TouchBistro Review: Is This POS Right for Your Business?

TouchBistro users can update their menu items in the POS terminal or in the cloud-based back office management dashboard. You can change prices, create discounts, add new menu items, modifiers, and combos. You can add item images, 86 menu items, or designate them for online or in-house ordering only.

TouchBistro’s menu management tools support customizable, time-restricted promotional menus for Happy Hours or other specials.
(Source: TouchBistro)

If you are running low on a dish, you can set a countdown on that item and TouchBistro will alert your team when the item is running low. You can also set time-restricted, promotional menus (like Happy Hour) and choose whether to apply a dollar or percentage discount on these items.

The only thing TouchBistro is missing is the ability to bulk upload menu items from a spreadsheet or CSV file. This would make it speedier to create large or detailed menus. But food and beverage businesses with smaller menus or those that don’t change frequently won’t notice any limitations.

TouchBistro lets you customize the information that prints on your guest checks and kitchen tickets. If you offer local delivery with an in-house team of drivers, you can set delivery tickets to automatically print with customer name, address, and phone number.

Your staff can attach credit card information to bar tabs and quickly transfer tabs to tables. They can also transfer checks to new servers or split checks by seat number, number of guests, or payment method. Once payment is processed, you can print or email digital receipts or choose no receipt if the guest chooses. Restaurants that offer customer accounts can easily print account signature slips and track account balances.

TouchBistro can easily manage house accounts and track account balances.
(Source: TouchBistro)

TouchBistro has a specific POS setting that turns an iPad into a tableside ordering device. With a card reader-enabled iPad case, the tableside ordering device can quickly become a tableside order and payment device. Because the tableside ordering function is on an iPad rather than a pocket-sized device (a la Toast and Upserve by Lightspeed), your servers get a large order screen with full-size buttons. So, it is easy to navigate between menu screens and edit the active order without lots of backtracking.

The Tableside Ordering screen forces staff to place orders by seat number.
(Source: TouchBistro)

The Tableside Ordering function organizes orders by seat number, so it is impossible for a server to order an item without attaching the seat number. This makes it easy for other team members to help run drinks or dishes as they are ready, since it is clear exactly where they should be placed.

The only drawback to iPads as tableside devices is that they don’t easily fit in a pocket, so it’s hard for servers to place an order then clear empty glasses or plates if needed. It’s also likely that a server will set the tablet down on a nearby table or countertop and forget where they left it—though you could solve this slight problem by outfitting your servers with apron pockets large enough to hold an iPad.

You get unlimited user logins with custom permissions, so you can create as many user roles as you need with corresponding access levels and set user permissions by staff type. For example, you’ll decide what tasks a server needs access to versus a line cook, then all staff with that staff type will have the same permissions. If you have a staff member that slides between roles, say a bartender and a server, you’ll need to assign that staff member to both staff types so that they have the necessary access.

Your TouchBistro POS also logs employee hours via a built-in timeclock feature.
(Source: TouchBistro)

TouchBistro also acts as a timeclock and can track the hours your team works. It does not, however, include built-in scheduling and payroll tools. If you would like to add integrated employee scheduling, payroll processing, and onboarding tools, you’ll need a third-party integration with 7shifts or Push Operations.

Scheduling and team management integrations
Provider	Tasks managed	Monthly pricing
	Schedule building, team communication, digital shift swapping tools, labor forecasting, and cost reporting	$0–$69.99; offers free trial
	Employee scheduling, payroll processing with direct deposit, HR and onboarding (including I-9 management, time tracking, labor forecasting and cost reporting)	$5–$10 per employee

TouchBistro includes ingredient-level inventory tracking in the baseline POS. To use it, you’ll need to add all of your bulk ingredients and recipes and tie these to specific menu items. Once this bit of administrative work is done, your TouchBistro POS will update your stock levels in real time as items sell. It will also alert you when stock is running low, so you never forget to reorder. You can export the low stock report as a CSV file and use it to generate purchase orders.

To get started with TouchBistro inventory, you need to manually enter each ingredient from a POS terminal.
(Source: TouchBistro)

TouchBistro’s inventory management is ingredient-level, and the food cost and usage reports can help you control costs. However, the platform’s inventory tools require manual updates to stay current.

You’ll need to enter each ingredient from a POS terminal manually; you can’t currently add ingredients in the cloud dashboard or bulk upload them from a spreadsheet. You’ll also need to adjust quantities as new stock arrives manually; you can’t scan invoices to update quantities as with a system like Revel. And you can’t generate purchase orders in the POS as you can with Toast.

That doesn’t mean that these tools are unavailable to TouchBistro users—all you need is a third-party integration. The platform integrates with several third-party inventory tools for all types of food and beverage businesses. There are even specialized options for bars that need to track draft beer programs and keg levels.

Inventory Management Integrations
Product	Description	Monthly cost
	Business insight and inventory management tool with automated price and item updates	$300 per location
	Inventory management for all types of food and beverage businesses	$165–$690
	Inventory management with electronic invoicing	Custom-quoted
	Scale-integrated Inventory management for beverage businesses	Custom-quoted
	Inventory and stock projection app	Custom-quoted
	Cloud-based inventory management for all types of food and beverage businesses	$127–$339
	Inventory built for draft beverage programs	$59–$149 + $5 per tap

TouchBistro includes over 50 built-in reports that track sales, labor, customer behavior, payments, and accounting. You can schedule specific reports to be automatically emailed to you and your management team at the end of a day, week, or month. TouchBistro’s reports are all available on the cloud and update in real time, so you can keep track of your business even when you are out of the restaurant.

TouchBistro reports live in the cloud, so you can view them from any web-enabled device, including smartphones.
(Source: TouchBistro)

You can customize each report’s view by filtering the report by date, payment type, sales type, or menu category. All reports can be downloaded as CSV and XLSX files, so you can filter the data or create combined reports for deeper analysis. You can further streamline your operation by connecting your POS to accounting software to save administrative time and reduce human error. However, with TouchBistro, you’ll need to do a little jury-rigging.

You can also get your TouchBistro system to communicate with popular accounting tools Xero, Sage Intacct, and QuickBooks via intermediary plug-ins Shogo or MarginEdge. A Shogo account runs $30 per month for a single location, though the price decreases for additional locations. MarginEdge, on the other hand, runs $300 per month but also includes robust inventory tools.

These fees are in addition to whatever you pay for the accounting software itself. These costs can add up, but if you are running a restaurant with few managers or support staff, it may be money worth spending.

Accounting Integrations
Software	Monthly fee
	$12–$65
	Custom-quoted
	$11–$33

TouchBistro’s Loyalty and Rewards modules are streamlined and dynamic, so customers can enroll easily at checkout. Loyalty profiles are tracked by phone number or email address, so you don’t have to track special loyalty numbers or distribute cards. TouchBistro Loyalty is an add-on to the baseline POS, offered at $99 per month. This module integrates with other POS functions, like online ordering, to reward your loyal customers wherever they order. Multilocation restaurants can decide to apply rewards at all locations or only specific ones.

TouchBistro’s Loyalty tool is incredibly customizable, letting you choose when and how to reward loyal customers.
(Source: TouchBistro)

You can customize reward settings in the POS cloud dashboard. Choose whether to reward customers for each dollar spent, offer a specific item as a reward, or apply a dollar or percentage discount. Customer accounts are tracked by phone number or email, so customers never have to remember a loyalty card or special number. You can create categories for regulars, recent visitors, or guests who like beer. Then create custom email promotions to those groups or by customers’ birthday month, number of visits, or average spend.

For an additional $50 per month, TouchBistro users can add the integrated online ordering module. This built-in module allows customers to place orders via an “order now” widget on your website that redirects them to your online menu on TBDine.com. You can also send this link to customers via email and link it on your social media accounts. You have the option to accept orders for delivery or pick up, with online payments or payment at pick-up, and to be ready as soon as possible. You can also schedule future orders.

With TouchBistro’s Online Ordering, you choose what type of orders your customers can place and how far in advance they can place them.
(Source: TouchBistro)

TouchBistro Online ordering syncs directly with TouchBistro’s Loyalty module, so you can reward your regular customers even online. For orders that are placed in advance (for pick-up the next day, for example), you can set your POS to only print the kitchen ticket in time to prepare the order rather than at the time the order is placed. You can also choose to accept or decline online orders as they show up in your POS and send cancellation messages if your kitchen is backed up or you have run out of stock.

In addition to TouchBistro’s built-in online ordering tools, the system integrates with aggregating apps to feed third-party platform orders directly into your POS. However, TouchBistro does not integrate directly with popular third-party ordering and delivery platforms like GrubHub and UberEats.

If you use those platforms and want those online orders to appear directly in your TouchBistro orderstream, you’ll need to use an ordering aggregator. These have their own monthly fees, alongside any commissions or fees you’ll pay for using the third-party platforms themselves.

Online Ordering Integrations
	$99 per month + a one-time setup fee (average set up fee is $149 but varies based on your POS)
	Custom-quoted

TouchBistro is one of the only cloud POS systems that supports a built-in reservations module. This tool is priced at $229 per month—and it sounds steep, but it is in line with what systems like Resy ($249–$899), OpenTable ($249–$449), and Yelp Guest Manager ($249–$299) cost. You can accept reservations over the phone, in person, or online.

You can also require a credit card to secure reservations and send custom email messages to reserved guests to alert them to cancellation fees or parking instructions. To process no-show or cancellation fees, you’ll need a Stripe account (in addition to whatever processor you use for your POS).

TouchBistro’s Reservations module syncs with Google, so you can accept reservations directly from customer Google searches.
(Source: TouchBistro)

The reservations module contains a two-way text messaging feature, so you can send reminder messages to customers or they can text you if their plans change. The reservations system syncs with your POS, so your front desk staff can easily identify which tables have paid their checks and are likely to clear soon. You can log detailed customer notes so that you never forget a customer’s preferred table or food allergies.

TouchBistro includes built-in payment processing via TouchBistro Payments. But the system also integrates with several other payment processors, so you can shop for the lowest processing rates. The providers in the table below are available in the US. Outside the US, TouchBistro also integrates with Chase Merchant Services, Moneris (Canada), Barclaycard (UK), and EVO (Mexico).

Payments Integrations (US-only)
	In-person payments: 2.6% + 10 cents Online payments: 2.9% + 30 cents Card-not-present payments: 3.5% + 15 cents
	Custom-quoted based on sales volume and card types accepted
	Custom-quoted based on sales volume and card types accepted