Best POS System For Bars In 2023: How To Choose The POS Pub Software That Works That Works For Your Business

We love TouchBistro for bars that offer reservations and catering because this POS system has a built-in reservations web and mobile app available (most other systems on this list do not), plus catering features like delivery zone service charges and house account payments. Restaurants that focus on pairing food and drink together for a heightened tasting experience will appreciate TouchBistro’s elegant upselling capabilities.

All bar owners will appreciate this system’s excellent loyalty program and online ordering offerings, which both integrate nicely with your reservations app. Additionally, bar owners (especially ones with outdoor seating) will appreciate TouchBistro’s full offline mode. Offline mode allows servers to fire orders, kitchen staff to mark items as complete on kitchen display systems, and customers to pay all without WiFi.

We also like that TouchBistro allows you to work with a number of payment processing providers, which allows bar owners to save on fees while still using a bar POS system that works for them.

You’ll have to contact TouchBistro for a quote on a plan with more than one POS system.

TouchBistro also offers add-ons such as:

• Online Ordering: $50/month; includes your own online ordering web-based app for all your restaurant locations
• Reservations: $229/month; includes reservations app that integrates with your online ordering site and Google business profile
• Gift Cards: $25/month; includes physical and digital gift card sales
• Loyalty: $99/month; includes customizable loyalty account builder that integrates with your online ordering site
• Marketing: $99/month; includes promotion, email marketing, and customer engagement reports

Note: While TouchBistro’s reservations app does seem pricey at first, you get complete control over how your reservations app looks, and you don’t have to pay any per-reservation fees. Creating your own custom-branded app instead of using a generic reservations app integration is likely to save you money every month.

TouchBistro’s best bar POS system features (besides the fact that it’s very server and cook-friendly) are its excellent reservation system, upselling capabilities, and catering management.

Upscale bars that accept reservations will find these unique TouchBistro features useful:

• Reservations App: TouchBistro’s Apple-based reservations app allows you to add a customizable reservation system to an existing website or you can use it as a standalone app. Set up how far in advance someone can make a reservation, reservation time slots, when you’ll stop taking reservations, and more.
• Google Reservations Widget: People who are searching for bars and restaurants around them will be able to reserve a table at your location(s) directly from your Google business profile page.
• Waitlist Management: TouchBistro’s built-in waitlist management function allows customers to add themselves to a waitlist. It also allows servers to monitor table turnover times, send customers a text when their table is available, and balance between reserved parties and walk-in patrons.
• Customer Reminders: When a customer has an upcoming reservation, you can send them a text reminder so they don’t forget and you don’t end up reserving tables that sit empty.
• VIP Customer Settings: When making reservations, customers can specify their dining preferences, including any allergies or food aversions, so that servers can give a great customer experience from the moment they walk in the door.

TouchBistro reservations and seating management in POS system.

TouchBistro’s upselling features are best for bars with sommeliers or places that generally focus on food and drink pairings. As sommeliers make food and wine pairings, these matches can be saved in TouchBistro. When a customer orders one item (such as a glass of Chardonnay), ideal pairings pop up for servers to suggest. This upselling feature also happens when customers order on a TouchBistro online ordering site.

Bars that cater can have customers create their own accounts, pre-authorize their cards, charge a catering deposit, and create custom delivery zone fees with associated delivery fees. You can also create special catering menus or custom one-time menus for specific events.

TouchBistro iPad-based POS hardware.

TouchBistro POS, kitchen display system, and customer-facing display software runs on iPads. Most models, including iPads Minis, are supported. TouchBistro offers custom-quoted hardware bundles or you may source your iPads, cash drawers, and card readers on your own.

TouchBistro integrates with several payment processors, including Square and Worldpay. The company also offers its own in-house payment processor, TouchBistro Payments (powered by Chase), which offers cost-plus pricing.

TouchBistro does not state on its website whether its contracts are month-to-month or if there is an annual or multi-year commitment. Usually, this means a long-term commitment.

Check your TouchBistro quote to see your contract length and to verify if it is possible to leave your contract early if you are not satisfied. Always start out with a monthly plan when possible.

TouchBistro does charge an early termination fee, so really negotiate for a short-term plan or make extensive use of demos before signing on with this software provider. You may also be able to get the fee written out of your contract before signing.

We believe that Square is the most affordable POS system for small bars based on its $0 entry-level price tag and relatively low-cost Square POS hardware options. Bars that want to take payments at the front of house, at the bar, and at tables can do so without having to pay for each individual POS system. Square also offers a very affordable kitchen display system to help bars that offer food management orders on touchscreen iPad-based devices, as well as a free online ordering website builder.

If you expand to multiple locations or need more inventory management/purchase ordering capabilities, Square’s paid subscription plan is another highly affordable option.

Square For Restaurants offers a completely free plan, which includes all core POS features and a free online ordering website builder. The free plan allows for one location and an unlimited number of POS software licenses, so you can use an unlimited number of smartphones, iPads, and Square proprietary POS hardware devices to take food and drink orders and accept customer payments.

You’ll pay an extra $20/device/month for kitchen display systems if you stick with the free plan.

The Plus Plan offers multilocation management, more employee management features, and an unlimited number of kitchen display screens.

Square add-ons include:

• Square Loyalty: Starts at $45/month/location; includes a custom points-based loyalty program
• Square Marketing: Starts at $15/month; includes text and email marketing and can be used to announce new arrivals, food and drink specials, etc.

Smaller bars that need to generate more revenue with less funding and reduce wastage will appreciate these features:

• Online Ordering: Create a free online ordering site (with an age verification popup for ordering drinks) and take orders for pickup or delivery. If you don’t have your own delivery fleet, use Square’s built-in DoorDash integration to get orders out the door.
• Order With Google: Integrate your online ordering menu with your Google Business profile so people can find your bar on Google and easily order from there.
• Time-Based Discounts: Create discounts such as happy hour drink specials and combo meal deals in advance to get people in the door.
• Kitchen Display System: Reduce server errors and customer dissatisfaction by employing Square kitchen display system software in your kitchens. Cook and expo screens allow kitchen staff to see items and modifiers, while expeditors can check to make sure all order items are ready before sending them out.
• Auto 86-ing: With inventory tracking turned on, your bar POS system will automatically 86 items that require an ingredient that you no longer have in stock. By offering a substitute before customers order, you’ll increase customer satisfaction and comp less items.
• Third-Party Integrations: While Square doesn’t have built-in perishable and liquid inventory tracking, the company does integrate with software such as Digital Pour so you can track inventory, set reordering optimization levels, and reduce wastage.

Square For Restaurants auto-86 menu items.

Full-service restaurants that have a bar section will appreciate Square’s floor planning capabilities, billing by seat number, and course management (only available on the Square Plus plan).

You can also generate more revenue by selling eGift cards as well as retail items at the front counter and online.

Square bar POS register and card reader.

Complete hardware kits sold by Square range from $659 for a Square Stand for iPad with a cash register and receipt printer to a $1,439. Square Stand Restaurant Station with a Square Terminal for tableside payments. Square for Restaurants can also run on the proprietary all-in-one Square Register, which retails for $799 (does not include cash register).

Square also offers a mobile POS kit for $249 and includes an Android-based smartphone, Square card reader, and handheld case so that servers can take tableside orders and payments from the palm of their hand.

Note: You must be on the $60/month Square For Restaurants plan to use the mobile POS kit.

Payment processing is provided by Square Payments at the following rates:

• Card-present Transactions: 2.6% + $0.10
• Card-not-present Transactions: 2.9% + $0.30 (includes Square Online orders and QR code orders)

Square contracts are all month-to-month with no early termination fees.

Square hardware is sold upfront but also offers no-interest financing. The company also has a great hardware warranty that applies whether you purchase your POS hardware from Square or a third-party retailer.

We love Toast’s restaurant management capabilities on its own, and the software allows you to easily add a bar menu as a separate menu in a dedicated bar section, or add it to an existing restaurant menu. Servers may pre-authorize cards to start a tab or have a patron’s bill moved from their bar seat to their seat on the restaurant floor. You can also create different kitchen display system setups for both kitchen staff and bartenders, restricting bartender displays to show only drink orders and making it easier for them to manage orders.

We also love Toast’s durable, spill-proof Android-based countertop and handheld POS hardware. Servers can easily hold and fire orders, take payments, and print receipts at a customer’s table, so they won’t have to run back and forth so much in a big, busy restaurant.

Finally, we must say that we’re impressed with Toast’s number of additional software products for midsize to large restaurant owners who need to manage scheduling, payroll, accounting, and expansion.

The $0 upfront Pay-As-You-Go plan is only available for restaurant owners who only need 1-2 POS devices.

Since Toast is best suited for midsize restaurants, most Toast users will need to sign up for the Starter or Essential plans. The Starter plan provides core POS functionalities for bars, while the Essentials plan allows for online ordering, takeout, and delivery.

Toast also offers a custom plan for larger/multilocation restaurant owners who want to build a custom hardware and software plan.

Toast’s best features for a busy restaurant with a bar menu include:

• Menu Builder: Toast’s menu builder allows you to create custom drink menus, schedule drink menu specials in advance, and vary pricing across restaurant locations. You can create drinks as a composite of individual ingredients to help with liquid inventory tracking and drink prep.
• Tableside QR Code Ordering: Customers can get their food and drink orders faster with tableside ordering and payments. Once a customer is seated, they scan a QR code for a full (or special drink) menu, place their order, then pay all without having to wait for a server to run back and forth.
• Tab Management: Toast POS allows servers to combine and split tabs, shift them from the bar section to a table, and place tabs on a house account all from handheld and countertop POS systems. If someone buys a new companion a drink, it’s easy to merge that drink with their existing tab.
• Kitchen Display System: Toast has one of the best kitchen display systems, allowing you to route only alcoholic drink orders to bartenders or drink stations instead of having to sift through entire orders to find drinks. Since drinks are shown as a buildup of ingredients, bartenders won’t have to remember how to make every drink off the top of their head.
• Loyalty Program: Toast has a fantastic loyalty program you can set up that allows customers to sign up automatically when they pay. Allow customers to collect points on restaurant items, drink items, or both, and restrict what they can redeem points on.

Restaurants and bars that struggle to manage employees will appreciate Toast’s team management products. Toast’s scheduling software is especially useful for when bar employees want to swap shifts or pick up some extra ones. Each employee has their own profile and can independently swap shifts with each other or ask for them to cover their shift, then submit the change request to a manager for approval. Miscommunication will be minimized and all your shifts will be covered.

Toast bar employee scheduling management software.

Toast Go 2 handheld POS system.

Toast offers a Starter Kit for individuals on the Pay-As-You-Go plan and Starter plan. You are required to purchase a Starter Kit if you’re on the Pay-As-You-Go plan.

If you need more POS hardware than the 1-2 POS terminal Starter Kit, you must sign up for the Starter, Essentials, or a custom plan.

The Starter Kit includes a handheld POS ($609) or countertop POS ($799), plus a router and card reader. You can add on other hardware like a KDS or guest-facing display at a reduced price if you bundle them all together.

Note that Toast KDS and Toast Go have additional monthly service charges.  

Optionally, you can get a free starter kit if you pay a higher payment processing fee. However, we generally recommend that if you can afford it, purchase your POS hardware upfront. The lower payment processing fees will save you money in the long run.

You are required to use Toast’s in-house payment processing no matter what software plan you’re on. Payment processing varies according to your plan.

Individuals on the Pay-As-You-Go plan will pay a 2.99% + $0.15 processing fee for in-person payments. On the Starter plan, you’ll pay 2.99% + $0.15 per in-person transaction.

If you’re on the Essentials or a custom plan, you’ll get a custom payment processing rate. That rate will depend on your business’s time in business, average transaction amount, and sales volumes.

The standard Toast contract is a minimum of two years. If you leave your contract early for any reason, you will likely have to pay an early termination fee.

Though we don’t normally recommend systems with long-term contracts, Toast POS is such a high-quality system that we believe most businesses will not regret committing to Toast for two years.

We like that Clover is entirely customizable and comes pre-programmed with apps for the features included in your chosen plan. You can plug in and set up the system yourself in minutes, without any professional installation needed. Since the software is app-based, it’s intuitive for anyone who has used an iPad or Android tablet before.

We specifically like Clover for college and dive bars because the software is easy to set up, makes training staff members painless, and managers can make changes remotely using their Clover online dashboard. There are also lots of durable POS hardware options to accommodate a range of different spaces. You can also expand into online food ordering with a Clover online ordering site or Order With Google integration on your Google business profile.

Whether you run a college bar in a cramped space or a family-friendly neighborhood bar that serves pizza to the team after the local little league game, Clover has POS hardware and software for you.

Small bars and pubs will benefit most from signing up for the Counter Service Restaurant plan, while larger establishments should sign up for the Table Service Restaurant plan.

The above pricing plans apply only to business owners who purchase their hardware and software plans upfront from Clover.com.

Note: You do have the option to purchase your hardware and software from a Clover reseller, which may change the price of your hardware and monthly software fees.

Clover resellers provide bar owners with their own merchant account, so bar owners can get custom payment processing fees. Those fees are often better than the flat-rate payment processing fees you get with providers like Square and Lightspeed Restaurant if you make a lot of money every month or have a lot of small tickets.

Read our Clover POS pricing guide for more information on how Clover pricing works and how to get the best deal on your POS.

Most of Clover’s best features come in the form of an add-on app from the Clover app market, but some of Clover’s best built-in features include an intuitive online ordering website builder, a free loyalty program included with your software, and gift card sales capabilities. Start a little neighborhood loyalty program to keep locals (and their friends) coming to your location, start selling bar food online, and sell gift cards online or in person.

College bars will appreciate Clover’s built-in ID scanner app, so you won’t have to risk serving alcohol to underaged college students. There are also social media automation apps and customer engagement tools to help you capture the attention of younger age groups. Additionally, hiring busy college students to work at bars can get tricky, so use a Clover scheduling app like Homebase (which also has an employee app) to keep your shifts covered.

Clover POS system ID verification at register.

Neighborhood bars will appreciate the ability to easily take phone orders for pickup or delivery with a caller ID app and funnel those orders into a kitchen display system using a kitchen display app. You can also take reservations, charge service fees for large parties, and create auto-gratuity rules. With all these capabilities, you can rent out your bar for birthday parties, neighborhood block parties, school fundraiser dinners, graduation parties, and more.

Clover Mini countertop POS system, Clover Flex handheld POS system, barcode scanner, cash drawer, and card reader.

Clover offers several hardware devices that you can mix and match to create your perfect setup at the following costs if you purchase your POS hardware directly from Clover.com:

• Clover Station: $1,349 (Clover Station Solo) or $1,799 (Clover Station Duo); includes full countertop POS system with cash drawer, receipt printer, cash drawer, and (depending on your model) a customer-facing display for customers to confirm orders
• Clover Mini: $799; includes a smaller register with a built-in receipt printer, card reader, and camera that doubles as a barcode scanner
• Clover Flex: $499; includes a handheld mobile POS system with built-in POS software, receipt printer, and card reader

We recommend at least a countertop register for a small bar, and to add a handheld POS system for larger neighborhood bars with a lot of seating.

Note: You may pay a different price for your Clover hardware depending on which Clover merchant account provider you work with.

If you purchase your system from Clover directly, you will pay a flat rate of 2.3% + $0.10 on all card-present transactions and 3.5% + $0.10 for all card-not-present transactions (includes online orders, orders from third-party delivery platforms, and phone order payments.)

Various other Clover resellers may have different payment processing rates and structures. This is one of many reasons why we recommend researching different Clover providers to get the best rates for your bar, which is what you’ll get with the best Clover resellers.

Clover is sold by numerous providers and not all of them are high-quality. Some of them may charge sneaky hidden fees or encourage you to sign an expensive equipment lease, or provide horrible (even nonexistent) customer service. Make sure to avoid Clover POS scams when purchasing your Clover POS setup.

We believe that Lightspeed Restaurant is one of the best POS systems for hotel bars because of its numerous hotel reservation and guest management integrations, online booking website capabilities, and the ability to integrate several restaurants and bars under one Lightspeed Restaurant account. You can create custom dine-in and room service menus, allow customers to order from their rooms with a QR code, and charge everything to their rooms.

Lightspeed Restaurant is great for cocktail bars because it has extensive ingredient-level tracking, a kitchen display system that tells bartenders exactly how to make even the most obscure drinks, and an eCommerce integration that allows you to sell a limited number of cocktail class tickets. The Lightspeed Restaurant eCommerce integration also has an OpenTable widget so you can take reservations online. So, whether your hidden speakeasy hosts limited-time-only specialty drinks or your tiki bar regularly hosts large groups, you’ll be able to handle it all smoothly with Lightspeed Restaurant.

Third-party integrations such as hotel management software, and Lightspeed add-ons such as Lightspeed eCommerce and Lightspeed Kitchen (kitchen display system software) cost an added monthly fee.

For hotels that have one or multiple restaurants or bars, we highly recommend using a Lightspeed Restaurant hotel property management software (hotel PMS). With a hotel PMS integration such as StayNTouch or WebRezPro, hotels can:

• Allow guests to reserve a room on your hotel’s website, check themselves in, and upgrade their room if they want
• Associate a group of guests with one company or family account and bill that single account
• Have restaurant and bar tabs follow a customer and get all their order items billed to their room
• Create custom menus for dine-in, takeout, room service, poolside, and any other ordering touchpoint your guests find themselves at
• Manage multiple hotel bars and restaurants, either within a single hotel location or several different locations

Lightspeed Restaurant POS system hotel management integration.

Depending on your hotel PMS integration, you’ll also be able to manage room cleaning service schedules, rent out on-site venues like ballrooms or conference rooms (which you’ll be able to cater with Lightspeed Restaurant) on an hourly schedule, send reservation reminders to upcoming guests, and more.

Cocktail bars with an extensive number of labels on shelves and a lot of moving liquid inventory will appreciate Lightspeed’s inventory management functions. You can choose your preferred vendors to source bottles from, bulk edit vendor prices and settings, and send automated purchase orders based on your own low-stock settings. Purchase orders can either be sent via email or webhook that takes you to your vendor’s online ordering page. You can also use one of several liquid inventory integrations to find out if someone is pouring heavy, if there’s lots of spillage, and which bottles go the fastest.

Lightspeed also has excellent menu management and preparation functions. You can create a timed event such as a scheduled discount or a limited-time rotating cocktail item menu as far in advance as you’d like. Create different menus for restaurant and bar sections and set menu items to be a composite of individual ingredients. By creating cocktail items as a buildup of ingredients, your bartenders won’t have to remember every new specialty cocktail you come up with. They’ll see it on Lightspeed’s intuitive kitchen display system or a printed kitchen ticket.

Lightspeed Retail POS register, Bluetooth barcode scanner, and online storefront.

All Lightspeed Restaurant software, including the POS system, kitchen display system, and hotel management software, runs on iPads. You may purchase these, plus other hardware such as card readers, cash drawers, and barcode scanners, from Lightspeed (at a custom price) or integrate your own hardware with the software.

Lightspeed Restaurants comes integrated with Lightspeed Payments, which offers flat-rate processing at a rate of 2.6% + $0.10 for in-person payments and 2.9% + $0.30 for online payments to users on the Essentials and Plus plans.

If you are on the Pro plan, you’ll get your own custom payment processing rate.

Lightspeed advertises monthly pricing but asks all users to get a custom quote. This usually means that you’ll get your own custom contract length, which may be monthly, annual, or longer. The company does charge an early termination fee, so until you’ve felt the system out and decided Lightspeed Restaurant is right for you, spring for a long-term commitment.

To qualify for Lightspeed’s hardware warranty (14 days for Apple products and 30 days for other products), you must verify that you have received your hardware within five business days.

We love that Revel is a highly customizable POS system with retail, restaurant, and wholesaler capabilities. This software is also built for multilocation bars that need to manage a lot of inventory, employees, menus, and pricing across several locations, with access restrictions to ensure employees can’t mess with settings at other locations.

Revel also allows you to rent out your establishments for events such as birthday parties and private wine tastings. You can also schedule events and sell tickets for things like cocktail creation classes or an exclusive night of wine and chocolate pairings.

If you’re interested in shipping bottles or selling them online for local delivery, Revel can help you make the sale and manage your inventory. You can even start a wine club if you want, which is one of the reasons Revel is also one of the best winery POS systems.

This pricing requires a two-terminal minimum and a three-year processing contract with Revel Advantage, Revel’s in-house payment processor. However, you can also buy Revel month-to-month or with an annual term. Add-ons such as loyalty and delivery will raise your monthly cost.

There’s also a one-time implementation fee of $674, which covers personalized hardware implementation, software customization, and employee training.

Revel’s most unique features for bars that are also specialty drink distributors, whether they’re distributing smaller quantities to restaurants or larger quantities to stores, include:

• B2B Customer Accounts: Restaurants and stores may be assigned to their own B2B account that you can invoice, ship to, and take returns from. Define B2B customer groups so you can offer different pricing tiers, custom pricing, and bulk discounts.
• Online Sales: From your own Revel-powered website, you can sell both food and retail items for pickup and delivery. Create custom ordering workflows for different types of orders.
• Alcohol Delivery: Create custom shipping settings for compliant alcohol shipping, offer delivery tracking, monitor delivery drivers (when doing local delivery), and require a signature upon delivery to ensure that your B2B customers get their packages and you remain compliant with local liquor laws.
• Purchase Order/Invoicing: Revel makes it very easy to import vendors, turn purchase orders into invoices, and choose preferred vendors to send automated purchase orders to when stock levels get below par levels.
• Inventory Management: Revel has built-in perishable, liquid, and retail item inventory management that syncs across multiple locations. You can send bottles between locations with transportation tracking, measure liquid inventory wastage, and more.

Revel POS pricing tiers by customer group.

Revel also integrates with Vine OS, a wine club management software, so that you can start your own wine club, offer members-only wines, start a wine allocation program to serve special limited availability wine and allow customers to log onto their own membership account to switch up their monthly order.

You may use Revel to set up an appointment booking system with blocked-off reservation times so that customers can request or schedule a venue rental, private tasting, or special event. Assign staff to events, charge service fees and deposits, and create auto-gratuity charges.

Multilocation bars will appreciate Revel’s extensive multi-location inventory management capabilities, employee restriction settings, and the ability to duplicate locations and edit things like pricing, stock levels, and menu offerings in bulk.

For bars that face a lot of theft or customer disturbances (or want to avoid these things in general), Revel integrates with several security service software. You can monitor transactions, product receiving, and bar floors with your POS system and integrated security cameras.

Revel POS system hardware.

All Revel software, including POS systems, self-ordering kiosks, customer order-ready display screens (which are great for restaurant bars that sell a lot of takeout orders), and kitchen display systems, run on most iPads.

You may source these, as well as card readers, barcode scanners, iPad stands, and cash drawers, from Revel with a custom quote.  Alternatively, you may get these items on your own if you get written permission from Revel to do so. The company asks you to get permission beforehand that way you don’t accidentally buy incompatible hardware.

Revel’s in-house payment processing service, Revel Advantage, requires bar owners to get a personalized payment processing quote.

You also have your choice of a compatible payment processor, usually for an added monthly fee, so you can shop around for the lowest rates. Larger businesses can really benefit from finding a customized payment processing rate (ideally not flat-rate but another credit card processing model) that works for their sales volumes.

Your Revel contract will likely be at least one year long, and three years if you want the lowest monthly price.

Fortunately, it is possible to purchase Revel without a long-term contract. Make sure you read the fine details of your contract so you know how long you are committing. If you decide you like Revel, you can sign on for a longer contract and get better monthly pricing.