About Toast POS
Toast POS pricing
Toast POS has a free version and does not offer a free trial. Toast POS paid version starts at US$0.00.
Alternatives to Toast POS
Toast POS Reviews
Feature rating
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
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Review Source
Incredibly Efficient!
Overall, I'm thrilled we switched to Toast. It's simple to use, has made us more efficient, and wasn't as expensive as similar systems.
Pros
Compared to POS systems I've used in the past, Toast is a lifesaver! It has tremendously improved efficiency and flow of our Taproom. We now have the ability to swipe a card and store credit card information; which is a huge benefit for those of us in co-op spaces. Although they look bulky, their handhelds fit into your back pocket and allow us to close tabs out table side. They are shock and water resistant, plus you can log into more than one device at the same time so if you're working alone, you can close out multiple parties at once. As a GM, I'm grateful that Toast is not only cloud-based, but allows me to access the back end from my laptop or smart phone so I don't have to be onsite to make system changes. Updates are incredibly quick so there's not a ton of down time. There is also Toast Central, where you can troubleshoot issues yourself rather rather than immediately calling Support. They are helpful instructions with screenshots and videos.
Cons
Customer Support is hit or miss. I always get an answer, it's just a matter of when I get it. After hours and on weekends, I feel like their staffing is very limited which leads to delays in getting immediate help. Thankfully it's only happened once where I needed a quick answer and wasn't able to get it.
Alternatives Considered
Aloha EPOSReasons for Choosing Toast POS
The main reason was functionality. TouchBistro required us to use card readers attached to iPads, but finding iPad protectors that would allow enough room for the card readers was extremely difficult. I also had to be onsite to make any changes to the back end which was extremely inconvenient.Switched From
TouchBistroReasons for Switching to Toast POS
While it has a lot of features, we couldn't justify the cost versus the features we would actually be using. Since we don't have a kitchen in our Taproom, we didn't need the inventory and recipe features that make Aloha a standard in our industry.Response from Toast
Hi Jayelynn, Jasmine from Toast here. Thank you for your feedback. We are thrilled to hear how multiple features of Toast have improved your operations, and that you are taking full advantage of Toast Central as a resource!
- Industry: Consumer Goods
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Toast--Support when you need it.
We are still early in the implementation of using Toast, but thus far I have been very impressed with their customer service and professional manner in which they have trained and supported our company.
Pros
I love that Toast supports their product. You can call and get someone on the line that will help you answer your questions. They also provide the hardware necessary to run their software. They are constantly updating their software to meet the needs of their users and are staying current with the technology. One option that is particularly useful to us is printing individual labels for each shake. In other words, we could have a bus of individuals come to our restaurant, and we need to print individual labels on each shake to identify what is in the shake so that it gets to the right person. In the past, we had to individually write on each cup.
Cons
The most difficult part to swallow is the fact that you have a monthly payment for the software--even if you are a seasonal business and only open for less than half the year. Toast will make some concessions for that, but it still seems costly since our other solution we used was free and pretty much did everything we needed short of printing individual labels for the shakes.
Alternatives Considered
Square for RetailReasons for Switching to Toast POS
We chose Toast over Square because of: 1. Dedicated support 2. Individual labels for each shake 3. Text notifications to customer when their food is done 4. More reliable KDS (Kitchen Display Systems) 5. Much larger and more functional KDS screens- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
I have gone from recommending TOAST to experiencing extreme frustration w/ terrible customer...
Additional CONS that didn't fit in the above box:
*Unable to offer discounts for particular items online. Let's say you want to promote a particular food item that week and want to offer 50% off that item ONLY...can't do it. You can discount the ENTIRE check or offer a BOGO, but no way to discount specific items.
*Can't use APPLE devices with Toast, only Android
*Unable to have a popup or a visible way to notify a customer of something when online ordering. For example, sorry, but we are out of this item or here's how we are doing curbside pickup, etc. There is only a teeny, tiny way to notify guests with a small banner atop your page that no one sees. (but Toast is happy to have their popup promoting their app on your restaurant page.)
*Toast App promotes all business, not just your personal restaurant so if you advise your guests to download it, they might be tempted by other restaurants they see when logging in.
*Toast's NEW online ordering has a complicated drop down menu that causes guests to struggle. If you have a drink menu, an alcohol menu, a breakfast menu, etc. then the guest has to find a small dropdown and toggle between the menus to complete her order. 1. She man never see the drop down, think menu is quite limited & the restaurant loses revenue. 2. She may find the drop down but has to toggle
Pros
*user friendly
*online reporting accessible from anywhere
*online food ordering
*easy to add menu items
Cons
*excessive hold times to reach support, ie: more than one hour and no way to email support anymore (as was the previous system.)
*no way to reach support via email, even when Toast emails a restaurant, the restaurant can't reply because the email gets bounced back...instead you have to get off email, find a computer, log in and navigate to support, find the case and respond there. This is a big problem when managers are not on site at the restaurant but still managing a support issue.
*support cases opened on their online platform are not addressed and no one calls restaurant to resolve
*No way to email a receipt to a guest until AFTER they have paid and the transaction is over...a big problem for CATERING needing preapproval.
*Upsell feature with online ordering has Toast making strange pairings. For example, the restaurant guest orders a breakfast sandwich and Toast suggest an upsell of a bottle of salad dressing (instead of a breakfast side)! Only Toast can control the upsell so the restaurant can't promote the items it wants to promote.
*Handheld device does NOT support ApplePay.
*ApplePay on POS terminal is additional. Actually, a lot of things with Toast cost more money than what sales tells you up front.
*No way to comp a gift card online and email it to a guest from Toast Central online.
*No way to offer a promo code on your online gift card sales....like during the holidays when you want to offer gift cards for a certain percentage off the regular price.
Response from Toast
Hi Elizabeth, Mora from Toast here. I'm sorry this has been a frustrating experience. The process for applying relief credit does involve multiple internal teams, so thank you for working with our Customer Care team to resolve this. We have been investing in growing our Customer Care team to address the concerns of our community, but we recognize that we still have work to do. Thank you for this feedback, it's helpful to hear what areas need improvement.
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 201-500 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Ease of use puts the butter on Toast
Toast is very easy to understand and operate making Labor control and sales tracking a breeze. Integration with payroll is fast and simple. Customer service is top notch.
Pros
The ease of use of Toast makes it very convenient for training of new employees. Jelly for Toast makes payroll integration simple and fast. Sales and labor reports are clear and easy to understand making decisions for labor control simple to make.
Cons
Offline payments can create issues if the customer doesn't have funds on the card used. Ghost checks can occur if handhelds are not synced daily.
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
An Affordable Alternative to Aloha and Micros
A perfect system for a small restaurant with a lot of very handy features. They are extremely flexible with pricing options.
Pros
TOAST is a solid point of sale system available for a very reasonable price. Adding, editing and removing menu items can be done quickly and remotely. Printer routing and other back of house set up is a breeze. Customer service staff is well trained and very reliable.
Cons
Not really designed for large scale/ high volume operations. KDS screens have some issues.
