In today’s competitive restaurant industry, selecting the right Point of Sale (POS) system is critical for operational efficiency and business growth. Two major contenders dominating the market are Toast and Revel Systems, each offering comprehensive solutions designed to streamline restaurant operations. Restaurant owners and managers often find themselves weighing the pros and cons of these systems when making this crucial business decision that could define their operational success for years to come.
Toast has established itself as a restaurant-specific POS solution built from the ground up for food service businesses. The platform’s singular focus on restaurants allows it to excel in specialized functions like tableside ordering, menu management, and kitchen display integration. Their cloud-based system provides comprehensive access to data and analytics from any device, allowing managers to monitor performance metrics in real-time even when off-premises. This restaurant-centric approach creates workflows that feel natural to food service staff, reducing training time and operational friction.
Meanwhile, Revel Systems offers a versatile platform serving both restaurants and retailers. This fundamental difference shapes many aspects of their respective offerings, from interface design to feature prioritization. While Revel’s broader approach provides flexibility for businesses with hybrid models, it sometimes results in features that aren’t perfectly aligned with restaurant-specific needs. According to third-party review sites like G2, Toast consistently ranks higher in customer satisfaction metrics, earning the number one position among restaurant POS systems with an impressive 4.5/5 star rating across nearly 200 reviews.
Both systems support essential restaurant operations like order taking, payment processing, and reporting. However, the distinction between specialized versus versatile approaches becomes the defining factor when restaurants evaluate which platform better serves their specific operational requirements. The decision often comes down to whether a restaurant values purpose-built features or broader adaptability in their POS solution.
The hardware components of a POS system represent the physical touchpoints for staff and ultimately influence operational efficiency during busy service periods. Toast distinguishes itself with purpose-built, restaurant-grade hardware specifically designed to withstand the demanding environment of a busy kitchen. Their terminals and handheld devices feature IP54 spill-proof ratings, making them highly durable against inevitable spills, heat, and general wear and tear of restaurant operations. This restaurant-specific design philosophy extends to aesthetic elements as well, with hardware designed to complement restaurant décor rather than disrupt it.
Toast’s investment in specialized hardware demonstrates their commitment to solving real restaurant challenges. The devices can handle extreme temperatures from kitchen environments, resist liquid damage from spills, and maintain functionality during high-impact usage throughout busy shifts. The handheld devices particularly excel in tableside service, allowing servers to take orders and process payments without returning to a fixed terminal, significantly improving table turnover rates.
In contrast, Revel Systems relies primarily on iPad-based hardware running on iOS. While aesthetically pleasing and familiar to many users, iPads often reveal limitations in high-heat, high-impact restaurant environments. They lack the specialized durability features of Toast’s purpose-built hardware and offer limited customization options for restaurant-specific needs. Restaurant owners frequently cite hardware reliability as a critical factor in their POS decision-making process, particularly those operating in demanding kitchen environments.
The hardware decision ultimately comes down to whether a restaurant prioritizes specialized durability and customization over the familiarity and sleek design of Apple products. For high-volume establishments with challenging environments, purpose-built hardware often proves more reliable and cost-effective over time despite potentially higher upfront costs.
While Toast and Revel focus on traditional POS functionality, forward-thinking restaurants are discovering how AI for restaurants transforms their operations beyond just processing payments. Loman’s 24/7 AI phone agent represents a specialized solution designed specifically for restaurant operations, handling call management with unprecedented accuracy and efficiency. This intelligent system integrates seamlessly with existing POS systems like Square, Toast, and Clover, creating a comprehensive operational ecosystem that reduces missed calls, shortens customer wait times, and directly improves sales performance through consistent availability and professional customer interactions.
The Loman platform distinguishes itself through deep restaurant-specific training on menus, policies, and customer preferences, ensuring accurate order taking and customer service that matches your establishment’s standards. Unlike general-purpose AI solutions, Loman understands restaurant terminology, handles complex orders with modifications, and manages reservation systems with the nuance required for successful food service operations. Built-in analytics and real-time insights provide restaurant managers with actionable data for better decision-making, while the platform’s fast setup process gets restaurants live in under a day, making it scalable for single locations, chains, or franchise operations seeking immediate efficiency gains.
In today’s restaurant technology landscape, a POS system’s value extends beyond its core features to include how well it connects with other essential business tools. Toast excels in this area with over 70 technology partners that restaurants commonly use, spanning critical categories including delivery services, accounting software, inventory management, employee scheduling, and customer loyalty programs. Most importantly, all Toast integrations are included in the original quoted price without additional fees or charges, providing predictable technology costs for restaurant operators.
The quality of integrations also differs significantly between systems. Toast’s API is designed specifically for restaurant workflows, creating smoother connections between the POS and third-party applications. Their implementation team helps configure these integrations during the onboarding process, ensuring they work properly from day one. Popular integrations include:
Revel Systems also offers integration capabilities, but with some notable limitations. According to user reviews, Revel lacks compatibility with several key partners that restaurants frequently rely on, such as GrubHub and Paytronix. Additionally, some integrations that are available require additional fees beyond the base subscription cost, creating unexpected expenses for restaurant owners who assume comprehensive integration capabilities are included in their subscription.
For restaurants heavily reliant on a connected technology ecosystem, the breadth, cost, and quality of available integrations should be a critical consideration. The ability to create a unified operational environment often determines whether a POS system enhances or complicates daily restaurant management tasks.
Restaurant-specific functionality sets Toast and Revel apart in different ways, particularly when examining advanced features that support complex operations. Toast’s specialized focus enables sophisticated restaurant features like menu engineering analytics, which help owners optimize profitability by analyzing item performance and suggesting strategic menu changes. Their kitchen display system integration eliminates paper tickets while maintaining kitchen workflow efficiency, and their advanced inventory tracking automatically adjusts stock levels based on recipe ingredients.
Toast’s tableside ordering capability transforms the dining experience by allowing servers to send orders directly to the kitchen while remaining at the table. This feature reduces order errors, speeds up service, and improves customer satisfaction through more attentive service. The platform also offers advanced employee management features, including tip pooling calculations, performance tracking, and automated scheduling based on sales forecasts.
Revel Systems provides strong capabilities for inventory tracking, employee scheduling, and customer relationship management, but these features often require more configuration to optimize for restaurant-specific workflows. Many users report that Revel’s interface, while powerful, can be more complex and require additional training compared to Toast’s restaurant-focused design. However, Revel’s strength lies in its adaptability across different business types, making it potentially advantageous for establishments with hybrid business models.
Both systems support multi-location management, though their approaches differ. Toast’s restaurant-focused dashboard provides insights specifically relevant to food service operations, while Revel’s broader business intelligence tools accommodate various business types. The choice between these approaches depends on whether a restaurant values specialized insights or broader business analytics capabilities.
One of the most significant differentiators between Toast and Revel Systems is their approach to pricing transparency. According to multiple third-party reviews, Revel Systems users frequently express frustration with unexpected fees and surcharges for features they assumed were included in their base subscription. Many reviewers report being blindsided by additional costs for what they considered essential features, only discovering these charges after committing to the platform. This lack of pricing clarity creates budgeting challenges for restaurant owners trying to manage their technology expenses effectively.
Toast, by comparison, generally receives more positive feedback regarding pricing transparency. Their structured approach to pricing allows restaurant owners to better understand and predict their technology expenses over time. While Toast’s payment processing rates are sometimes higher than competitors, users appreciate knowing exactly what they’re paying for without surprise charges appearing later. This transparency extends to hardware costs, software subscription fees, and add-on features, giving restaurant owners more confidence in their financial planning processes.
The total cost comparison requires careful analysis of several factors:
It’s important to note that neither system is necessarily “cheaper” overall—the total cost depends on a restaurant’s specific needs, transaction volume, and chosen features. However, the predictability of these costs differs significantly between the platforms, with transparency becoming increasingly important as restaurant margins remain tight across the industry.
The quality of customer support can make or break a restaurant’s experience with a POS system, especially during busy service periods when technical issues can significantly impact operations. According to user reviews, Revel Systems’ support quality presents a mixed picture. While many users praise the knowledge and capabilities of Revel’s support team once reached, they consistently cite long wait times as a major frustration. This delay in receiving assistance can be particularly problematic in a fast-paced restaurant environment where minutes of downtime translate directly to lost revenue and customer dissatisfaction.
Toast’s approach to customer support receives generally more favorable reviews from restaurant operators. They offer 24/7 support through multiple channels including phone, email, and chat, with response times typically measured in minutes rather than hours. Their support team specializes in restaurant operations, allowing them to understand industry-specific challenges and provide more relevant solutions. Many Toast users highlight the responsiveness of support as a key advantage, with quick resolution times for critical issues that could otherwise disrupt service.
Both companies offer implementation support during the initial setup phase, but Toast’s restaurant-specific expertise often results in smoother onboarding experiences. The implementation process includes menu setup, staff training, hardware installation, and integration configuration. Toast users frequently report more streamlined implementations, while Revel users occasionally experience challenges during setup, particularly related to menu customization and complex configurations.
Additionally, Toast provides extensive self-service resources including knowledge bases, video tutorials, and community forums that help restaurant staff troubleshoot common problems independently. This comprehensive support ecosystem reduces dependency on direct support interactions while empowering restaurant teams to resolve minor issues quickly during service periods.
Restaurant operations cannot afford significant downtime, making system reliability a critical factor when evaluating POS options. Toast offers a robust cloud-based network that maintains functionality even during internet outages through sophisticated offline capabilities. Their offline mode allows restaurants to continue processing card payments and running essential operations without an internet connection, storing transaction data locally until connectivity is restored. When internet service returns, the system automatically syncs all transaction data to the cloud, ensuring no information is lost during the outage period.
This reliability proves particularly valuable for restaurants in areas with inconsistent internet service or during unexpected network issues. Toast’s architecture includes redundant systems and automatic failovers that minimize service interruptions. The platform’s performance during peak hours represents another reliability advantage, as the system is designed to handle high-volume periods without significant slowdowns—a crucial factor during busy service times when every second counts.
Revel Systems also offers offline capabilities, but according to some user reviews, their implementation can be less seamless than Toast’s solution. While Revel can process transactions during outages, some users report challenges with certain features in offline mode, particularly advanced reporting and inventory updates. Additionally, the dependency on iPad hardware introduces potential reliability concerns, as consumer-grade devices may not withstand the demanding restaurant environment as effectively as purpose-built hardware.
System performance consistency becomes especially important during peak dining periods when transaction volume increases dramatically. Toast’s cloud infrastructure is specifically designed to scale with demand, maintaining response times even during busy periods. Some Revel users report occasional performance issues during peak times, though experiences vary based on implementation specifics and local hardware configurations.
The learning curve associated with a POS system directly impacts staff training time, operational efficiency, and ultimately, customer experience quality. Revel Systems users frequently mention the platform’s complexity as a notable challenge during implementation and ongoing operations. Many reviewers advise taking the onboarding process slowly to thoroughly understand the system’s features and capabilities. One review specifically notes that “setup is a bit time consuming and working through the first part with no experience can be frustrating.” This complexity can extend the training period for new staff members and potentially create operational bottlenecks during busy periods.
Toast, with its restaurant-specific design, generally receives better marks for usability and intuitive interface design. The system’s workflows are built around common restaurant processes, making them more naturally aligned with how staff members already work in food service environments. This intuitive design typically results in faster training cycles and fewer user errors during service periods. New employees can often become proficient with basic operations within hours rather than days, reducing the training burden on management and existing staff.
The interface design philosophy differs significantly between the platforms. Toast prioritizes simplicity and speed for common restaurant tasks, with large buttons, clear navigation, and workflows that mirror traditional restaurant operations. Revel offers more comprehensive customization options, allowing businesses to tailor the interface extensively, but this flexibility often requires more technical knowledge to implement effectively.
Both systems offer customization options to adapt the interface to specific restaurant needs, though Revel’s more complex architecture sometimes makes these customizations more challenging to implement without technical expertise. For restaurants with high staff turnover or limited training resources, the ease of use factor becomes particularly important in maintaining consistent service quality and operational efficiency.
Understanding the market position and industry recognition of potential POS providers offers valuable insight into their stability, innovation potential, and long-term viability as business partners. According to G2’s comprehensive scoring grid for restaurant POS systems, Toast currently holds the #1 position out of 19 competitors in the category. This leading position reflects strong customer satisfaction ratings and significant market presence, with Toast earning an average 4.5/5 star rating across nearly 200 reviews. This dominant market position suggests widespread industry acceptance and customer satisfaction across diverse restaurant types.
Toast’s market leadership extends beyond customer ratings to include significant financial backing and growth metrics. The company has received numerous industry accolades, including recognition on the Forbes Fintech 50 and Forbes Cloud 100 lists, highlighting their technology leadership and innovation in the restaurant space. Their public market presence provides additional transparency and accountability that many restaurant owners value when selecting long-term technology partners.
Revel Systems, while still a significant player in the POS market, generally places lower in industry rankings according to third-party evaluations. The company maintains a strong presence, particularly in certain market segments and geographic regions, but doesn’t command the same overall leadership position as Toast in the restaurant-specific category. This difference in ranking reflects the companies’ different strategic approaches—Toast’s laser focus on restaurants versus Revel’s broader market strategy covering both restaurants and retail establishments.
Industry recognition extends to technology partnerships, integration ecosystems, and ongoing platform development. Toast’s restaurant-focused approach has attracted partnerships with major players in the food service industry, creating a comprehensive ecosystem of solutions designed specifically for restaurant operations. For restaurant owners, these indicators of market position and industry recognition provide confidence in a provider’s stability and commitment to ongoing platform development—critical factors when selecting a system that will serve as the operational backbone of the business.
Selecting between Toast and Revel Systems ultimately requires a clear assessment of your restaurant’s specific needs, operational style, growth plans, and budget constraints. For restaurants focused exclusively on food service, Toast’s specialized approach often provides advantages through purpose-built hardware, restaurant-specific workflows, and intuitive interfaces designed around food service operations. Its top-ranking position on G2’s scoring grid reflects strong satisfaction among restaurant users, suggesting it effectively meets the needs of most food service establishments across various segments and sizes.
Revel Systems may be the better choice for businesses with hybrid models combining restaurant and retail operations, or for those already heavily invested in iOS infrastructure and Apple ecosystem integration. Its broader feature set accommodates diverse business types, though this versatility sometimes comes at the cost of streamlined restaurant-specific functionality. When evaluating costs, look beyond the initial subscription price to consider the total expense including hardware, payment processing, add-on features, and potential integration costs that may not be immediately apparent during initial demonstrations.
The transition process deserves careful consideration regardless of which system you choose, as switching POS systems represents a significant operational change that affects every aspect of restaurant operations. Both providers offer implementation support, but the quality and depth of this assistance varies considerably. Request detailed information about onboarding timelines, training resources, data migration processes, and ongoing support availability before making your final decision. Consider arranging demonstrations of both systems in action, preferably with your specific menu items and operational workflows, to understand how each platform handles your restaurant’s unique requirements.
Finally, speak with current users, particularly those with similar restaurant concepts, volumes, and operational complexity, to gain real-world insights into how each system performs in environments similar to yours. The right POS system should not merely process transactions but serve as a strategic partner in your restaurant’s growth and success, providing the operational foundation for efficient service delivery and business expansion. For restaurants seeking immediate efficiency improvements, Loman offers a complementary AI solution that integrates seamlessly with existing POS systems, providing 24/7 call management that’s scalable for single locations, chains, or franchises wanting enhanced customer experience and operational efficiency.
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