Restaurants have different tech needs. Some just need a basic app to manage waiting lists. Others want an all-in-one platform for everything from reservations to staff scheduling.
But one thing's for sure: almost all restaurants use some kind of technology these days. It's usually phone apps!
In fact, most restaurant managers use about 3 different tech tools to run their back office. That's where new restaurant apps come in. They can help reduce errors, confusion, and tedious tasks, making running a restaurant much easier.
To help you make life easier, check out these top 19 restaurant apps:
Restaurant365
Restaurants can handle bookkeeping, operations, and human resources with the help of this software solution. It connects to banks, technology vendors, third-party providers, and point-of-sale systems.
It seeks to provide a technological remedy for some of the most typical back-office issues encountered by restaurant operators. Back of House is yet another excellent choice in this group.
Further reading
FoodDocs
With the help of this food safety app, restaurants can quickly develop a HACCP plan in about an hour and a smart food safety system in just fifteen minutes. FoodDocs does a hazard analysis and highlights important control areas for you.
An effective mobile app notifies you of food safety duties as soon as they need to be done and provides managers with instant access to a concise summary of food safety.
What the customer had to say: “This software took away the headache of researching state guidelines requirements and saved me so much time. Customer service is always available to help promptly when necessary and this program makes my job and life so much easier,” Arielle N.
Source: GetApp
Partender
This is the app that pub owners have been waiting for—all you need is an iPhone. Partender's user-friendly features for tracking liquor inventories assist bartenders, managers, and owners of restaurants in lowering shrinkage.
Simply enter the alcoholic beverages you offer, weigh each bottle precisely, and transfer the information to the cloud.
Using consumption analytics, this restaurant application not only lets you manage inventory but also helps you determine exactly what's selling and what isn't.
Want to know more about how to open a bar? Click here.
Kudos
Kudos is a technique for employee engagement that facilitates team member recognition. Most importantly, Kudos enables them to acknowledge each other's outstanding efforts as well.
Further reading
You choose the kind of points or prizes that go with the program. Gift vouchers are an option for employees, or you can personalize the incentives.
For Google, click here. For Apple, click here.
Avero
Restaurant owners can gain important insights into sales and company operations from Avero.
You can access a comprehensive suite of tools, including labor and food cost tracking, inventory management, revenue management, and server performance tracking, when your restaurant's point of sale system is integrated.
Further reading
Eat App
Would you like to be able to manage your restaurant reservations from anywhere, at any time? With Eat App, you can manage restaurant reservations and guests from your phone or desktop.
But, that's not all. The software also has a powerful table management system. This lets you see what tables are available in real time, track your shifts, and get insights about your customers. It can even tell you things like how much customers typically spend and keep their information on file. Plus, it automatically updates the status of tables so you always know what's free.
This app is not only a dream for restaurant owners and staff alike, but it's a necessity. Especially, if restaurants are planning to increase revenue while improving their guest experience.
What the customer had to say: “Eat App is a great mobile app that is friendly for all users. I can allow my staff to see and manage reservations seamlessly. I can create users and manage permissions from my phone, tablet, or PC. The app works in real time, when I create or change a reservation, the changes are immediate.” - Restaurant Owner.
Source: G2
NextMe
Ever pace the bar, anxiously waiting for a table? There's a better way! Apps like NextMe simplify restaurant waitlists.
This user-friendly option lets restaurants schedule you and send text alerts when your table's ready.
Pro tip: Eat App also offers robust online waitlists for a seamless experience and an online reviews feature.
What customers had to say: “Support and staff are excellent to work with from NextMe. Thanks for a great service.” - Capterra Review
Insight Timer
Restaurant owners and staff, your work is demanding. Since you don't have an hour to meditate every day, you've undoubtedly heard that you should. It is possible to get the benefits of meditation for a short time.
Depending on how much time you have (as little as one minute), you can choose a meditation with the help of the free software InsightTimer.
You can easily fit a little stress relief into your busy day by doing this.
Agorapulse
You are aware of the importance of social media for restaurant management and promotion. This application may be useful if you are trying to manage feeds on many networks (Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, and others) as it can handle all incoming messages and comments in one location.
You can write posts in bulk with Agorapulse and schedule them at a later time. There are a tonne of amazing apps in this category, this being just one. Additionally, try Hootsuite or Buffer.
What the customer had to say: “I like the social CRM tools It makes social promotion and marketing easy It comes with great social media management and monitoring features,” Faith M.
Source: Capterra
Further reading
Evernote
Those who own restaurants are typically busy people. Try Evernote if you're looking for a note-taking tool that can record all of your ideas, inspiration, and reminders.
Text, photos, audio, scans, PDFs, and documents can all be swiftly saved. Having dependable search capabilities ensures that you can locate any of your random ideas at a later time.
7Shifts
This scheduling system is cloud-based, mobile, and easy to use. It's a fantastic scheduling program that expedites and simplifies shift planning.
Because it can eliminate a lot of the hassle involved in employee scheduling, hiring replacement workers, or informing managers of impending absences due to illness, employees find it to be convenient.
Chowly
This useful app links your point-of-sale system to services like Grubhub, Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Postmates. No one will need to manually enter incoming delivery orders into your POS system thanks to our restaurant ordering system.
Additionally, all delivery systems receive simultaneous updates when you make changes to the menu on your end.
BevSpot
You can handle inventory, orders, and billing for a restaurant while on the go with the help of this program. Additionally, it makes understanding sales data and online ordering much easier.
BevSpot's recipe tool helps you produce more and more profitable menu items over time by tracking the cost of each dish through ingredient-by-ingredient pricing.
Feedly
I'm sure you read a tonne of websites and blogs regularly if you're trying to keep up with industry news, the newest innovations, or food trends.
You can read everything at once with Feedly, ensuring you never miss anything. To have all the significant ideas from throughout the internet highlighted for you, you may even instruct it on the subjects you wish to read about.
Unroll.me
An overloaded email is the last thing an owner of a busy restaurant needs. Managing all of your numerous email subscriptions with a few taps is easy with Unroll.me.
The nicest part is when you remove 100 obnoxious email subscriptions that you don't even remember creating when you click the "bulk unsubscribe" button.
Removing distractions saves you time so you can concentrate on critical communications from people you know and those emails and newsletters you truly desire.
KeePass
Restaurant owners have more passwords than most people, and everyone has too many to remember. Using a password manager, you can be safe and easily access passwords.
KeePass can generate strong, random passwords and is free and safe enough for numerous users to share.
Cloud Cover Music
A restaurant's atmosphere is greatly influenced by its music selection. However, playing your own Spotify playlists through the speakers is not permitted.
You need a service that allows you to play a lot of amazing songs without breaking the law, like Cloud Cover Music.
QuickBooks
The accounting software QuickBooks is nothing new to restaurateurs. Due to its time-consuming nature, payroll may be a major nuisance in this profession. Other accounting requirements, such as inventory and budget management, are also not particularly simple or fascinating.
However, QuickBooks provides greater insight and manageability into these financial obligations. You can use it to make more informed choices about your restaurant's operations, schedule, and budget.
Further reading
OpenTable
OpenTable allows customers to look for open reservations at any nearby restaurant. This software might be a useful tool for more recent restaurants looking to expand their customer base by making themselves visible to both locals and tourists.
With its customer management system, seating optimization tools, and monetizable experiences, OpenTable provides restaurants with special back-end benefits that help them expand their customer base, attract repeat business, and lessen uncontrollably high and low traffic periods.
Takeaways
Restaurant technology is here to stay, whether you include all of these apps or just one of them into your workflow.
Knowing what's available will enable you to locate the various restaurant management apps and resources that will enable you to concentrate on your favorite low-tech job, hospitality.