Toast is designed for restaurants, keeping all your technology components in one place, providing a great and effective sales proposition that makes managing your restaurant easier. With the recent release of Toast Payroll & Team Management, Toast offers a complete business solution.
Pros
- Table-based payment for quick table transfers
- Designed for restaurants
- Easy to use and customizable Android tablets
Cons
- High setup/monthly costs
- Requires your own hardware
Restaurateurs Are Raving
“Our tips have doubled since implementing Toast customer screens, just as I expected… This is one of those times when technology has truly enabled a financial opportunity for a business.”
Jeff Good, Managing Partner of Broad Street and President of Mangia Bene Inc.
“We saved 15% to 20% annually by not paying for multiple platforms… when I bought it, we would have saved a few thousand dollars in a year just by moving everything to Toast Payroll…”
John Rhodes, CEO of Alto Pizza Kitchen and Bar
“Without Toast, it would have been much harder to achieve the volume we see at lunch. We could do 100 to 200 entries in a few hours. The kitchen screens have helped us achieve that level of service.”
Brad Gillis, Co-Founder of Homegrown
How It Works
Toast is a completely web-based platform, with all information stored in the cloud. A local area network (LAN) is required for customer functionality. All point-of-sale data, primarily menus and local settings, is downloaded and stored on separate connected devices. This allows your POS system to operate even if your broadband connection is interrupted.
Wi-Fi is not required, as the devices are connected at the point of sale. However, there are handheld tablets that require Wi-Fi. Printing is done over a local network. In the event of a service interruption, all credit card transactions are queued locally and processed in batches when the connection is restored.
The basic hardware package offered is the terminal package, which includes a receipt printer, tablet, stand, and credit card reader, with additional routers and kitchen printers sold separately. You can also purchase a mobile device or handheld tablet package that allows you to order and pay directly at the table.
Toast does not use iOS integration, but works with Android. For their hardware packages, they offer Elo tablets, which their operations team pre-installs and configures. This way, all customers have official Toast equipment, which provides high-quality technical support in case of any issues.
Reporting
A wide range of reports are available, from standard sales reports to performance reports, product mix, tips, and more.
Summary reports are the most comprehensive and include net sales, tips, table turnover, a complete breakdown of all service types, and guest counts. It’s a scannable dashboard that provides a quick overview of a manager or owner’s needs when they’re too busy to quickly review individual reports. If you want to drill down into any metric, you can do so with one simple tap.
Ease of Use
Even if you didn’t have a Toast representative to help you with setup and training, this system would be very easy to learn. Despite the incredible variety of features built into Toast, you can master enough to get your business up and running in a matter of hours. It’s not difficult to learn, and the first 30-60 minutes of training will go a long way in getting you up and running, even without any technical knowledge.
Cost and Contracts
Toast’s starter package is free and ideal for small restaurants that only need one or two terminals. The basic package, which includes online services like digital ordering and the Toast Takeout app, starts at $165 per month. There are also pricing plans, but you’ll need to call a Toast representative.
This is where you need to consider the return on investment of the product and decide if operating more efficiently with such a powerful platform will help you run a cleaner restaurant, turn tables faster, and therefore pay for itself. If you can get it to work right, the price isn’t that bad.
For restaurants that anticipate needing more than 6 terminals, we recommend speaking with a representative about customized pricing based on volume.
- $25/month to access the loyalty program
- $50/month to create and redeem physical and digital gift cards
- $50/month for integrated online ordering
Luckily, there are no contracts. Financing is available with flexible payment options, so you don’t have to pay the full cost of the equipment upfront, which would likely require a contract. Ask your representative about financing requirements and terms.
Features and Add-ons
The number of features included in Toast is surprising, considering the simplicity of the interface and intuitive design. For example:
- Simplify ordering with desktop terminals or take orders at the table with mobile tablets.
- Digital coupons sent to customers via email (a great way to collect email addresses).
- Fully customizable menu groups are categorized into smaller menus such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and later into sub-menus such as appetizers, salads, main courses, kids’ menus, etc. The menu editing system is incredibly detailed, giving you extensive control over your menu.
- Native CRM functionality for customer management and remarketing.
- Employee management for work and scheduling.
- Outdated.
- Loyalty programs.
Toast Payroll & Team Management
Toast can help you streamline operations with its team management and payroll platform, designed specifically for restaurants.
What does Toast payroll and team management offer?
- Payroll sync with POS
- Automatic reminders
- Time sync with payroll
- Accurate payments
- Tools to help you comply with changing regulations
Bottom Line
Toast is a comprehensive restaurant POS system that lets you manage your entire restaurant from a single interface. Its feature-rich platform impresses with everything and works with Android instead of iOS. This makes it more affordable and versatile, and a great option for restaurants that prefer not to invest in Apple products.
