Square for Restaurants Reviews

Pros

I really love using this software! It is so easy to use and is always quick to use, never issues with it! This is important in the restaurant

Cons

The only con is that the fees get a little expensive at times, especially when you manually enter info

Pros

Square for Restaurants is the first Point of Sale that I found that I could fully customize for myself the way I wanted. Help was available if I needed it, but I like to throw away the instruction book and do it myself. I could use hardware/tablets I already had to use the software and the tight integration with the KDS was what I needed. I didn't have to run a bunch of wires to have a printer in the kitchen and a screen.

Cons

My 2 big caveats are the nature of cloud based kitchen display system. If the internet goes down you not only lose the tickets, but the printers won't print from the kds. It is not impossible, but for any pos I recommend a cellular backup for your business. It is necessary. The second thing is there are a few quirks with the system that have gotten updates, I just didn't know when it was going to change. I used to not be able to have photos on the display, but they are making it "prettier" as time goes on.

Alternatives Considered

Clover and Toast POS

Reasons for Choosing Square for Restaurants

So much better in so many ways. I can't say I missed the old system one bit. I was glad to start over with my new restaurant and roll it out to all locations.

Reasons for Switching to Square for Restaurants

Ultimately, it was the cheapest to get started and had all the features I needed without some sales rep constantly after me.

Pros

The system himself is not bad, when it is working!

Cons

The customer service and the way they treat the customer and never refund money

Pros

I have found it easy to manage, pull reports, and manage staff. The online menu options was super nice as well. The new addition of the pre-authorization feature is a GAME CHANGER at our establishment.

Cons

I would like a report that shows me my exact payout of credit card sales less the Square fees for each business day. I know the information is there and I can search for it but would like a page just for payouts.

Alternatives Considered

Clover and Toast POS

Reasons for Choosing Square for Restaurants

it was HORRIBLE! As the user, you couldn't make any changes. it was not intuitive to use. The cost was absurd. It was a system we inherited.

Switched From

Priority1 POS

Reasons for Switching to Square for Restaurants

We had used Square POS in our retail store and it made sense so we gave Square for Restaurants a try.

Pros

Easy to set up and adjust menus and such, does most everything we need it to do. Have to think outside the box to get it to do some of the things I need it to do, but overall, if you take the time to figure it out, you'll get there.

Cons

A few things are a bit narrow in customizability, I wish we could do more variation in things like loyalty programs and discount set-ups, and sometimes some adjustments can be a bit tedious to change. We're a brewery with a constantly changing menu of beer offerings, so having to make 5-10 clicks per beverage change every single week can be a bit frustrating, but it's overall pretty user friendly so I can't complain too much.

Alternatives Considered

Wix, Clover and Toast POS

Reasons for Switching to Square for Restaurants

Relatively within budget, and popular enough that I knew it would be easy to find solutions to issues within online forums and other business owners across the platform. Had also used it before at a previous job so I knew I could integrate it into some of the things I also wanted to use.

Pros

Square has streamlined my credit card processing immensely, We were using a different merchant service before that had higher fees and less intuitive features. Square is very useful for our staff accepting payments on site, at events, Bar Tending and processing catering invoice payments. it is fully integrated with our Quickbooks software for a streamlined process. The speed in which receiving credit to our bank account is also pleasantly fast. Finally being able to accept a credit card while in an out of service area (No Wifi/Cellular) is an excellent feature we have already taken advantage of.

Cons

There are no issues in the two years I have been using Square to report. The addition of NFC payments has made my life even better!

Alternatives Considered

PayPal and Stripe

Reasons for Choosing Square for Restaurants

Merchant Services LTD was our Payment processing company for over 15 years, At the beginning it was a great investment. As time went on the fees were increasing and the reliability/Customer service was decreasing. We reached out to see if there were a way to make it viable again but in the end we decided to give Square a chance and we have never looked back.

Reasons for Switching to Square for Restaurants

When choosing Square I did a ton of research on other companies, from reading reviews and watching videos on how they work it was clear to me that Square was the no Nonsense approach we were looking for. If you are a small business looking to take control of your payment processing I highly recommend Square to you.

Pros

It is really easy to set up, the price is way better than the other systems in the market, it works with wifi and you can use it on your laptop, Ipad, smartphone.

I love how they offer the CRM tool and even more I love how easy is to create a website for your restaurant with them.

Cons

they could improve some of the features so It is even easier and faster to select the items. for example to add more options to the conditional words ( add, yes, No, extra, etc...) they could put the option to replace (ex: replace Ham for turkey) so when we have a customer who wants to customize a product we do not have to write long sentences all the time, instead we can just click a few buttons and is done.

Alternatives Considered

Clover and Toast POS

Reasons for Choosing Square for Restaurants

Price, features, customer service.

Switched From

Revel Systems

Reasons for Switching to Square for Restaurants

The quality of the product was better and for a better price

Pros

Easy to use, add and update products, very easy as well to train staff on how to use.

Cons

There's a few limitations with regards to comping/discounting

Pros

Simple, out of location (parking lot)with all payment options as interior of brick and mortar

Cons

Fear of multiple transactions and fraud
Not sure as to how safe and secure in long run

Pros

Great features, easy to use, fast, great hardware and customer support

Cons

No cons come to mind. Square has pretty perfect for our needs

Alternatives Considered

Toast POS

Reasons for Choosing Square for Restaurants

Better hardware and support

Switched From

talech

Reasons for Switching to Square for Restaurants

Square rep was friendly and supportive.

Pros

POS is easy to use and set up. Its a straight forward POS that my employees have no problem using.

Cons

Orders are in a list view by date ordered. If they could be in a calendar for by date and time of pick up it would be game changing for my business. I currently use appointments embedded in my website which has its own issues but because it presents in a calendar it keeps me organized for preparation and pick up.

Pros

Inexpensive, very easy to set up and use.

Cons

Some of the software features on the Square terminal can be clunky would be great if certain features could be turned off/customized by the end user.

Pros

Easy system to use and made to where anyone.

Cons

Not enough loan options when you really need them

Pros

How easy it is to use and how it changed our lives

Cons

Started charging for staff scheduling for the basic program.

Pros

Many options to choose from and easy to learn.

Cons

I can’t take it out in the field when I do outside events.

Pros

Ease of UseCompact size and portable POSSimply display and user friendly

Cons

More payment options needed. Ie cashapp. Need reporting that shows alternative payment options

Pros

Setup is easy. HR, on-boarding, benefits, payroll, CC processing all built in is very convenient.

Cons

Unfortunately this is all overshadowed by the day-to-day experience of using the POS for an actual restaurant, especially if you are using a combination of online ordering from a Square website, and in-person dining. Creating new menu items is very tedious, even when duplicating. Drill-down reporting is almost non-existent, stops at the category level. E.g. I have a category called "Beer" that contains 8 different beers. I can see how much gross sales the category does, but I cannot look into the category to see any more detail than that. I have to look at the entire inventory itemized sales report and pick the beers out 1 by 1 to get info on which ones are selling.

Pros

The price is the only good thing about this software. But you get what you pay for and it’s not worth the savings!

Cons

The software is so glitchy that it has been an epic fail! QR codes fail; printers randomly disconnect; the software double & triple prints tickets (but with delays so it seems like new tickets); tech support is terrible (often barely speaks English & can’t solve complex issues). No on-site support like competing products. We’ve spent thousands of dollars on staff trying to figure it out, but random glitches that have no explanation crash the iPads, QR codes and printing capacity. This doesn’t even scratch the surface of the issues we’ve had. The software cannot handle the complexity of a restaurant. NIGHTMARE!

Alternatives Considered

Toast POS

Reasons for Choosing Square for Restaurants

Price. But it was not worth it. Get different software!

Reasons for Switching to Square for Restaurants

Price

Pros

The financial side of any business can be very stressful. Square offers a wide variety of tools and resources that help business owners monitor sales, track inventory, and reward customer loyalty. It’s free to join, and fees are a small percentage of each transaction. Using the app eliminates paperwork giving me more time to focus more on customer satisfaction.

Cons

Not a software, but a very minor inconvenience with the round jack. The reader would occasionally turn during a card swipe, causing a read error. I secured a thin piece of sturdy plastic on the back side of the reader that uses the back of my device as an anchor.

Pros

I loved how in depth and detailed one could get and that it considered things like substitutions and such.

Cons

Heaven forbid something wasn't working on the machine and we needed customer support. Always was a hassle, especially if it was an issue involving the POS system not wanting to be online.

Pros

The user interface is clear and simple. It works perfectly well for our servers.

Cons

The back of house reporting is a disaster. I’ve never worked with a more complicated, obtuse, confusing reporting function. They say you can customize your reports, but that’s true in only the simplest sense. We can’t customize reports so that all the info we want is in one place. We still need to bounce from report to report to find the data we need. It takes my bookkeeper far longer to reconcile sales to receivables than ever before, and occasionally we spend hours trying to make sense, on the phone with support personnel who also can’t make sense of the reports. Any positive reviews of the reporting functions are from customers that really use the reports seriously or diligently. If you care that your receipts are correct, Square makes it virtually impossible.

Pros

The ease of entering in new items and organizing the screens is great and easy enough for even staff to do. We have worked with them to get certain end of day reports we needed but overall the accessibility to access what you need whether it be item sales per day, hour, category, etc. is really simple. Sending refunds, looking up transactions, or sending coupons is super fast and way easier than any other system I have used. The staff loves it because their tips have tripled with the suggested percentage buttons on the customer screen.

Cons

At first it was hard for me to gain access to troubleshooting help as a manager because I am not the owner of the company. They seem to have changed protocol lately so now when I call it is no problem. There are constant updates so sometimes there are changes in the system and certain ones we don't like or want. However, I have been able to call and they can talk me through how to change the settings.

Pros

Working at a restaurant, this software made life easy for everybody (most of the time). Easy to set up a menu and add images, calculate tax, and reports.

Cons

When wifi went down so did our morale. However, the worst thing about this program was the Tipping Section. Customer's can't read the fine text at the tip checkout phase. They are deer in headlights. "Where do i sign?!" "What do I do" There is a big hiccup at this stage of the check out. Please bring up to your UX team. Square needs to make it simpler for end users. Bless them. I heard the fees are higher than most competitors.

Pros

Easy to buy local at Best Buy, easy to set up and great menu! I also love the daily sales report that I get via email.

Cons

Certain functions not available on free version (understandable) but even the paid version didn’t leave great options. Partial payment and leave tab open would be very difficult. And the support said even with paid software “it’s not set up for tab management“ I’m a bar all we do is run tabs. Also refunds don’t work well and to adjustment is extremely difficult! Oh and why only the white case? I didn’t want a proprietary system so their new black version didn’t work for me.

Alternatives Considered

Revel Systems

Reasons for Choosing Square for Restaurants

Lightspeed integrated payments doesn’t want to approve me because I am a bar type 48 license and don’t sell food.

Reasons for Switching to Square for Restaurants

Revel misrepresented themselves as being able to function as a tab only bar with certain feature capabilities which they actually did not offer.

Pros

We are a food truck and catering company. Square is by far the most intuitive and convenient P.O.S. for our business.
I cannot say enough about how simple and effective square is as a P.O.S for a food truck.

Cons

Really and truly we have had no issues with square. Any time that we did rung into something it was solved by customer service and was usually user error.

Alternatives Considered

Clover