TouchBistro Review: Is It Right for Your Business?

The use of technology in the service industry has grown exponentially, with new concepts such as automated bots and artificial intelligence. TouchBistro is a restaurant management software that uses these technologies to streamline operations for its users. Is it worth your business?

TouchBistro is a mobile app that allows users to order food from their favorite restaurants. The app has been around for over 6 years, and it’s still going strong. TouchBistro has thousands of restaurants in its database, and the app is available on both iOS and Android. The pros include the ability to order food from your phone and have it delivered to you at your home or office. The cons are that there are many other apps out there that offer similar services, but none of them have as large a database as TouchBistro. Read more in detail here: touchbistro pros and cons.

TouchBistro is an iPad POS system that runs on the cloud for restaurants, bakeries, and other food and beverage establishments. Its software plans include ingredient-level inventory management, menu and table management, personnel management, as well as reporting and analytics. TouchBistro allows you to choose from a number of built-in and popular third-party payment processors. TouchBistro is a fantastic alternative for small, fast-paced operations—like bakeries and wine bars—that require inventory management in an inexpensive package. Subscriptions start at $69 per month, which is a mid-range pricing point.

TouchBistro is a great place to start.

TouchBistro is a restaurant that we recommend for a variety of reasons.

TouchBistro is a cost-effective restaurant POS with a minimalist design. It’s consistently rated as one of our top restaurant POS systems. It supports a variety of payment processors, allowing you to compare prices.

TouchBistro is especially recommended for:

When TouchBistro Isn’t the Right Fit

Because of the management interface, it’s difficult to recommend this system without reservation. TouchBistro will suffice if your full-service restaurant does not utilize its POS for inventory management, food pricing, or advanced analytics. TouchBistro isn’t suited for full-service restaurants that need such functions—or in-house delivery management—in a POS.

These eateries, in particular, will be better suited to another location:

• High-volume, full-service restaurants: If your restaurant is both high-volume and full-service, you’ll benefit from a system like Toast or Revel, which automates part of the work for you.
• Inventory management for farm-to-table restaurants: TouchBistro’s inventory interface is time-consuming for restaurants with large menus that change regularly. Better choices may be found in our rating of the top restaurant inventory management software.
• Restaurants with in-house delivery: If you need to manage a team of in-house delivery drivers, one of our best POS systems for food delivery will be more helpful.

Still haven’t found the correct match? Check out our best POS system options for small businesses.

Overview of TouchBistro POS

TouchBistro is a great place to start.

Pricing at TouchBistro

• Baseline pricing are competitive: POS software starts at $69 per month for a single terminal.
• Bespoke quotation: A custom quote is required for full pricing.
• Payment flexibility: TSYS, Worldpay, TB Payments, and Square all provide built-in payment processing, as well as integrated payments via TSYS, Worldpay, TB Payments, and Square.
• Separately priced add-ons include: For a monthly charge, native reservations, online purchasing, and gift cards are offered.

The software portion of TouchBistro’s cost begins at $69 per month; hardware and add-ons will raise your monthly rates. TouchBistro’s price is comparable to those of rivals such as Lavu and Rezku. Adding these hardware capabilities will improve your software rate since the system employs iPads for POS terminals, self-service kiosks, and KDS displays. TouchBistro no longer publishes a price list that includes many terminals. While TouchBistro does not provide price for some of the system’s optional add-on modules, it does provide the following:

TouchBistro is unique among restaurant POS vendors in that it provides a free trial of their system. It doesn’t say how long the trial will last, although past offers were for 28 days. If you’re on the fence regarding this technology, you should absolutely contact TouchBistro and ask for a trial. To receive the complete cost of the TouchBistro system, you’ll need to schedule a product demo and request a bespoke estimate, much like other restaurant POS systems.

Payments at TouchBistro

• Payment Fees Are Transparent: TouchBistro and the majority of its integrated payment partners provide cost-plus pricing.
• TouchBistro just implemented built-in payment processing that accepts online payments.
• TB Payments, TSYS, Worldpay, and Square are among the integrated payment options.
• Payment Processing Flexibility: Choose between an all-in-one solution or rate shopping.
• Tabletop Contactless Payments: EMV and PCI-compliant card readers for in-house, online, and contactless payments are available.

When it comes to payment processing, TouchBistro offers restaurants the best of both worlds. If you want to shop around for the best processing rates, you can choose from several popular options. However, if you want to enable online payments in your TouchBistro POS, this flexibility disappears; you must use Payments at TouchBistro powered by Chase.

Payments at TouchBistro’ processing rates are based on your business type, card mix, and sales volume. You’ll need to contact TouchBistro for a custom quote.

Hardware for TouchBistro

• TouchBistro is iPad-based and works with all fifth-generation and later iPad devices. The technology, however, works best on iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Mini devices released in 2018 or after.
• A wide range of peripherals are available, including self-service kiosks, customer facing displays, KDS, digital menu boards, barcode scanners, cash drawers, and card readers, all of which may be customized to meet any restaurant setup.
• AmpliFi routers and ethernet switches improve connection, allowing for more broad operations.
• TouchBistro may be used at the table or on the go with a choice of iPad supports and holders.

A single TouchBistro terminal consists of an iPad, an iPad stand, a receipt printer, a card reader, a router, and a modem. To receive wireless broadband signals, fully mobile businesses, such as food trucks, may use an LTE-enabled router. In small businesses, a single iPad may serve as both a POS terminal and the system’s “brain.” You’ll need to set aside a single iPad to operate as your central server when you add iPads as KDS displays, self-service kiosks, or extra POS terminals.

TouchBistro is a mobile app for iOS devices. (Image courtesy of TouchBistro)

You’ll require a TouchBistro “Pro” setup when your overall iPad count reaches six or more. To communicate with all of your terminals, you’ll need a Mac Mini server linked to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. KDS and self-service kiosks function as additional TouchBistro terminals, and digital menu displays are controlled through Apple TV on HDMI-enabled TVs. You may buy hardware directly from TouchBistro or bring your own suitable devices. The hardware setup is walked through in detail in online tutorials.

The Hardware for TouchBistro is linked together in an elegant way to support offline functionality. If you lose internet connectivity, your TouchBistro system will still communicate on-site. Tickets will still print from printers, and orders will still go to the kitchen. The only thing the system needs the internet to do is process payments. This hybrid set up and iPad foundation make TouchBistro a compelling option for small restaurants that want to operate completely via self-service kiosks.

Features of TouchBistro POS

• Menu and check management: Menu items may be added and edited directly in the POS. Transfer tabs to tables as quickly as possible, then divide checks by item or seat number.
• Customize your TouchBistro floorplan to fit the layout of your business.
• Speed Ordering: Speed ordering screens may be used by bars, breweries, and QSRs to ring in orders without table numbers.
• Sales, labor, menu, accounting, and payment reports are all included into TouchBistro and can be printed, emailed, or seen in the app.
• There are several integrations: A broad range of third-party connections, including major scheduling and accounting systems, are accessible.
• You may use an open API to create your own integrations to plug in your favorite software products.
• Customer service is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by phone, email, and chat, as well as a comprehensive online help site with self-guided solutions.
• Reservations, Online Ordering, Gift Cards, and Loyalty are all accessible add-ons.

To understand more about TouchBistro’s individual features, scroll down to the sections below:

Inventory at TouchBistro

• Track single unit goods (such as bottled drinks) or ingredients at the ingredient level.
• Customizable: Enter bulk products in the same unit of measure that you ordered them in and back them out in the same unit of measure that you used to order them.
• To maintain your stock counts up to date, update counts and submit new orders as they arrive at the POS.
• Stock shortages have been reported: Provide a shortcut to aid in the creation of vendor orders.

The inventory module of TouchBistro is included in the standard software subscription. It enables you to enter raw ingredients and link them to specific menu items, allowing you to keep track of your inventory when meals are ordered. To get started, you may bulk input ingredients into the system using a CSV file, then change individual products from the POS. You may personalize each item to match how you order it—for example, ground beef by the pound—and then personalize the measurements used in different recipes—for example, 4 ounces for a quarter-pound burger.

For certain places, this may not be enough customization. Consider a restaurant with a trademark Cobb salad on the menu. 3 ounces of cooked, crumbled bacon is served on top of each Cobb salad. The bacon is purchased by the pound at the restaurant. However, since bacon loses water and fat when cooked, its inventory is likely to exhibit a consistent range of 10%–15% in bacon costs as a result of this disparity.

Inventory monitoring for products and menus using a simplified countdown mechanism (Source: TouchBistro)

Inventory monitoring for raw materials at the ingredient level (Source: TouchBistro)

To avoid this problem, more extensive inventory systems like Toast and Upserve provide adjustable options. They also have vendor management built in, which TouchBistro’s inventory system does not. However, a third-party interface with MarketMan may be used to provide this feature to TouchBistro.

The inventory at TouchBistro isn’t horrible; it simply isn’t right for every eatery. If you have a simple menu—like a taqueria, coffee shop, or burrito bar—and you don’t update it much, TouchBistro’s inventory will be ideal. If your restaurant doesn’t employ POS-integrated inventory, the inventory constraints of TouchBistro aren’t a cause to overlook this cost-effective technology.

Management at TouchBistro

• Create break intervals for your employees: TouchBistro allows you to set break periods for your employees so they don’t have to clock out and back in for their breaks.
• Manage permissions based on the kind of employee: Instead of using staff logins, create staff roles and provide rights to each position.
• Receive thorough shift reporting: The breaks management function lets you to get a more complete report on your employees’ shit time and break times.
• Set schedules: For employee scheduling, HR, and payroll administration, TouchBistro interfaces with 7shifts and PushOperations.
• Real-time labor costs may be seen here: Daily data on employee attendance, sales performance, and tips are available.

TouchBistro has a basic staff administration function that lets you to establish and manage logins and permissions, comparable to popular restaurant POSes like Clover and Toast. TouchBistro Cloud may also be used to store employee-specific payroll information, making it easier to handle paydays and tax season.

However, you’ll need to subscribe to one of TouchBistro’s integration partners for shift scheduling and payroll capabilities. Push Operations costs $4–$8 per month per employee, depending on the level of capability. If you have one location with ten or less workers, 7shifts is free; premium memberships start at $17.99 per location for up to 20 users.

The break management tool in TouchBistro also allows you to guarantee that adequate personnel is available to wait on open tables. (Image courtesy of TouchBistro)

Staff roles may be created, customized, and managed. Allowing permissions to be assigned to staff positions rather than individual logins helps ease your employee onboarding process while also ensuring that only the appropriate employees have access to key POS functions.

Break management may seem to be a minor function at first glance, but it is quite useful for preparing a more complete report and administering your restaurant’s day-to-day operations. If a server clocks out to take a break and still has open tables, TouchBistro will present a popup window instructing your employees to close or move the tables to another server.

Reservations at TouchBistro

• TouchBistro’s bookings system is completely connected with the TouchBistro POS platform, allowing you to handle reservations from your POS platform.
• Customizable booking options: Choose from a variety of booking options for in-person and online bookings.
• Integrated SMS messaging: Text consumers straight from the app for reservation confirmations and special requests.
• Employee profiles that can be customized: Non-front desk staff can’t use higher-level reservations capabilities.
• Cancellation policy: For big parties or special events, ask for a credit card right away.

TouchBistro’s price begins at $229 per month and includes an optional built-in reservation feature. The reservation system is linked to the TouchBistro POS, allowing for better tracking and reporting of visitor patterns. Reservations may be taken over the phone, in person, on your website, or via Google. If you wish to enable clients to join themselves to your waitlist before they come, the system can also interface with Google’s Waitlist Me. Once tables are seated, the POS sync updates your front desk crew on the status of each table as guests go through courses and pay their bills.

To construct a socially distant floor arrangement, hide or reveal tables. (Image courtesy of TouchBistro)

Like most reservation systems, Reservations at TouchBistro customizes your floor plan and has controls to block tables and set maximum cover counts that can be set by timeframe. TouchBistro also supports in-app SMS messaging so that your staff can confirm reservations via text, and customers can text you if their plans change. Like the POS, you can set employee permissions in the reservation module to control what specific functions employees can access.

Customer Loyalty and Management at TouchBistro

• Customers don’t have to remember a loyalty card or a specific number since their accounts are monitored by phone number or email.
• Filters and tags for customers: Make categories for regulars, recent visitors, and beer-loving visitors. Customers may be filtered by birthday month, number of visits, average expenditure, and other factors.
• Choose whether to reward particular purchases or to grant points based on the amount of money spent. Provide discounts in the form of dollars or percentages depending on the number of points achieved.
• In-app messaging: From your Loyalty dashboard, choose restricted customer groups and send targeted email campaigns.

You can design your rewards and loyalty programs using TouchBistro. (Image courtesy of TouchBistro)

Customers may quickly enroll in TouchBistro’s Loyalty and Rewards modules, which are simple and dynamic. You don’t have to maintain unique loyalty numbers or send cards since loyalty profiles are tracked by phone number or email address. TouchBistro Loyalty is a custom-quoted add-on to the basic POS, and it combines with other POS features to enable customized promotions and other reward choices. Restaurants with many locations may choose to apply incentives to all of them or just a few.

Online ordering at TouchBistro

• TouchBistro allows you to customize your platform by allowing in-house online ordering or integrating with third-party aggregators.
• Accept online payments: Payments at TouchBistro customers can process online payments in-house.
• Keep the kitchen informed: Built-in online orders and orders from third parties are sent straight to your KDS.
• Accept or deny online orders in real time: If your kitchen is backed up or you’re out of supply, you may accept or decline online orders as they appear in your POS. You can also send cancellation letters if your kitchen is backed up or you’re out of stock.

You can leverage third-party connections to achieve online ordering on TouchBistro, or you can use the optional built-in module to host an in-house solution. The built-in module is available for $50 per month. Customers may make orders by clicking on a “order now” widget on your website, which connects them to your TBDine.com online menu. You may also email this link to your consumers and post it on your social media platforms.

Moreover, you can accept online orders without accepting online payments. But, if you want to accept online payment for in-house online orders, you’ll need to use Payments at TouchBistro. This is a minor limitation to the online order functions. TouchBistro’s Online ordering module allows you to attach customer addresses and driver names to delivery orders. Still, the system doesn’t currently support driver management to the same degree as it does server and cashier management. You may need to do some offline Google Mapping and tip pooling to direct and manage your driver roster.

From your TouchBistro POS, you can manage your online orders. (Image courtesy of TouchBistro)

Through a connection with aggregators Ordermark or Deliverect, you may integrate third-party online ordering services. Both are third-party aggregators that take orders from Uber Eats, DoorDash, and other platforms and send them straight to your POS. In addition to the costs imposed by the third-party order originators, both aggregators charge their own monthly fees. As a result, the cost of orders from these integrators may rise.

Reporting from TouchBistro

• A large number of built-in reports are available: Sales, menu, payment, accounting, and labor reports illustrate where your money is going and which profit drivers are the most important.
• Reports To Go, a smartphone reporting app by TouchBistro, is available for iOS and Android phones.
• Auto-schedule email: To keep everyone on the same page, auto-schedule certain reports to email ownership and management teams.
• Customizable parameters: Drill down for sales and cost information during certain operating hours using report parameters.
• Reports in the format of your choice: A CSV file of a report may be emailed, printed, or downloaded right from the POS.

TouchBistro has all of the typical reports that every restaurant needs to keep track of their day-to-day operations. For simple access, reports are divided into five categories: sales, accounting, menu, payments, and labor. Reports may be viewed using the POS’s Admin menu, the Reports To Go smartphone app, or an online cloud reporting dashboard. TouchBistro has a lot of reporting data to work with thanks to built-in inventory and staff time monitoring tools.

TouchBistro provides customers with a full view of food and labor costs in real time, in addition to documenting typical sales, discounts, voids, and comps. The reports include colorful graphs and other visual components that help you understand your performance quickly. The Key Targets report is very useful, since it shows your management team how near your team is to meeting weekly sales and traffic goals.

The Key Targets report from TouchBistro outlines how your team can achieve your objectives. (Image courtesy of TouchBistro)

There is a small flaw in the reporting and administration module. Although reports may be accessed through a mobile app, a cloud dashboard, or the POS, many adjustments can only be performed in the POS. You may have to arm-wrestle your workers for a terminal if you have a lot of updates and adjustments to do, or if you want to modify particular reports. A high-volume procedure may be hampered as a result of this.

Ease of Use with TouchBistro

• Configuration for iOS: The POS interface is similar to that of an iPhone.
• The uncluttered order page makes it easier to discover what you’re searching for while also reducing mistakes.
• Customer service is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through phone, email, or online chat.
• Online resources include: From entering an employee to establishing a new terminal, a comprehensive online collection of video lessons will guide you through it all.
• Personalized implementation assistance: A specialized account manager will assist you with the initial setup of your POS system.
• Remote access: Support experts may access your POS remotely to assist with troubleshooting issues.

The TouchBistro technology is very user-friendly for both employees and consumers who utilize self-service kiosks. TouchBistro is designed for iPads and runs on Apple iOS, so it looks, feels, and functions much like a smartphone. Employees tend to pick up on the method relatively instantly, reducing training time. Self-order kiosks and KDS displays are also user-friendly, featuring touch and swipe navigation.

However, the same navigational method might make administrative duties onerous. A TouchBistro terminal is required to conduct several management responsibilities. The administrative settings and reports are accessed using layered drop-down menus that resemble iPhone menus in appearance and functionality. This eliminates the need to rush to the manager’s office to make a last-minute adjustment to a menu item or rearrange the layout. It also implies that with a touch-screen keyboard, changing a single menu item might take several taps.

Many administrative tasks may be completed immediately at the point of sale. (Image courtesy of TouchBistro)

Alternatives to TouchBistro Restaurant Software

TouchBistro is a fantastic, low-cost POS for small restaurants with a limited number of terminals and devices. Large businesses with several income streams, such as on-site delivery, takeaway, catering, and special events, would certainly need a more complex system.

What Users Have to Say About TouchBistro POS

This method is quite popular among users. The ease with which waiters and cashiers understand the system is the most commonly mentioned advantage in customer feedback. If saving time on staff training is a priority for you, TouchBistro may be quite beneficial. TouchBistro has a lot to offer experts as well:

• Finances Online: TouchBistro has a rare 5 out of 5 star rating and a 95 percent User Satisfaction rating based on 22 user reviews.
• G2: It is a Summer Leader for 2021, with a 4.5 out of 5 star rating based on 88 user ratings.
• U.S. News & World Report: TouchBistro is its #4 overall restaurant POS for 2021, awarding the system 3.8 out of 5 stars.

Conclusion

TouchBistro is one of the most user-friendly restaurant POS systems available. In addition, the customer-facing interface is quick and attractive. TouchBistro is a good alternative for wine bars, burger restaurants, coffee shops, and other QSRs with concentrated menus because of its hybrid installation, exceptional mobility, and cheap cost per register. Contact TouchBistro for a free demo to determine whether this technology is right for your food and beverage company.

TouchBistro is a great place to start.

The “touchbistro hardware cost” is a product that can be used by any business. It allows companies to have a digital storefront and manage inventory through an app on their phone. The touchbistro review will help you decide if it’s right for your business.

Related Tags

• touchbistro cons
• touchbistro pos
• touchbistro vs toast
• toast pos reviews
• touchbistro demo