A POS system built for iPads is not only functional but also portable and convenient. In addition to the iPad itself, you can usually get mobile apps for the iPhone or hardware from card swipers to receipt printers for a complete system. Restaurants can especially benefit from the functionality of iPad POS systems to accept payments table-side and curbside.
The best iPad restaurant POS systems are:
- Upserve: Best overall iPad restaurant POS
- Touchbistro: Best iPad POS for pubs, bars, and cafes
- Lavu: Best customizable iPad POS for quick-service restaurants
- Square for Restaurants: Best free iPad POS for small restaurants and food trucks
- Revel Systems: Best iPad POS for large restaurants
How We Evaluated iPad Restaurant POS Systems
To determine the best iPad POS systems, we looked for those that were well-known, easy-to-use, and feature-rich. We chose those that were not too expensive (usually starting at under $100 for a single register) and that offered integrations. Then we evaluated specific features.
In our evaluation, Upserve earned a 4.38 out of 5. Upserve particularly excelled in mobility and back-of-house features. Click through the tabs below to see our full evaluation criteria.
Scorecard breakdown:
15% of Overall Score
We looked for inexpensive systems that didn’t limit the number of users on a terminal. We also gave favor to any with a free plan and month-to-month contracts.
20% of Overall Score
POS systems with integrated payment processing earned extra points, but regardless, all the POS systems on our list process credit cards and contactless payments. Most had an offline mode to allow you to record payments to process when you were back on the internet.
25% of Overall Score
Table mapping, order taking that allowed modifications, loyalty programs, and gift cards…we considered these in addition to standard order-and-pay functions.
25% of Overall Score
Details impact profits, so we looked for inventory and reporting tools that got down to the ingredient level. We also favored systems with kitchen displays (KDS), workforce management such as clocking in and role assignments, and vendor management tools.
15% of Overall Score
We gave our own score based on the features and functionality vs. price, but also looked at real-user reviews on reputable sites like Capterra and G2.
Upserve
PROS
- Incredibly robust feature set
- Easy to use
- Advanced analytics capabilities
- Customizable
- 24/7 dedicated support and personalized onboarding
CONS
- Pricey
- Reports of outages and downtime
- Buggy offline mode
| RATING CRITERIA | Price | 2 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Mobility & Payment Processing | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Front-of-house Tools | 4.5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Back-of-house & Office Tools | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
Upserve is an iPad POS designed specifically for restaurants, with specialized features including tableside ordering, online ordering, and server performance. Standard features include inventory management, CRM, and payment processing. It’s intuitive and easy to set up, with on-call support available to help.
Upserve is one of the pricier options on this list, which is where it lost points in our evaluation. However, Upserve also includes the most comprehensive staff management and scheduling tools on this list, plus some of the best reporting, and top-of-the-line guest management tools. These features helped Upserve earn a 4.38 out of 5 in our evaluation.
Upserve Pricing
There is a monthly subscription to use the software, plus a monthly fee for each terminal, which is what makes Upserve a little pricier than the rest (though well worth the cost, in my opinion).
- Monthly subscription: $59 – $359 depending on plan
- Monthly POS terminal fees: $40 – $60 depending on the plan. Higher-tier plans have cheaper terminal fees
- Add-ons: Gift cards and online ordering available for an additional fee. However, at the time of publication, Upserve is offering online ordering included at no additional cost with select POS subscriptions
Upserve Features
- “Menu intelligence” tools to automatically track ingredient-level inventory, remove out-of-stock items, view best-selling items, and underperforming dishes
- Easy split checks and items
- Offline mode to send orders to the kitchen, take payments, and print receipts if you lost internet connection
- Training mode so new employees can test the system using your actual menu and restaurant data
- Upserve collects 25 data points from every transaction to offer detailed and easy-to-read analytics including labor costs, scheduling, sales trends, performance, and more. Menu and server performance data are connected so you can spot trends
- View reports through the POS, online portal, or Upserve Live—a real-time mobile analytics app
- Create and distribute staff schedules through the POS
- Create marketing campaigns, read and respond to online reviews, and create a loyalty program
TouchBistro
PROS
- Excellent features specifically for bars, pubs
- Upsell suggestions on the terminal
- Custom gratuity suggestions
CONS
- No free plan
- Gift cards cost extra
- Online ordering costs extra
| RATING CRITERIA | Price | 4 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Mobility & Payment Processing | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Front-of-house Tools | 4 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Back-of-house & Office Tools | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.5 | OUT OF | 5 |
TouchBistro has plans for full-service restaurants, quick-serve restaurants, food trucks, and breweries. However, its features for running tabs set it apart and make it the best choice if you have a bar or a cafe along with your restaurant.
With a 4.35 out of 5 stars, TouchBistro ranks highly among the best iPad POS systems. While a few features, like vendor management and employee scheduling, were basic or needed integrations, the overall toolset is strong. Real-world users give it high marks for ease of use and customer support as well.
TouchBistro Pricing
POS licenses start at $69 per terminal. TouchBistro has add-ons for other features:
- Reservations: $299
- Online Ordering: $50
- Gift Cards: $25
It also sells hardware from KDSs to self-service kiosks.
TouchBistro Features
- Bar features: personalized tabs, run tabs across multiple bar-tops, combine tabs, transfer tabs to tables
- Upsell features include suggestions and popup modifiers
- Customizable gratuities
- Employee clock in/out, payroll, plus integration with 7Shifts for scheduling
- Works with online delivery services (additional fee)
- Comprehensive reports include inventory tracking by ingredient, personalized reports by staff member, end-of-day, tax and accounting, promotions, and more
Lavu
PROS
- Create combos without forced modifiers
- Integrates with deliveries, can process online orders
- Detailed reports, ingredient-level inventory, purchase order management
CONS
- No free plan
- Not as easy to use as others on our list
| RATING CRITERIA | Price | 2.5 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Mobility & Payment Processing | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Front-of-house Tools | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Back-of-house & Office Tools | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 3.5 | OUT OF | 5 |
Lavu has been around since 2010 and is used in nearly 100 nations around the world. Its software is designed to handle every aspect of running a restaurant, from taking orders to ordering more supplies. It offers detailed menus and inventory, pre-ordering and online order processing, pay-at-the-table, and more. It processes all forms of payment, including gift cards and contactless payments. It also integrates with or is building integrations for over 270 apps for everything from CRM to online delivery services.
With over 300 features, Lavu ticked off almost all the squares in our checklist. However, user reviews for Lavu skew lower than reviews for the other system on this list because Lavu can be hard to learn, and using Lavu’s hardware also requires a three-year payment processing contract. Overall, Lavu earned a 4.33 in our evaluation, with high marks for features but low scores for pricing and ease of use.
Lavu Pricing
Lavu’s pricing starts at $69 per month for a single terminal but offers custom pricing for multiple terminals. Every plan includes all its features plus 24/7 US-based customer support.
Lavu Features
- Table mapping, seat, and course numbering
- Customizable menu with combo builders, modifiers, and upsell suggestions
- Shift scheduling and clock in/clock out
- Inventory tracking to the ingredient level
- Vendor and purchase order management
- Dual cash drawer to have two independent checkouts on one terminal
- Works with online delivery services
Square for Restaurants
PROS
- Free POS system
- Easy to use, accepts all types of payments
- Online and mobile orders get pushed to KDS and POS automatically
CONS
- Loyalty programs cost extra
- Relatively basic restaurant functionality, especially inventory management
| RATING CRITERIA | Price | 5 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Mobility & Payment Processing | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Front-of-house Tools | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Back-of-house & Office Tools | 2.5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 5 | OUT OF | 5 |
Square is a popular and easy-to-use POS system for retailers of all types. It offers a modified version for restaurants that has server tools, inventory, reorder management, and more. The basic plan is free with just a simple charge for its integrated payment processing, but it has a more specialized version with advanced features. It’s a great choice for budget-minded restaurants, small eateries, and food trucks, especially where the menu is simpler.
We gave Square 4.31 out of 5 stars. It gets points for its free plan—the only POS on our list with one. However, while it has a lot of features and is an excellent value for the money, some functions need integrations or the advanced plan to get to the level of detail Lavu and others achieve natively. For example, it needs an integration to get to ingredient-level inventory.
Nonetheless, for a strong iPad POS system at a terrific price, it’s hard to beat Square. Though it’s restaurant POS does not top our list, in general, Square offers some of the best POS software for small businesses.
Square for Restaurants Pricing
Both the Free and Plus Plans charge for payment processing:
- In-person: 2.6% + 10 cents
- Online: 2.9% + 30 cents
Free Plan: POS and team management, plus extended-hours support
Plus Plan: ($60 per month per location + $40 per month per added POS device): Advanced POS, advanced team management, kitchen display, 24/7 support
Premium Plan (Call for Quote): Plus Plan with optional add ons (Payroll, Loyalty, Marketing) and custom payment processing rates
Square for Restaurants Features
- Table management, menu with conversational modifiers
- Order online for pickup; integrates with delivery services to populate on POS and KDS
- E-gift cards
- Product-level inventory tracking and vendor management
- Plus Plan includes auto 86ing items, KDS, kitchen reports, reopening closed checks, seat management, automatic gratuities, table timers, and more
Revel Systems
PROS
- CRM included
- Highly detailed reports
- Self-service kiosks
CONS
- Online ordering costs extra
- More expensive than others on our list
- Requires extended contract
| RATING CRITERIA | Price | 1.5 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Mobility & Payment Processing | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Front-of-house Tools | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Back-of-house & Office Tools | 5 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Score | 4.38 | OUT OF | 5 |
Revel is among the most expensive of the iPad POS systems for restaurants, especially since it has an onboarding fee that most do not. It’s a good choice, however, for busy restaurants with complex needs, such as highly specialized menus. It also integrates with dozens of third-party apps for everything from online ordering to employee management and data aggregation. In addition, you can choose your own payment processing solution or use theirs.
Earning 4.2 out of 5 stars, Revel is a strong option for an iPad POS system for restaurants of any size. We thought the price, onboarding assistance, and depth of functions make it especially suitable for larger restaurants and those with more complex needs. For example, if your restaurant is associated with a winery, it has an integration for handling wine clubs. It also offers customer relationship functions, something not often included in other POS systems.
Revel Systems Pricing
Revel’s plans start at $99 per month, per terminal, with a flat payment processing fee and $674 for onboarding. Call for a quote.
Revel Systems Features
- Onboarding of software, hardware, data, and training
- Automatic menu prompts for upsells and menu modifiers
- Self-service kiosk capable
- Gift cards and loyalty programs
- Employee management and scheduling
- CRM software
- Reports covering all aspects of the business, including an ingredient inventory that details the entire history of an ingredient’s use
- Works with online delivery services (additional fee)
Bottom Line
A restaurant POS system doesn’t need to have an expensive terminal. Many restaurant POS systems run on iPad and offer terrific features for order taking, inventory, employee management, and more, all with the convenience and portability of a tablet or phone.
We examined several restaurant POS systems for the iPad and found Upserve to be an excellent option for most restaurants. Upserve offers top-of-the-line features at a price point that’s small business friendly.
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