TouchBistro Review 2023
TouchBistro has enough features to pack a punch and is extremely cost-effective for smaller foodservice businesses that don't need many terminals or devices.
TouchBistro

Total Rating | 4.5 |
---|---|
Pricing | Excellent |
Features | Good |
Customer Service | Good |
Reviews | Good |
Pricing
$69/monthOnline Ordering
Add-onEquipment Cost
Call for quoteTouchBistro At A Glance
- Excellent interface made specifically for food-service establishments
- Many integrations to customize your software
- Simple and upfront pricing
Pros
- Well-designed UI
- iOS-based
- Easy to use
- Competitive monthly cost
- Numerous integrations
Cons
- Inconsistent customer support
- Not all-in-one
- Add-ons can get pricey
Table of Contents
What Is TouchBistro?
TouchBistro is an affordable point of sale system built for small to mid-sized cafes and restaurants with excellent online ordering and delivery options and add-ons to fit your business’s specific needs. TouchBistro is a solid option for numerous niche food-service establishments, from bars to bakeries as well as full-service restaurants.
TouchBistro Is Best Suited For…
Smaller to mid-sized businesses looking for restaurant-specific POS software. TouchBistro is a solid option for both quick-service and full-service restaurants and is highly scalable for restaurants looking to expand.
TouchBistro Pricing
TouchBistro Plans | Price | When To Use |
---|---|---|
TouchBistro Plan | $69/month | If you have basic restaurant needs and are interested in purchasing add-ons |
With one or two register setups starting at $69/month, TouchBistro’s pricing makes it one of the more affordable and best restaurant POS systems out there. If you need more than one license, TouchBistro encourages you to request a quote. Get started with TouchBistro now.
All plans include 24/7 customer service, menu management, table management, cloud reporting and analytics, unlimited integrations, and unlimited users (staff members who are not licensed). You can book a free demonstration of TouchBistro to see how it works before committing to a plan.
Extra TouchBistro Costs & Fees
TouchBistro Extra Costs | Price |
---|---|
Gift cards | $25/month |
Loyalty | $99/month |
Marketing | $99/month |
Reservations | $229/month |
Online ordering | $50/month |
TouchBistro also offers the following in-house add-ons:
- Gift Cards: This $25/month add-on lets you sell branded, customized gift cards from your restaurant. These cards can be tracked using your POS and redeemed at any of your store locations.
- Online Ordering: Available for $50/month, this add-on is easy to set up; all you need is your TouchBistro Cloud credentials to sync your POS with an online menu where customers can place orders. Note that while this app sends online orders to your POS, integrated online payments are currently unavailable, so you’ll have to take payment using your POS upon pickup or delivery. As an alternative to TouchBistro’s in-house online ordering system, you can integrate a partnered software service (such as Checkmate or Ordermark) to connect third-party food delivery apps (e.g., Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates, etc.).
- Reservations: This $229/month add-on is a complete reservation and guest-management system. It allows you to accept reservations through your website, TouchBistro’s web and mobile discovery apps, or Google Reservations. The add-on also includes guest records, floor plans, and SMS and email reservation alerts.
TouchBistro POS Features
TouchBistro Features | Availability |
---|---|
Multi-Store Support | |
Contactless Payments | |
Multi-Channel Selling | |
Gift Cards | Add-on |
Customer Loyalty | Add-on |
Marketing Tools | Add-on |
Online Ordering | Add-on |
Inventory Management | |
Reporting | |
Menu Management | |
Delivery Management | |
EBT Acceptance | |
Employee Management | |
Text Messaging |
If you visit the TouchBistro website, you can find information on app features and descriptions of the various industries the software is suited for. Below is a list of current features. Keep in mind that while these features are mostly accurate, things change quickly. If you have specific POS requirements, you’ll want to directly confirm with TouchBistro whether the app can meet your needs.
Is TouchBistro User-Friendly?
The TouchBistro iPad interface is well done. It’s simple to navigate and attractively designed with a fresh color palette. Simplicity and aesthetics are important since the app is designed to act as both a POS and a digital menu with full-color, high-res photos of each menu item. Anything your customers are directly interacting with needs to look sleek.
TouchBistro created its product with servers in mind, and it shows.
The check-splitting function is simple, taking just a few clicks to sort out items by individual customers or by various groups of customers. Everything is also highly customizable, from the look of your menus to button placement on the screen. TouchBistro allows for custom modifiers, and its forced modifiers pop up automatically, making order-taking easy for servers and customers.
Customer Service & Support
TouchBistro offers 24/7 customer service for all subscribers. You can call the company, or if you have a simple query, you can email the company directly.
Access to 24/7 support through multiple channels is a great thing to have with any POS. Some TouchBistro users, though, have mentioned that customer support can take an unacceptably long time to return calls and resolve issues. TouchBistro also makes efforts to engage with customers who complain about the POS on review sites.
You can also watch short YouTube videos that give overviews of various TouchBistro functions, from setting up your wireless network to configuring your menu. The TouchBistro website features a comprehensive support section, complete with set-up guides, written instructions, and tutorial videos.
Payment Processing With TouchBistro
TouchBistro is compatible with several popular gateways in addition to its TouchBistro Payments (powered by Chase), which is available in the US only. Chase Merchant Services generally has positive reviews, so I would expect that TouchBistro Payments is a quality processor as well. TouchBistro now has you call to get a rate for your business, and you may have to sign up for a contract to get the lowest rate, so make sure you know exactly what you’re agreeing to before you sign.
If you want to use an outside payment processor, here are your options:
- Square
- TSYS
- Worldpay
- Chase Merchant Services (Canada)
- Moneris (Canada)
- Tyro Payments (Australia)
Notably, Square is also a basic POS system as well as a payment processor. If you already use Square payment processing at your establishment but need a POS with more restaurant-centric features, TouchBistro might be a good addition. You can call TouchBistro to schedule a demo to see how TouchBistro works with Square.
Keep in mind that although your TouchBistro wireless network does not require Wi-Fi or an internet connection to operate, your payment gateway does require a wireless connection. If your internet goes down, you will not be able to process credit card payments.
TouchBistro Contract & Commitment
You can sign up for TouchBistro’s software on a month-to-month basis, but there have been reviews that have mentioned that sales reps, when setting up custom rates for new members, have convinced them to sign up for a one-year contract which is then difficult to break. As always, you’ll want to do your research and ask plenty of questions.
TouchBistro Reviews
TouchBistro Support | Availability |
---|---|
Phone Support | |
Email Support | |
Support Tickets | |
Live Chat | |
Dedicated Support Representative | |
Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
Videos & Tutorials | |
Company Blog | |
Social Media |
While TouchBistro has both negative and positive reviews, overall, the positive things customers mention outweigh the bad. TouchBistro has a 4 out of 5 rating on Software Advice with more than 362 reviews and a 4.4 rating on g2.com with nearly 100 reviews.
Negative TouchBistro Reviews & Complaints
After scouring the internet, a few negative complaints repeatedly showed up in TouchBistro POS reviews:
- Customer Service: There were many complaints about long wait times and customer service representatives taking a couple of days to respond.
- Reporting: There were several complaints about reports having glitches.
- Lack Of Features: A few customers asked for more extensive inventory and reporting features.
- Not An All-In-One POS: TouchBistro has put most of its development energy into the POS system itself. This is an area where TouchBistro has steadily shown improvement, but customers still may find things (such as inventory and reporting) lacking. This means that you can end up with excellent software and a great interface, but you may have to pay for add-ons. The reporting and accounting features are fairly basic, although the app now integrates with Shogo and Xero. Employee management has become easier, thanks to a recent integration with 7Shifts, and, fortunately, receiving and storing customer data has become a simpler process as well.
Positive TouchBistro Reviews & Testimonials
Here are several of the more common points of praise when it comes to TouchBistro:
- Popularity: TouchBistro has been the top-grossing POS app on iTunes several times in the past couple of years. That’s something to pay attention to. TouchBistro has a lot of clients that have modified their app to work for them. While the fact that the app is undergoing so much development is a little unnerving, it also indicates that the company is growing and thriving. Many customers don’t seem to mind that there are constant updates, and a few even see it as a positive.
- Solid, Easy Design: There are quite a few customers who rave over TouchBistro’s ease of use and the fact that it has a sleek interface. The design is modern and attractive, and, for the most part, it’s intuitive and straightforward to navigate and use. You’re not going to be spending much time training new employees on how to use it like you would have to do with more complicated POS systems. The initial setup is also going to be minimal. Anyone with a small amount of technical know-how will be able to set up the entire system quickly, which also helps reduce costs.
- Low Cost: TouchBistro is cost-effective in the grand scheme of POS options. The hardware costs are minimal compared to those of large, hardware-intensive POS systems. If you have a very small business with only one terminal, the price is especially feasible.
Final Verdict Of TouchBistro POS
I have mostly positive feelings about TouchBistro. I love the app and how it seamlessly takes you through each step of the restaurant experience. As POS software, it’s a solid, well-developed product and fits among our best POS systems for small businesses.
TouchBistro is extremely cost-effective for smaller businesses that don’t need many terminals or devices. Larger businesses that have more than 10 iPads may want to shop around for an app with a more expensive licensing fee that allows for unlimited devices. You can also check out some of the other best restaurant POS systems on our site to see if any of our picks fits your needs.
TouchBistro FAQs
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
TouchBistro ![]() |
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After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see TouchBistro for yourself.
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
TouchBistro ![]() |
---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see TouchBistro for yourself.