Toast Point of Sale

Worked well within the restaurant and as a website ordering system. But when using QR codes for a distanced service style during Covid, we did run into issues with guests starting open tabs rather than having to pay in full before receiving their food and drink. Gave more of a fast-food vibe, rather than a more refined dining experience.

I can only speak to quick service, where it works very well.

The handhelds have been great for our larger restaurants so our servers can input orders at tables and also been an asset during COVID.

Toast Point of Sale is strictly good for restaurants and not for retail. They seem to do a great job covering all bases from pizzerias to James Beard restaurants and some high profile franchises. If you are hands on, this is for you. If you're someone who wants someone else to do your job, this product is not for you.

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.

This software simply speeds up the process for staff and customers on all ends.

• You can be logged into multiple devices at the same time if you are trying to close out multiple tables.
• You can setup the feedback option so that guests can fill it our immediately after signing. If it's a bad review, the contact person will get an email with the details instantly.
• You can pre-authorize credit cards so that guests can hold onto them. This decreased our walk-outs tremendously as our guests pay for food separately from a different vendor.

At this time, I would honestly not recommend ToastPOS for a restaurant like ours; a quick-serve pizza-by-the-slice shop, offering Delivery, open late-night, with a lot of rowdy college students as customers. The wear-and-tear on the hardware alone is a big concern, as Toast's hardware solutions are not great (they want us to attach our Register Screen to our Cash Drawer using velcro..?). Support is rarely available when we need them most (3am). The workflow of the Delivery Queue platform needs some work to become more efficient, as there isn't much room for error/fixing mistakes is difficult. And most specifically, I would not recommend adding the Toast Online Ordering feature as it is the most non-user-friendly online ordering front-end & back-end that I have worked with in my 10 years with restaurants. The releasing of improvements/upgrades/features is also incredibly slow as far as tech goes.

I think ToastPOS would be better suited for a more calm, table-service environment, with a bar, and with many food prep stations. Restaurants like this would find some Toast features (that we don't use) very useful, such as Kitchen Display Screens, printing tickets at different Prep Stations, swiping customer payments at their tables, and allowing customers to open bar tabs.

The Toast system is extremely convenient at guest checkouts. This makes the most sense in quick service areas, where there is not a full service sit down experience. This allows for quick checkouts and opportunities for tips for great service. It also makes sense in businesses where guests are at least minimally tech savvy to understand the system when signing with a fingertip, selecting tip, and selecting receipt type. This would not make sense at a fine dining location or a retail outlet. It is definitely created for quick service food outlets that give higher service than a fast food joint.

I've been working with Toast since an early stage of the product. I've seen it grow from a small, slightly buggy product to a robust, well-built system. They have learned from their misgivings and really stepped up to keep in line with customer needs.

Toast is used best in a more casual dining setting, for instance an Olive Garden or a Chile's with a more family feel. I believe Toast is not suitable for fine dining. The psychographics for this environment are typically people that are looking for and want more of a luxurious face to face interaction.

Well suited for Quick Serve Restaurants or Full Dining.

Toast is great for a small business with not a lot of money. The accounting is so easy that it takes the headache out of figuring it out. Keeps great records of your money and your labor. Also has a very detailed inventory system as well as food cost.