Restaurant POS vs generic POS
A generic (retail) POS is built to sell a fixed list of products and take payment. A restaurant POS adds the parts of table service a retail till has no concept of: sending each order to the right kitchen station, handling modifiers and course timing, splitting and merging bills, and linking dishes to recipes so stock and food cost move as you sell. If you run table or counter food service, a restaurant POS removes work a generic POS pushes back onto your staff.
Last reviewed September 2026
| Restaurant POS (e.g. Restovax) | Generic / retail POS | |
|---|---|---|
| Sending orders to the kitchen | Each item routes to the right station on a kitchen screen or ticket the moment it is fired | No kitchen concept — staff re-write or call orders through |
| Modifiers & course timing | Built in — "no onions", "starters first", per-seat notes | Limited to product variants; no course logic |
| Tables & bills | Floor plan, move/merge tables, split a bill by seat or item | One cart per sale; splitting is manual |
| Menu vs product model | Menu items, categories, recipes | Flat SKU list |
| Recipe & food cost | Dishes link to ingredients; selling deducts stock and gives a food-cost % | Tracks product stock, not ingredients or recipes |
| Reporting | Service-period breakdowns, shift (X/Z) reports, payment-method mix | Retail sales reports by product and hour |
| Multi-branch | Per-branch menu, staff and stock with a consolidated owner view | Varies; often per-store licences |
Choose a restaurant POS when
You do table or counter food service, the kitchen needs to see orders as they are placed, you split bills, or you want stock and food cost to move with sales. This is most restaurants, bars, cafes and QSRs.
A generic POS can be enough when
You sell a short, fixed list of items over the counter with no kitchen routing, no bill splitting and no ingredient-level stock — for example a kiosk selling packaged drinks and snacks.
Frequently asked questions
See a restaurant POS built for the kitchen
Book a demo with your own menu and watch an order go from the table to the pass.
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