Wednesday, November 4, 2026 · For people who sign the checks Calculators · About
Menu & Margin
Open a restaurant and improve how it runs—checklists, operations tools, and free calculators for independent owners

By Menu & Margin editorial team · Published · Updated

Front of house

Front of house tools

Systems guests touch: point of sale, ordering, reservations, payments, loyalty, and reputation—what to look for before you sign a contract.

What is front of house on this site?

Front-of-house is everything guests and servers touch: POS, payments, online ordering, reservations/waitlist, loyalty, and reviews. Fix the ticket path before you add channels.

How to pick (and replace) a POS

  1. Write order → fire → pay → tip on paper for your service style.
  2. List must-haves: handhelds, split checks, offline mode, tax/service charge rules for your state.
  3. Get the full rate card and contract PDF; note early termination and hardware ownership.
  4. Demo offline failure and recovery; time a mock rush with your real modifier count.
  5. Plan a parallel week before cutover—never flip on a Friday blind.

Deep comparison: Toast vs. Square. If POS pain is the main fire, start at Running better → POS outdated.

Online ordering

  1. Pick the channel job: first-party (you own checkout) vs. marketplace (they own demand). Do not turn both on the same week you open a new POS.
  2. Name one menu owner; every 86 and price change must hit POS and every ordering channel the same day.
  3. Hold delivery/pickup until rush ticket times are stable on the floor—channels amplify a broken pass.
  4. Weekly math: order sales − marketplace fees − packaging − remakes/comps = contribution. Drop a channel that loses money after fees even if top-line looks busy.
  5. Throttle open hours and radius before discounting; discounts hide bad routing.

Marketplace commission schedules change by city and promo. Pull the live rate card from each platform for your address—we do not invent fee percentages here.

Reservations & waitlist

  1. Write party-size caps, no-show / deposit rules, and assumed turn times on paper before demos.
  2. Counters and quick-service: SMS waitlists often beat full reservation suites. Full-service: pacing and table status matter more than pagers.
  3. Connect holds to POS table status so host stand and floor share one truth.
  4. Review no-shows weekly; adjust deposit policy before buying more marketing to fill empty seats.

Payments, loyalty, reviews

  1. Payments: reconcile processor deposits to POS sales every week; fees and chargebacks live in the gap.
  2. Loyalty: prefer programs where you can export the guest list if you leave the POS.
  3. Reviews: one named owner responds to new 1–3★ the same day; tag each complaint to an ops cause (food, wait, ticket time, cleanliness) before buying reputation software.
  4. Fix the top repeat complaint for two weeks before spending on ads that send more guests into the same failure.

Tool picks

Toast vs. Square Dated POS comparison with public pricing sources. Slow ticket times Diagnose before adding KDS or channels.

Frequently asked questions

Should I replace my POS or fix ticket times first?
Fix the paper ticket path and rush timing before a cutover. Software will not repair a broken pass. Use Running better → ticket times, then compare Toast vs Square with full rate cards.

Product pages

ToastPOS platform page SquareSquare for Restaurants TouchBistroiPad POS overview CloverReseller / hardware POS LightspeedRestaurant POS All softwareFull directory

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