User Reviews Overview
About Lavu POS
Lavu is a Point of Sale solution designed for use by restaurants, bars, and nightclubs - from full-service, quick-service, and franchise restaurants, to food trucks, coffee shops, and lounges. Users can choose between bar,...
Learn moreAll Lavu POS Reviews Apply filters
Browse Lavu POS Reviews
All Lavu POS Reviews Apply filters
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Great inventory and POS software
Great inventory and POS software. Ease of use and easy to teach employees to use.
Pros
Ability to have multiple locations. Ability to make inventory items easily. Ability to use an iPad for inventory counts.
Cons
Have to manually bath credit cards at end of day.
Response from Lavu
Hi Michael, thanks so much for your review! We're very happy that Lavu helped your multiple locations streamline operations. We appreciate your business!
- Industry: Management Consulting
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Former Lavu User
Overall, for the two years the system was satisfacotry. Until recenlty it was for the current management at the restaurant. The dealer is helpful - he is our first line of tech support before we go to KLAvu for support.
Pros
I liked using Lavu because it was the first POS for the restaurant where I worked. While I was employed there I used the system for 2 years. The set up was easy as the dealer came to the restaurant and set it up and did a one day training for the staff.
Cons
They system seems to have alot of glitches. Recently, the restaurant reported to me that they had a glitch and lost printers. Tech support finally helped and got the printers up but somehow lost half the menu. Also, I have witnessed personally that the sales tax is charging out properly.
Alternatives Considered
Toast POSReasons for Choosing Lavu POS
We needed better reporting and labor tracking.Reasons for Switching to Lavu POS
The fees and support were better by Lavu at the time.Response from Lavu
Hello and thank you for your review! We appreciate the feedback and we are happy that Lavu worked so well for your business.
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Underdeveloped and unsupported
I deployed LAVU POS at three of my restaurants several years ago. Initially the basic product was well supported and reasonably easy to use.
About the time of the pandemic everything changed. The US based customer support staff disappeared and was replaced by a call center in India, our monthly fees nearly doubled (in the middle of the pandemic!) and LAVU rolled out Menu Drive, an online ordering platform, which we subscribed to.
The biggest problem is that there is little to no integration between Menu Drive (which they purchased from a third party) and the LAVU POS. So any changes you make to pricing or item availability on your POS will not show up in Menu Drive. This was extremely frustrating. Menu Drive itself appears a very rough and amateurish clunky and visually unappealing effort.
In addition to the constant frustrations with MenuDrive, we began to have major problems with printers randomly going offline several times a day. My managers made endless calls to the LAVU customer support center in India, often waiting hours to get through. On the rare occasions that they were able to reach someone the solutions offered were basic and ineffective. Several times we had to close the restaurant because we were unable to keep LAVU operational for an entire day.
Between the lack of customer support, the inherently low level of design/functionality in both LAVU POS and Menu Drive, the relativly high monthly cost, I would say avoid at all costs!
Pros
Not much to like here. It is overpriced, underdeveloped, and largely unsupported.
Cons
1. The online platform (Menu Drive) and the POS are totally unintegrated. They were built by different companies and don't communicate.
2. Effectively (in our experience) there is no customer support. There is a call center in India but you may have to wait hours on hold and the limit of their technical expertise seems to be, "try turning it off and then on again."
3. Our salesperson quit responding to calls and email right after the sale was made and only resurfaced when there was yet another new LAVU product to try to sell to us.
Response from Lavu
Hi Daniel, thank you for letting us know about your experience with Lavu. First and foremost, we are sorry to hear the changes to the product (including MenuDrive) did not benefit you as they were intended. We now have customer service representatives in Mexico City, India, Tampa, and New Mexico to insure our 24/7 support line is answered. If we can help in any way, please reach out.
Top Lavu POS Alternatives
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
My experience with Lavu
I have been very satisfied with this company.
Pros
The ease of navigating through all the different functions available.
Cons
I really haven’t found anything that I have felt is worth complaining about or suggesting changes.
Response from Lavu
Hi Cindi,
Thanks so much for reaching out and taking the time to provide us with valuable feedback. The Lavu team really appreciates hearing about your experience. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions.
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Excellent POS for beginners
Pros
Is an easy to use, easy to program POS system. We use it from the beginning of our opening. Easy to use for employees and low cost for owners.
Cons
Probably make improvement on the schedule part to be more robust.
Reasons for Switching to Lavu POS
Prices, and easy use and opportunity to growResponse from Lavu
Hi Angel, thank you for your feedback! We are always trying to improve our POS system, and scheduling is on that list!
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 2-10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
-
Review Source
New User Review
Overall, we have great support. all specialists are knowledgeable and helpful to resolve any issues, questions or concerns that come up.
Pros
Ease of use is important to a beginner in the field.
Cons
Backend layout is a bit clunky, too many drop down and making groups and stuff is a bit of a pain. Also when saving sometimes it seems to not save.
Alternatives Considered
Linga rOS SystemReasons for Switching to Lavu POS
Easier platform that Linga and pricing was better. also online ordering w/doordash integration with lavu was a must and they offered it but with much higher fees.Response from Lavu
Hey Philip, thank you for your feedback! We're happy that you are satisfied with Lavu and our customer support team!
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 2-10 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Good product, hard to find anything that compares.
Pretty good experience overall. Over the years we've had communication issues. There have been some price increases and fees snuck in that I wasn't happy about. I can usually read between the lines and see when they are doing things to attempt to make.. and they haven't always been the most upfront about it. I usually call them out on it and at times have had to email the[SENSITIVE CONTENT] about issues that weren't getting resolved. I will say he's immediately gotten on the issues each and every time I've email and gotten me taken care of. Years ago there were some pretty bad issues with the service going offline and we were totally down. This has gotten 1000% better since they switched to AWS hosting. We did have another several hour outage recently, but that's the first and only one in years.
Pros
Pretty easy to use, stable for the most part. We've been using the software for 7+ years I believe. Over time we've integrated and started using more and more of their products such as KDS and card processing. Recently restructured their pricing and we now get the same service for less!
Cons
At times, certain things could be easier. I don't think the pizza building is perfect and could still use work. This goes for both Lavu and MenuDrive. We make it work and they've made lots of improvements over the years with help from our input.
Response from Lavu
Hi Brian! First off, I'd like to thank you for your continued business, and for your feedback! We really appreciate your comments, and we are continuously improving our product to fit the needs of each customer.
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Seafood restaurant
Lavu has made it much easier for our restaurant to handle the influx of customers during the summer months
Pros
Used Lavu as our Point of Sale for years, I really like how easy it was to use and how portable the iPads are. Simple setup, we got it done ourselves in a few hours. Support team always there if we need it.
Cons
If wifi is flaky, system slows done, especially in busy times
Response from Lavu
Hi Mia, thank you for your feedback! It's great to hear how well Lavu has worked for your restaurant and staff. Please reach out if you have any questions!
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Great on-line ordering system for Breakfast/Lunch restaurant
We are happy with Menudrive, the cost is acceptable and we like how our staff doesn't need to answer the phone to get the order. Our diner is loud and it's hard to hear the order, get the payment info, delivery address etc. Plus they often want to know their total price. Menudrive allows them to easily place their order & pay for their order - without taking up staff time. We wish all of our take out and delivery orders would be via Menudrive.
Pros
Menudrive is easy to program; took some time but our menu is large and we being a breakfast diner we had many options for customers ie: how do they want their eggs cooked, meat type, bread type, etc. Menudrive allows an unlimited amount of items & required info
Cons
when entering items it was redundant having to enter the time available (if it wasn't an all day availability). Lots of key strokes but once it's done, it's done.
Response from Lavu
Hi Patty, thank you for your feedback! We love to hear from our MenuDrive customers, and how the product can help out businesses like yours!
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
But wait there's more! How about the fact that the kitchen printer prints two checks, that no one can seem to fix. Not only does it waste an enormous amount of paper but it is confusing as the checks are not identical and it blows through a ribbon in 3 or four days!
Occasionally it will resend an order back yo the kitchen that has already been made, etc...
The is no individual item printer assignment either which means that you have to send an entire category instead of just one item to a screen or printer.
Pros
The iPhone app. Really nothing else, really.
Cons
WOW! Where do I begin? Should I start with how they outright lied to me to make the sale? How about sending a completely incompetent tech support personnel company to help me with my network? Maybe I should start with the fact that they billed me today for Quickbooks integration that I DON'T EVEN HAVE!
Let's start with the outright misrepresentation of their product. I specifically asked if they had online ordering and I was told yes we do. After I had purchased the system and went to set it up I asked "Well how do I set up the credit card integration for the online ordering?" Then I was told "Oh we have online ordering but we don't have online payment" WHAT!!? This is 2017 not 1999 what do you mean you don't have online payment? "We had a problem with it and had to take it off line, we should have it back up by Nov."
Well today is 08-21-2018 and guess what I still don't have? You got it - online payment.
Response from Lavu
Hi John,
We are very sorry to hear about the problems you are experiencing. I will have someone from our care team look into this and get back to you as soon as possible.
Thank you
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
My Pos Lavu
I’ve been using Pos Lavu for over 10 years, so I’d say it’s been great.
Pros
I love the ease of use and customization
Cons
Just common glitches that happen from time to time
Response from Lavu
Hi Agostino, thank you for being a loyal Lavu customer for over a decade! That's amazing to hear! We appreciate your business and do not hesitate to reach out with any issues.
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
LAVU support request
Fair learning curve
Pros
iPad capability, informative and [SENSITIVE CONTENT] is deeply appreciated
Cons
One location at a time we have to input only one location at a time this is frustrating
Alternatives Considered
Revel SystemsReasons for Switching to Lavu POS
IpadResponse from Lavu
Hi Bernadette! Thank you for your feedback, and for being a Lavu customer for so long!
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
LAVU complete POS system
LAVU has been a really helpfull tool from organizing the orders that goes to the kitchen, to getting special reports.
Pros
It´s an easy sytem to learn and to teach to third parties, alot of filters to get the detail information needed.
Cons
One thing that i notice is that i can not move the category windows as i desire, to have a better organization in the POS. And another thing is that from time to time the POS in the tablets won´t let us login until some billling issues are resolved, not sure what is that about.
Response from Lavu
Hi Luis, thanks for your feedback! We're glad to hear that Lavu has been helpful in all aspects of running your restaurant. We are constantly working to perfect our product and eliminate bugs in the software. Please reach out if you need anything!
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 2-10 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Not really for Bars
We're a high volume craft beer bar. It can start tabs. It works for now. If the complaint list keeps growing, we'll have to switch. It works fine, but when it doesn't work, it totally halts service.
Pros
I guess it's easy to use, but it's kinda clunky. Programming is inconsistent across different devices. The speed is ok. It does what I need it to do, which the #1 reason I went with Lavu over Square was that you could start a bar tab with a preauthorization.
Cons
LAVU complaints
Should get Free set up support 1 month a year; if there is an update we should get free support
Quick serve shouldn't disappear
Can't Add a cc to an existing tab - currently deletes the new order
Needs Select and Repeat button
Needs Fewer approval buttons
Should Show change on screen
Should add auto grat to total tips
Can't Change auto grat, % or amount
On tip page, be able to enter tip or total, and show total.
Entered tips should disappear from screen - be able to filter list
On End of Day reports page, discounts and auto grat need to be included. Auto grats dont go to the business. Service charges do.
Auto grats need to show on payments page
Chip cards cant start tabs. Cant have 2 processors in lavu - chip card and swipe card types
Tip screen times out , and deletes entered tips
Response from Lavu
Hi Stephanie, thanks for your review. It's extremely helpful for us to hear how Lavu works for all restaurant types, including bars. We are constantly improving our product so that it runs seamlessly for every customer.
- Industry: Hospitality
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
We are pulling our systems out of our restaurants
Nothing to come close to outweighing the cons
Pros
About the only thing that is positive about this system is that it is internet based and we can move freely about the restaurant to serve our guests.
Cons
Billing is constantly inaccurate and the system shuts down during service because of this.
If you're ok with the system going offline with no warning due to inaccurate automated billing issues and 3 hours on the phone with inept customer service reps while having zero access to input orders, print tickets to your kitchen, bills for the customers and not being able to process credit cards than this IS the system for you!
Our sales and install guy was a joke. Over promising on system answers he didn't even know but said yeah it does that. When it came to menu input it took him 2 weeks from start to finish and we had to just take over and redo everything ourselves.
Reporting functions that should be available that weren't we were told would be "coming soon" in the next version have not materialized.
Customer service is absolutely horrendous. If you like long hold times over an hour most times or a we will call you back message many hours most times then again this is the system for you!
Response from Lavu
Hello Blaine,
We are sorry to hear about your experience and hope we can solve these issues you've been having. Our customer care manager is looking into the issue now and will reach out to you. In the meantime, we recommend reaching out to our 24-hour customer care line 1.855.528.8457 with any immediate issues you may be having. We would be more than happy to address the problems with your system. Again, we apologize for any inconvenience you may have had and look forward to working through these issues.
-Kristin
- Industry: Hospitality
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Use as a server and bartender at independent restaurant
Lavu has helped our business stay afloat, especially during Covid as we had to close down. We use their online ordering software, Menudrive, as well. It made it easier for us to survive the pandemic financially and be able to open our doors again when restrictions were up.
Pros
At our restaurant, we pool tips each night, and Lavu makes it really easy to print out our tip report and figure out how much each server should be bringing home. Saves us a lot of time and effort.
Cons
The inventory feature could be better, but we don't use it that much, to begin with.
Response from Lavu
Hi Caryn,
Thank you so much for your feedback, we really appreciate it! It's so great to hear that your restaurant was able to make it through Covid with the help of MenuDrive. Please let us know if you need anything!
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Easy To Use
Pros
How easy it is to use and the actions on the back office for tracking pretty much anything you want to see on a business aspect side.
Cons
Bad times on systems down. Either glitches or updates during the peak times. However, it’s not that frequent that it happens. Usually, they fix it fairly quick.
Response from Lavu
Hi Christie! First off, we want to thank you for being a Lavu customer for so long - we really appreciate it! We are glad that you find Lavu easy to use and track reporting. We are constantly working to make the product as perfect as possible for all users.
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
After one full year - still happy
Overall, a good product and always recommend to others.
Pros
System is fairly easy to use and navigate. Easy to setup menus and configure accordingly. Customer support is pretty responsive and quick although sometimes questionable knowledge to help with all situations. Cost for system is excellent.
Cons
Fonts can be a bit small on pos interface and thus hard to read. No big cons to comment on other than have had some big hassles configuring system to work with different credit card merchants and being bounced back and forth with customer support to resolve.
Response from Lavu
Hi Brian, thank you for your feedback! We are very happy that Lavu has worked so well for your business. Please let us know if you need anything at all at (855) 767-5288.
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Excellent POS System
Bought the system for my pub about three years ago and I'm glad I did. Lavu has helped my staff open/close tabs much quicker than before I bought the system. I'm making more money and I can say that part of the reason is due to Lavu. Excellent POS system.
Pros
Ease of use and the reliability. Hasn't crashed on me in the three years I've had it.
Cons
Lags every once in a while.
Response from Lavu
Hi Kevin, thank you so much for your feedback! We are very happy that Lavu has streamlined your restaurant operations, and made it easier to track your reporting. Please reach out if you need anything at (855) 767-5288.
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used for 1-5 months
-
Review Source
Lavu is easy to use and has fantastic customer service
Pros
INTEGRATION with 3rd party delivery sites via Chowly (so no more manually inputting orders from seamless/ delivery.com/ eat24/ etc. into the POS system), easy to use, good quality hardware, fantastic customer service (anytime I call, the question gets solved the first time; customer service is friendly & very effective; always easily accessible), lots of amazing features (reports, inventory management, employee management)
When I first contacted Lavu, we were only interested in switching POS systems for 1 reason: integration with 3rd party delivery sites. Lavu didn't have the Chowly integration at the time I first contacted them, but 2 weeks later, I got a call from my sales rep saying they were in the process of speaking/ partnering with Chowly. Lavu is a small company (compared to other POS system companies) and all employees work out of 1 building in Arizona. This is a major advantage to me. There is not a lot of red tape, they work closely together (if I have a question for someone in another department, my sales rep would literally walk over to them and ask) and things get done... FAST!
Cons
Nothing to do with Lavu - it's just that apple software (i.e. iPad) is more costly than using Android-based systems (i.e. tablets) but the iPad is MUCH more user friendly
Response from Lavu
Hi Laura, thanks so much for your feedback! We are really happy to hear that Lavu has worked so well for you and your restaurant. Please reach out if you need anything!
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 2-10 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Lavu system is a great system
Pros
Ease of use and kost important the customer service especially the tech support. His was [SENSITIVE CONTENT] but in the past I had great experience with [SENSITIVE CONTENT] and many others
Cons
None the software is really good and I recommend it
Response from Lavu
Hi Nazir! Thank you so much for being a loyal Lavu customer and letting us know about your experience~
- Industry: Hospitality
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Printers
Pleasant
Pros
Customer Service is outstanding. They are available 24 hrs a day.
Cons
P-MIX REPORTS and it is sometimes hard to hear and understand the agents.
Response from Lavu
Hi Rusty,
Thank you so much for your feedback! We really appreciate your business and are glad to hear Lavu is working so well for you.
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Lavu has been great for us!
Financial Reports. Time cards/Payroll. Theft of employees. Tip tracking. Busy hours of operation. Training testimonials. All of this is helpful to us.
Pros
Customer service is fantastic! The best support out there, we really feel like they listen to us and are responsive when we need something.
Cons
Initial set up of the hardware was a little clunkier than I hoped. Software was way easier and then we were up and running.
Response from Lavu
Hi Lori, thanks so much for your review, we really appreciate it! Please reach out if you need anything!
- Industry: Food & Beverages
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Lavu has been great
Pros
User friendly and customizable for our business.
Cons
Not enough 3rd party integrations. Inventory has its bugs as well
Response from Lavu
Hi Mike, thank you for your feedback! We're so happy you think Lavu is great - and we are always working on adding more integrations to our portfolio :)
- Industry: Restaurants
- Company size: 2-10 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Lavu
Pros
I like i can make my own buttons and prices
Cons
none that i can think of right as of this moment
Response from Lavu
Hi Bobbie, thank you for your feedback! We really appreciate hearing from our customers and we are glad to hear how much you like Lavu!