TouchBistro Reviews

Pros

The TouchBistro POS system is a very easy to use. I don't find myself to be the best at POS systems, but the setup process was basically idiot-proof. Getting everything to work took way less time than I anticipated. Also, I have yet to see this POS system crash, even during busy hours.

Cons

Sometimes there can be a little lag when putting in certain orders. It seems like the POS system is sometimes just trying to play catch up with itself. We have noticed that moving from page to page oftentimes will slow it down. We have learned to not click as quickly now though.

Pros

The software is incredibly intuitive and has an extremely high level of functionality within its simple user interface.

Cons

The one issue we have is the inflexible partnership TouchBistro has with Apple. Thousands of dollars of hardware must be purchased to run TouchBistro, and there is almost no flexibility in what you are allowed to by to run it.

Alternatives Considered

Square Point of Sale and Vend

Reasons for Choosing TouchBistro

TouchBistro is a much more powerful option for splitting up tables and creating tabs in our taproom.

Switched From

Vend

Reasons for Switching to TouchBistro

Intuitive nature, ease of use, flexibility of software.

Pros

I have no pros because after they took my payment for the system, I have yet to have any other interaction except to connect to tablets my internet in a whole month. No one replies to emails. [sensitive content hidden] the person that should be helping me is MIA.

Cons

I have no pros because after they took my payment for the system, I have yet to have any other interaction except to connect to tablets my internet in a whole month. No one replies to emails. [sensitive content hidden] the person that should be helping me is MIA.

Pros

SO easy to use - programming buttons, menus, integrating payment, splitting bills - everything about it is so easy

Cons

In person set up would have been alot easier but that's the only con I can think of

Pros

When it works, which is usually right up to the latest and greatest new "software update", its highly intuitive, its easy for the staff to handle, its easy for me to program, and has quite useful analytics attached.

Cons

It breaks A LOT - and always at the worst possible time, and their customer support would have to be five or six times better to just suck. First time it took them 7 HOURS to return my urgent tech support call - lost a dinner service. Next time it was 9 HOURS -- not only lost dinner... but we lost a lunch service too!!!

Then they started getting better... next time it was only 4 hours... called 10 minutes into the 7th game of the Stanley Cup finals [I missed the rest of the game]. To their credit, I had their support person call me back in 15 minutes [the time it takes to get from my house to the restaurant] - and he was able to fix the problem in just a tick over 90 minutes. Tonight it was 3 hours and 10 minutes before the call back came. I was on my motorcycle [don't talk or text while riding]... called back the number on the voicemail... only to find myself back in a queue. Its been 40 plus minutes so far... but fool that I am, I'm still hopeful.

Pros

The most popular opinion from our staff is the ease of use with TouchBistro. The program needs barely any training assistance, staff picks up the location of menu items quickly, customers are impressed with the technology, and in a small space like our coffee house the size of the unit compared to our grandfather of a cash register we can host more treats for our customers.

Cons

We struggle with getting prompt response when in a stressful or urgent situation. Restaurant business is fast paced and requires immediate help, especially if we are stalled in being able to take payment or assist a customer in another way. Guests don't appreciate being asked to wait while we try to contact Touch Bistro unsuccessfully. Email response time is reasonable. We also struggle to offer emailed invoices directly from touch bistro without having to switch over our wifi, slowing down service. We are also struggling to have reliable synching on our online account to view sales reports.

Pros

Ease of use, wireless capabilities, most of the customer service reps are knowledgeable and friendly.

Cons

Does not allow you to put a hold on credit cards for any amount. Does not work when internet is down which it is supposed to store and forward, and it does not. Was supposed to be completely wireless and is now not. Hate to have to pay for more equipment when I pay a monthly fee.

Pros

iOS based so it's easy to learn and use. Cloud based so I'm able to see sales live without any delay. iPhone app is simple to navigate.

Cons

Even though it was iOS based, there wasn't an iPhone app that would allow you to ring in orders and I couldn't find a heavy duty holder that would also have enough room for the dymo card reader. The last few iOS updates really messed with the software - using sign on screen would close out the app, wifi kept disconnecting, etc.

Pros

The best feature is the floor plan and layout of the menu items. The floor plan makes it easy to start tabs, merge or separate. The menu is just easily intuitive.

Cons

Reporting can be very difficult to really figure out what you are looking for. When on Cloud admin, I wish the Menu Items were searchable instead of scrolling multiple screens. It would be nice to have hands on training instead of general videos.

Pros

The features available are great and the POS is easy to use

Cons

There are glitches that arise once in awhile

Pros

Using iPad to take orders is the only good thing, very fast compared to other POS providers.

Cons

Where do I begin.
Customer service was the best until 2019. Now it is similar to Toasts. It is day 7 of us not being able to print tickets in the kitchen, every time/ every day I call them they have this answer ready. "Our Product Development team is working on your case, we will get back to you as soon as we hear back from them"

Pros

Easy to use when it works, for the functions that are set up.

Cons

1) Customer service is TERRIBLE. We have had open trouble tickets for over a MONTH with no resolution. Important tickets, like payments for online orders appear to be received in the POS and yet no money ever hit our bank. So we can't rely on taking online orders, which is critical.
2) Software and hardware crashes. A lot. Like 6+ times per shift.
3) Inventory adjustments have no value associated with them, which makes it little better than a chalkboard for inventory tracking. (If I am missing product, the value of that loss should show up somewhere in a report as inventory losses. Yet it doesn't).
4) Basic reports missing, such as balance sheet/inventory on hand by category.

Pros

The first year went well! I actually liked it.
Then according to their own tech support.. the company took on way too many customers than programmers or tech support could keep up with creating a domino effect of pure frustration and no support.

Cons

Many issues.
Tech support is hit or miss sometimes can take up to an hour get someone. Often they can not fix problem. They "escalate it" which means you will never hear back from them. Remote report app for phone rarely works and full of problems. If its a hardware issue no phone tech support. Have to email and wait for email which takes days.
Would not recomend.

Pros

There really isn't much at all to like about the software. It's very basic. When it actually worka.

Cons

The app crashes a lot. It's wifi based so if your wifi goes down your credit cards readers won't work. If you close down your apps during an internet outage, you are screwed. Many, many glitches and system outages over the years. Customer service is slow and they don't have a system service statues website so when you call with an issue, you'll have to wait a long timeto talk to someone. Then by the time they call you back the issue will have resolved itself.
The back end is not easy to navigate. There is no search bar for items on the cloud. There is no way to mark modifiers out of stock. No partial refunds on online orders. No good support for menu builds and start up. You are basically on your own to figure it out.
They also sold me on a loyalty and gift card program and lied that it would soon integrate with online orders. It turns out they were weeks away from rolling out their own branded program. But it was too late for me.
Just so very many many problems over the years that I am finally fed up and switching to Toast. So far an amazing experience with them that makes me realize how horrible TouchBistro actually is.

Pros

Dashboard and cloud reporting. ease of use.

Cons

Technical support seems to be overwhelmed and you can rarely connect with them when you need them most. They try to get back to you within 24 hours, but in most cases that's too long and have significant impact on our business.

Pros

We had a great, helpful sales contact. Unfortunately, once we were turned over to their overall automated system for deployment of the software, we couldn't continue to work with them. At one point, they canceled our account without authorization.

Cons

We signed an agreement that would allow us a refund of more than $2,000 if we didn't want to continue using Touch Bistro. I've been trying to contact them for months for a refund, and have been ignored by their sales contact and their customer service line. We are having to hire a lawyer just to get our refund (even though the contract specifies we could get refunded.)

Pros

Switching menus and putting in specials.

Cons

If you want people to tip your bar staff and servers then do not use this POS. If you manually enter a credit card, like when the swiper is down, there is no tip line or way to enter a tip on these transactions. Also when staff enter tips you cannot modify them once entered so if someone entered a tip wrong you have to void the whole transaction but you will not be able to charge them again unless they are still there with their card.
If customers start tabs you have to manually enter their name, you can not swipe their card and have their name appear. So it slows you down on busy nights.
Switching to Touch Bistro has slowed us down and bar staff have not been able to collect all their tips.
I would not recommend this POS to anyone until these issues are fixed.
Also they will tell you they are working on issues for months and months that never seem to get resolved. Once you sign up you will be ignored.

Pros

Simple interface.
Price Point of monthly subscription.

Cons

Once you buy in, you are VERY low priority for them. it takes weeks to hear back by email and hours to connect on the support line. This is all before even attempting to trouble shoot your issues.
Dev Team launches updates that arnt tested and working thoroughly. Wish i chose a different system off the bat.

Pros

-Easy to use (for the most part)
-Easy to setup
-Replaceable hardware (Apple products)
-More features than many similar competitors

Cons

-Poor customer support
-No setup options
-Some functions difficult to access/not intuitive
-Bugs/issues when iOS updates - unreliable

Pros

The upgrade in the equipment seemed fair .

Cons

No ability to create invoice
no accompanying app for off site management, or no site back up
unable to control print settings

Pros

price, ease of use and support system in place

Cons

lacks some of the functionality of the big POS systems but frankly independent businesses do not need all that horsepower

Pros

Love the charts and it's easy to use. Keeps track of your numbers well.

Cons

Online ordering system sucks. They do not protect against charge backs

Pros

It's so easy to use & assimilate new employees into it. The touch screen & swivel stand saves having to buy another iPad for the counter staff; with the swivel both sides are able to utilize the unit.

Cons

Monthly fees. Although with the benefits of the u it I can live with the fees. I would be interested if there were pocket sized devices that staff could take on the floor & send the orders in from there via wifi

Pros

Ease of use (changing menu items, viewing labor hours, etc is very easily done).
It's easy for employees to use the basic functions of this program.

Cons

It freezes up frequently and requires that the app is closed and re-opened before it will work again. There's also an annoying delay after orders are sent through, while they're printing in the kitchen, during which time nothing can be done. This only last a few seconds, but a few seconds is too much for a busy restaurant to have a delay every time an order is sent.

Pros

We really like the use of this software of being able to use it at the table. Items can be sent to get made with out even leaving the table. Very easy to program new items, etc. Very easy to use.

Cons

My biggest issue is the reporting offsite. We log in with the computer at another location, and we don't get to see the same reports. It would be nice if the Date range for the reporting would work for any day or any length of time. Not just weekly for Drill down report.