Restaurant POS — full-service + QSR
Restaurant POS is the deepest-feature category in the cohort. Beyond payment processing, restaurants need course-pacing, modifiers, KDS routing, tip pooling, table mapping, allergen tracking, and often integration with reservation systems and delivery aggregators. Software depth matters more than absolute price.
The reasoning.
Toast is the volume leader in US restaurants and the safest first-choice. Lightspeed Restaurant is the mid-market alternative with stronger multi-location features. SpotOn pays off for full-service dining with average tickets above $25. TouchBistro is the FSR specialist for table-management depth. Square's restaurant tier works for QSR but lacks FSR feature depth.
Vendors that don't fit this vertical.
Clover for restaurant unless lease economics are fully understood (see /lease-lockin/). Heartland Restaurant if pricing transparency matters. Shopify POS unless ecommerce is the primary channel.
The cost most buyers underestimate here.
Kitchen Display System (KDS) hardware — $1,200-$2,500 per station. Often not included in entry-tier hardware quotes. Restaurants doing meaningful kitchen volume need 2-3 KDS stations.