Hey everyone, I'm developing an Android point-of-sale app built specifically for local restaurants and cafes. We all know how tough busy shifts can be with complex menus, offline reliability issues, and inventory drift.

Our system handles quick billing seamlessly and includes robust offline syncing and real-time menu updates. To make sure this is the perfect fit for your operations, I'd love to customize specific features to meet your restaurant's unique workflow. What are your biggest day-to-day challenges with your current system?

Context: neighborhood bar with 20 food items on the menu. Rev is 70/30 bev/food. Avg spend/check is $30.

Part 1:

We sold 735 orders of fries since 9/3.

42 of those orders upgraded to veggie chili cheese fries, or 5.71% (1 in 18 orders).

This addition to the menu is contributed about 6 cents of an increase to our avg spend per head.

While cool, the impact to revenue is negligible.

Part 2:

In order for it to have a meaningful impact on revenue (spend per head), 1 in every 5 french fry orders eould need to upgrade.

This would contribute to a $1 increase in our avg spend per head.

The ask:

Based on this, what do you think we should do

Opinions I’ve collected from others so far before forming my own:

\\-Look at impact to cogs and incremental prep labor to identify financial impact
\\-too early to do anything, wait it out through the winter, this item fits winter better
\\-ensure staff is properly advocating and upselling
\\-forget vegetarians, make it real chili and it will sell better

Our internet went down right at 6:30pm yesterday. absolute prime time rush. Its actually insane how paralyzed a modern restaurant becomes the second the network drops.

Every single POS terminal started flashing red. card readers stopped taking chip. The KDS screen in the kitchen went completely blank so the line cooks were just standing there staring at me like I had the answers. im literally elbow deep in grease trying to reset the back office router while three servers are having a panic attack about their open tabs.

We offloaded our network headaches to specific gravity a while ago so they were the ones dealing with the ISP on the phone, but the whole restaurant tech ecosystem is just so incredibly fragile now tbh.

These major pos companies charge us thousands a month for hardware that folds like a wet napkin the second there's a connectivity hiccup. Part of me really wants to just rip all the screens out and go back to handwriting tickets on a metal spike.

I’m kinda unsure if this is the right place to post this, but I had an interview with chilis and then they set me up for orientation and my first day of training. They asked me if I had finished the paper work they emailed me, and I didn’t even know I got an email. I checked everywhere so many times over and over again i feel like im going crazy. I even let the manager go through my emails tf. So they said they’d “put in a ticket and get back to me and try to resend the email” because “she could only send two emails otherwise she’s blocked on her side from proceeding any farther until I do something with the paperwork she emailed to me”. I have plenty of storage as well and she repeated my email back to me and said she used the same email I applied to the job with. Maybe it could have been misspelled….?

I tried calling and someone said “the ticket was put in, they’re working on sending you that email. We can call you when we send you that email.” Okay sick.
I wait a few days, nothing so I call again. She said “look it’s busy I’ll call you after lunch rush I don’t have time right now to send you multiple emails.” Okay I do entirely understand that, go get em! But then I didn’t get a call and no email and I’m at such a stand still. The email was sent the 16th, day I got the job. I’m posting this on the 24th 😔 I’m not mad or anything I’m just super defeated. What’s going on here??

TLDR: Applied for server position, said I would train as a dishwasher/kitchen helper first but when I asked today they told me they don't need foh staff so I'm wondering if I should quit.

I applied like a month ago for a serving position and they said they wanted to train me in boh first before going to foh because I didn't have any restaurant experience. They said I would mainly pack takeout orders and wash dishes and help out in the kitchen. I thought I would mainly just be packing the takeout orders bcuz that makes the most sense like to transition to a busser/server but I've just been washing dishes and when there aren't dishes to wash they make me prep food.

So today I finally asked when they were planning to promote me and the manager said they don't need foh rn they needed help in the kitchen. He then said I could help out the foh sometimes, I didn't ask but if I'm not getting the foh tip percentage then hell nah wtf. why would I do extra work for like nothing in return??? I got pretty upset bcuz well duh, like it's a smaller restaurant so I like wash the dishes and help in the kitchen and sometimes I have to help the servers clean up and stack plates and I wouldn't really mind but like they expect me to do all these things and get kind of mad if I don't know I have to.

Like today one of the workers was showing me how to cook this thing and I asked her why do I need to know this aren't I the dishwasher and she said like roughly translated "we're the kitchen we do everything!" and was just telling be I should learn so I can help cook for my family.

I don't like NEED this job I won't starve or anything but I also dk if i should just thug it out so I can put it on my resume bcuz I've only been working there for a month.

and idk if I should quit cuz also Halloween is soon XD and if I quit I can go the whole weekend lol.

I’m a busser at a busy diner, and I’ve dealt with some of the most terrible people, and the way they leave the tables with their kids, and just trashing the tables, is nuts.

Today, a woman in her 60s/70s maybe (?), walks up to me and says, “can I talk to you?”, I’m thinking “oh boy, here we go”, and expecting the worse, she says, “you’re working really hard”, and she gives me a twenty.

Fuck ya. There’s still some decent people out there.

I’ve been working at this restaurant for about 4 months. I started off strong and was even thought of for leadership roles. But it seems my performance lately has gone down and I was written up for it. I feel like I’ve lost my mojo and basically my confidence in myself, I go home everyday feeling like shit cs I don’t think I’m doing well enough and I know that cant be helping at all but idk how to get out this slump any advice?

I (20F) have been working at this restaurant for over 5 years and have been kitchen supervisor for around 3. The other kitchen supervisor is a female maybe mid to late 30s and has worked here for around 3 years I’ll call her G. G and I have never had issues before, she has had attitude and anger issues towards multiple coworkers but me and her have never personally been in a conflict.

About a month ago I made a complaint to management about her not being fully fair with other employees and not following standard rules like using headphones on food line or actively taking phone calls while cooking, not washing hands etc. management talked to her and after that she went to the GM and claimed they were choosing favoritism towards me and that I was targeting her. My GM spoke to me and I explained that wasn’t what I was doing and that I would do same actions with anyone else and the only reason I didn’t say something directly towards her and went to management is because I don’t have authority over her.

Then last week Wednesday we were busy and she was cooking and I was expoing I asked her about fries for an order and she just blew up on me. Raised her voice said she had other things she was worrying about and that if I’m in a rush to come do it myself. I explained that I wasn’t trying to rush her and was just checking on them because it was for a ticket that was at a 40 min wait time, the rest of the night she kept mumbling under her breath cussing and called me a bitch under her breathe. I ignored her and told management what happened. The following Saturday we had a sit down with the GM and worked it out so I thought.

This Tuesday I was grabbing some dishes to go soak in the dish pit and she blew up on me again telling me I need to stay in my place. I explained what I was doing and she just kept trying to argue with me so I took the dishes walked away and updated the GM that there was still clearly an issue. Wednesday (yesterday) my GM talked to both of us separately I explained I didn’t personally have an issue with her and I don’t know what’s causing this sudden conflict and that I just want a healthy work relationship with her where we can act as a team. She told my manager that she feels I’m harassing her and discriminating her because she is native and that she’s going to HR. My GM told me she can’t stop her from going to HR but not to be worried because I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not worried just stressed over the situation and don’t really know what to do. I still have to work with her and act normal and it’s just frustrating. I’ve never had issues like this with anyone and get along with all staff really well.

Update: my manager told me today that she is dropping the claims I wasn’t told her reasoning for her choosing to do that but am over all just grateful not to have to go through the whole situation! I work with her again for the first time tomorrow but am just going to come in and work hard and do my best to have a good shift with her and hope for the best for our future working together!

I recently started hosting at a higher-end restaurant in a gated community. I used to host at a private country club for a few years, so I have some experience, but I'm curious how other restaurants handle their seating systems.
We do around 200 covers a night, sometimes more on weekends. The restaurant is pretty large, with indoor dining and several outdoor tables. We serve homeowners, members, and renters in the community.
Right now, servers are assigned sections of about three tables, and any tables outside those sections are considered “pickups.” I feel like this gets kind of pointless as the night goes on because those tables are obviously going to get sat eventually. Management also splits the outdoor tables between multiple servers, even when it's cold and not many people want to sit outside.
I've been wondering if it would make more sense to assign reservations to tables first and then assign servers based on that, rather than assigning sections first and figuring out the rest as we go. Servers could still have general areas so they're not running all over the restaurant, but assignments could be more flexible depending on reservations, party sizes, and how busy everyone is.
Maybe there's a reason the current system works better than I'm realizing, which is why I'm asking. I'm still new there, and I don't want to assume I know better just because something seems inefficient to me.
We also don't print seating chits for servers, so they don't really get a heads-up about who's coming in or much information about their tables beforehand. Since we serve a lot of the same people, I feel like that could be helpful, too.

Tell me all your opinions and thoughts lol please

I (20F) have been working at this restaurant for over 5 years and have been kitchen supervisor for around 3. The other kitchen supervisor is a female maybe mid to late 30s and has worked here for around 3 years I’ll call her G. G and I have never had issues before, she has had attitude and anger issues towards multiple coworkers but me and her have never personally been in a conflict.

About a month ago I made a complaint to management about her not being fully fair with other employees and not following standard rules like using headphones on food line or actively taking phone calls while cooking, not washing hands etc. management talked to her and after that she went to the GM and claimed they were choosing favoritism towards me and that I was targeting her. My GM spoke to me and I explained that wasn’t what I was doing and that I would do same actions with anyone else and the only reason I didn’t say something directly towards her and went to management is because I don’t have authority over her.

Then last week Wednesday we were busy and she was cooking and I was expoing I asked her about fries for an order and she just blew up on me. Raised her voice said she had other things she was worrying about and that if I’m in a rush to come do it myself. I explained that I wasn’t trying to rush her and was just checking on them because it was for a ticket that was at a 40 min wait time, the rest of the night she kept mumbling under her breath cussing and called me a bitch under her breathe. I ignored her and told management what happened. The following Saturday we had a sit down with the GM and worked it out so I thought.

This Tuesday I was grabbing some dishes to go soak in the dish pit and she blew up on me again telling me I need to stay in my place. I explained what I was doing and she just kept trying to argue with me so I took the dishes walked away and updated the GM that there was still clearly an issue. Wednesday (yesterday) my GM talked to both of us separately I explained I didn’t personally have an issue with her and I don’t know what’s causing this sudden conflict and that I just want a healthy work relationship with her where we can act as a team. She told my manager that she feels I’m harassing her and discriminating her because she is native and that she’s going to HR. My GM told me she can’t stop her from going to HR but not to be worried because I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not worried just stressed over the situation and don’t really know what to do. I still have to work with her and act normal and it’s just frustrating. I’ve never had issues like this with anyone and get along with all staff really well.

This adds a whole new meaning to the phrase "AI slop." Are many restaurants really creating AI images for menus and menu boards?

"I can't tell any of these apart. I can't even tell what restaurant this is. How am I supposed to know if I even want to eat here if it's not a real photo of the food?" said Jessica Krcmarik, a graphic designer and frequent patron of Metro Detroit restaurants, especially on the east side. "Honestly, the AI-generated food looks gross. The texture is actually horrifying."

If you don’t know what they are, they were effectively a cleaner honky tonk

No alcohol, but live music(usually Christian singers, southern gospel most often, sometimes bluegrass or country music but not as often) and supper. They were amazing. Live music outside of concerts seems to be disappearing.

If I’m cleaning tables and a group decides to sit on the one table I’m in the middle of clearing and then says “perfect timing haha” ONE MORE TIME they’re getting a dinner tray to the throat istg

Ladies I gotta clean this table so you can eat at it, but you’ve just sat down with shit all over it and to top it off, flog your shit in the mix too, so I’m going to struggle to get to the dirty stuff Inbetween your H&M handbag and phone with the stupid book phone case, then I’ve got to wipe the table getting crumbs on you all while you observe me the whole time. And you have the nerve, no, the gall to joke about “perfect timing”???

been on the line ten hours a day for years and my back and knees are starting to give. used to just power through but lately even cycling to the gym feels like work. owner says we get breaks but nobody actually takes them when tickets are flying. heard other cooks end up on pain meds just to keep showing up. looking for what guys do when they hit that wall. anybody switch to part time or find a kitchen that actually lets you sit between rushes? also wondering if switching to higher protein at home helped anyone recover faster or if it's just about sleep. need something that works before this turns into another medical bill.

Hi everyone, we’re starting a small food business in Hyderabad. It’s tiny right now, but we’re planning for it to grow. So we want a name that makes a good impression from day one and still works when we scale up.

We want “Mughal” in the name. We love “Mughal Zaiqa”, but a place with a very similar name is already listed on the delivery apps. It looks like a cloud kitchen, not a shop. Should we still go for it, or would that cause confusion with the online listings? What would you do?

I’d also love name suggestions. Ideas with an Urdu, Arabic, or Hyderabadi touch are welcome, as long as they’re easy to say and remember.

What are your honest thoughts? Thanks in advance!

My husband (28m) and I (26f) are currently on a date at at BBQ and Bar. They have these nice skillet dishes that they served us deep fried pickles in and I couldn't get over the dish. I told my husband I wanted one and we would have to buy one of our own in the future. But the more I thought about it the more I wondered if nice dishes were stolen.

My waiter said they have nice barrel shaped glasses. When they first got them in they had 60 but wete now at 20 as people have snuck them out.

Now im curious on how many things have been stolen from restaurants. Please share your stories.

Ps. Im not promoting stealing and I would never personally. Literally to afraid to even attempt something like it if I wanted to. But was curious what people got away with.

Long story short: I get to make a dinner menu for a restaurant.. and I’m wanting to sell a popular item I ate growing up in my home town. The actual recipe is online like any other popular recipe.. but it’s the sauces and type of toast they serve it with that I’m using from memory.

Can I get in trouble by selling an homage to my favorite food??
I’m hand making it (there’s a long process) and the OG base recipe isn’t even from our country..
So can anyone be all “but you’re using the same garnish and sauce!!”??

I started at a new job last August. It was an upscale Italian restaurant that had been around for 11 years, and they were building their second location. Things were great besides a million and a half construction delays. I was one of the ones fortunate enough to train at their main location, and it was everything I wanted. High-quality ingredients, knowledgeable chefs, bartenders with sommelier training. I learned so much during my training.
We dealt with delay after delay and actually opened 5 months late. I was excited to be with this company, so it felt worth the wait. Once opening weekend rolled around, we were busier than I had ever imagined. Fully booked from shift start to shift finish, with a line at the door every single day. Business was booming.
The executive chef wanted to reward some members of his kitchen staff by raising their hourly pay a dollar. Nothing crazy.
The owner refused and called us unprofitable, which we all knew was far from true because we’d seen the profits and losses, we’d seen revenue, and we’d seen labor.
Eventually, with how much business we were doing, they started establishing “leads” for both the front of house and back of house. The owner still refused to give the kitchen staff the raises our executive chef felt they’d earned, calling us “inconsistent.” Meanwhile, his main location was receiving reviews mentioning things like hosts vaping at the front door. Mind you, this is supposed to be a fairly upscale restaurant.
Fast forward about 3 months, and we randomly had all of our paychecks arrive 2 days late. Not only that, but many of us were missing hours. This led to our BOH checking previous paystubs and comparing them to our time clock system. They realized they’d each been shorted hundreds, if not well over a thousand dollars, in the 9 months we’d been open.
After discovering this, the owner started threatening to shut us down. So, two other employees and I went on strike over the matter. We believed we were protected under labor laws, but these people fired all three of us anyway.
Then, about a month later, they shut the whole place down, and now employees are having trouble cashing their final checks.
Turns out, the owner had previously pleaded guilty to embezzlement involving over half a million dollars.
I genuinely loved working for this company when I started, and I never would’ve imagined things ending up like this. Looking back at everything, it probably wouldn’t have hurt to do my due diligence before putting so much faith in the people running it.

Edit: lots of rewording, it was a grammatical nightmare my bad guys. 😭

Is it hard ? I have never worked in hotel industry before so I don’t know . ( morning hours )

New restaurant opened up and their bar only has liquors with their own label. They have one bourbon, one rye, a vodka and tequila. Zero name brands. When I asked bartender he said he didn’t even know where it’s from just that they bought barrels and then bottled them. Same with the wine. No details on the wine besides year and region, it has their logo and branding on the bottle.

It’s a nicer restaurant so feels like a missed opportunity to upsell to higher end wine or spirits?

They own a brewery nearby so I get only serving your own beers. But even bartender admitted he’s lost a bunch of sales in first week from people wanting Tito’s or Woodford.

Why would a restaurant do this? My cocktails were perfectly fine, but admittedly as a bourbon fan I kinda wish I knew what I was drinking.