Item: TouchBistro
Rating: 5
Author: Jayelynn Willman

Overall Satisfaction with TouchBistro

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We used Touch Bistro for two years and it was extremely user-friendly. Being an iOS-based software, it was easy for staff to learn. The software can be used on iPad's of various sizes to make it convenient for you particular setup. Depending on your particular needs, I feel like this would be a good fit.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Easy to learn being iOS-based
Being cloud-based, your product mix, as well as your detailed modifier list, is available immediately
Able to access reports, sales, hours, etc. from mobile app

Cons

Being iOS based, there can be glitches related to updates. Towards the end, we had issues related to the last two updates and had to wait for Apple to put out a fix.
The software does run off of a Mac Mini, so you have to be careful that staff does not update the individual iPad's before the Mac Mini is updated. Updating the iPads without updating the Mac Mini will result in your software not working.
Though there is an iPhone app to view reports, there is not one that would allow you to ring in orders. If your staff, like mine, doesn't wear aprons you may have a few broken iPads on your hands from trying to carry too many items.

Return on Investment

The software is easy to understand and use
We could not find a case for the iPads that would also fit the third party card reader so we went without. This resulted in card readers breaking off in the charging port rendering the iPad useless.
Reports were available in real time, so it was extremely easy to see sales and make quick decisions.

Alternatives Considered

Toast

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.

Other Software Used

7shifts, HotSchedules, Toast

Likelihood to Recommend

This truly depends on what your specific needs are. For us, we needed a point-of-sale that offered a better handheld option since we cash guests out at the table with the device to limit printing checks. If your establishment doesn't do table-side transactions, then that's a non-issue. We also had an issue with the card readers breaking off in the charging port which resulted in useless iPads or having to trade them in. This isn't necessarily the fault of TouchBistro, but it was a factor in us not renewing our contract.

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If you can operate a smartphone, you can operate this POS