing Co.Food & Beverages, 11-50 employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

Return on Investment

Offline mode has helped with ROI, as we are still able to process credit cards, whereas before we could not and would have to accept cash only.
A streamlined and integrated online ordering platform has cut down on the need of a third-party platform.
Customer loyalty program has really motivated customers to order more often with higher ticket averages.

Read full review

Jonathan Schroeter

Director Of Operations

IL Primo Pizza & WingsRestaurants, 51-200 employees

View all 13 answers on this topic

The ROI is fantastic. Before TouchBistro we used a cash register with a paper tape and stand-alone credit terminal. Average transaction times were around 30-45 seconds. A long awkward time for a customer to stand and wait.
Because of the ability to almost instantly bring up the day/week/month’s metrics, I can plan and accurately schedule labor to accommodate the ebbs and flows of customers.

Read full review

David Ayers

Founder/Brewery Manager/Head Brewer

Glacier Brewing CompanyFood & Beverages, 1-10 employees

View all 11 answers on this topic