Article 40 Restaurant Management Tools and Apps to Help Supercharge Productivity 40 restaurant management tools and apps designed to improve productivity. Streamline front- and back-of-house operations so you can focus on what really matters. Restaurant technology should help restaurateurs to succeed and focus on what they love ‒ not create unnecessary complexity. So which is the best for your restaurant? Advancements are being made every day in restaurant software, technology, and services. Toast’s Restaurant Success Report says that: Restaurants use an average of three technology vendors to manage back-office operations.50% of restaurant professionals say that accounting, payroll, and business intelligence software are extremely important to their restaurants.68% of restaurant professionals regularly review sales reports, 45% regularly review labor reports, and 32% review menu reports.Technology is also important to your guests. When asked which technologies would best enhance their dining experiences during and after the COVID-19 crisis, restaurant guests called out contactless/mobile payment availability (34%), pay at the table technology (33%), and online ordering (33%).In other words, technology benefits both your efficiency and the guest’s experience. Best Restaurant Apps To help you stay up-to-date, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best restaurant apps and top productivity tools. Use these resources to streamline your operations so you can focus on what matters: your guests, food, and team. 7shifts7shifts is a mobile, cloud-based scheduling and labor management platform trusted by 250,000 restaurant professionals. It helps you save time with scheduling, effectively manage your labor costs, and streamline workforce communications from anywhere.Available on Android and iOS | Learn MoreAveroAvero gives restaurateurs invaluable insights into business operations and sales. When integrated with your restaurant POS, you can access a full suite of solutions like server performance tracking, inventory management, labor and food cost tracking, revenue management, and more.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreBevSpotWant to make tracking kitchen and bar inventory effortless? BevSpot is a food and beverage program management software that lets you take kitchen and bar inventory on any device and place orders with ease. With BevSpot, you can also gain sales performance insights; helping you make better purchasing decisions and improve your profit margin.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreBlueCartBlueCart is a web and mobile platform that allows you to order from all your suppliers and manage inventory right from your phone. BlueCart’s tools work to streamline the ordering process: You can browse their featured network of suppliers (or add your own), do shelf-to-sheet ordering and inventory, and return extra or damaged products.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreBonusly As a tool that helps management recognize restaurant staff, Bonusly incentivizes employees to do their best. Co-workers and managers can send "points" that staff can redeem for prizes and gift cards. Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Start a Free Trial BufferBuffer is an app that helps you manage all your restaurant social media accounts in one place. You can plan and schedule posts ahead of time and measure social media performance right from your phone or laptop.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreChowlyChowly seamlessly combines your third-party online ordering platforms – like GrubHub, Uber Eats, DoorDash, and others – with your restaurant's point of sale. This way, you can reduce errors and the time spent manually entering orders.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn More EvernoteEvernote organizes all your notes into folders and notebooks, so you can easily see what's most important to you at any given time. Plus, it allows you to attach photos, PDFs, to-do lists, checklists, and more to each note, so you can more productively manage your day.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Get Started for Free Feedly Feedly consolidates all of the publications you want to read ‒ from Forbes to Nation’s Restaurant News to the On the Line ‒ into one easy-to-access format. Because Feedly is connected to millions of feeds and publications, you can find the restaurant-related content you care about in a single place.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreFood Cost CalculatorCalculating food cost percentages can be time-consuming, and it’s often guesswork. Toast’s free Food Cost Calculator helps you calculate your food cost percentage based on actual data, not a hunch. The calculator shares the five most popular items (and their price breakdown) on similar restaurants’ menus in your state, then it allows you to calculate each item’s food cost, plus cost per pound and/or cost per cup for each ingredient. It also gives you the ability to create your own custom menu items and determine their ideal price.Available on Web | Try It Now FoodDocsFoodDocs is an AI-powered food safety software with a HACCP builder. It helps you set up a food safety system in 15 minutes and create a customizable HACCP plan in 1 hour. Create and monitor any food safety procedure and save 20% of your time.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreHootsuiteHootsuite is another recommended social media management app and platform. It allows you to manage all of your restaurant's social media accounts in one place. You can schedule posts, monitor trending topics, measure performance, and more.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Start a Free TrialHotSchedulesHotSchedules provides a mobile-friendly, cloud-based solution that helps reduce the time it takes for managers to create, communicate, and manage employee work schedules. It helps you schedule the right people at the right time to reduce labor costs — up to 2 percent, according to the app. Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreIFTTTIFTTT – If This Then That – connects all the apps you know and love and creates "recipes" that help them talk to each other and share valuable information. For example, you can set up a recipe that instantly posts your Instagram photos as native photos on Twitter (rather than links) or one that automatically shares your Facebook status updates on LinkedIn.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreIncentivioIncentivio is a cloud-based, mobile-first engagement platform that helps restaurants acquire new customers, drive visits, and increase customer spend, loyalty and engagement. It allows you to launch online ordering, native mobile apps, and digital loyalty programs easily and quickly.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn More LastPassThe more tools you add to your restaurant's arsenal, the more passwords you’ll have to remember and protect. LastPass is a convenient password manager that gives you access when needed. It also makes it easy to generate a unique password for each account so you're always protected against hacking.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Get It for FreeMenu Engineering WorksheetTrying to take your menu to the next level? Decisions about your menu's pricing, structure, and design should be made not only with care but with data. How much profit is each menu item contributing to your restaurant? What can you do to drive menu items up in popularity? Are your menu items even profitable, or are you spending too much on inventory?This free menu engineering spreadsheet — complete with intricate menu engineering formulas — is used by restaurant owners to determine areas of strength and weakness within their menu.Available on Web | Try It Now MobileDayNever worry about calling in or scheduling a conference call with restaurant stakeholders again. MobileDay syncs with your smartphone calendar, notifies you of upcoming meetings, and allows you to connect to your calls with one touch. Even if you’re on the road, you won’t need to scramble for a conference line pin or access code.Available on Android and iOS | Learn More New Steps of Service ROI Calculator Ready to change up your service model? The New Steps of Service, powered by Toast Mobile Order & Pay™, is a new service model shaking up restaurants across the country. Use this calculator to learn how it could benefit your business, including estimates of how it can increase monthly revenue and reduce front-of-house labor costs.Available on Web | Learn MoreOpenTableWant to manage your restaurant reservations from anywhere? OpenTable provides reservation and guest management whether you’re in the office or on your phone. This restaurant reservation software automates table status updates and allows you to access real-time shift revenue, average guest spend, and more.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreOrder and PayRoughly 34% of guests reported contactless/mobile payment availability as the #1 most important technology for restaurants to implement during COVID, according to Toast’s Guide to the Restaurant Guest. Toast Mobile Order & Pay™ makes this easy: it gives your guests the ability to order and pay for their meal from the convenience and safety of their own device. This tech not only makes your servers' jobs easier — and allow them to take on a larger section — but it lets them focus on the hospitable parts of their jobs, like helping guests choose the perfect wine or entree — instead of spending time and steps running back and forth to the POS terminal. Available on Android and Web | Request a Demo Products Toast Mobile Order & Pay™ Give guests the experience they're looking for with mobile order & pay - easy access to what they want, when they want it, from their own device. Outlook and GmailOutlook and Gmail are two of the biggest email apps on the market. They allow you to manage all of your email communications on the go. You can also schedule appointments and stay attuned to your calendar using the apps.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MorePourMyBeerInstead of guests waiting to order and receive their pints of beer, give them the opportunity to pour it themselves. With PourMyBeer's self-serve bar tap system, you’ll need fewer staff to run your bar and your guests can get their drinks more quickly. They’ll wait less and feel encouraged to buy more.Available on Web | Learn MoreProviProvi’s online marketplace simplifies the complex process of ordering wholesale alcohol by connecting buyers, distributors, and suppliers all in one place. Provi's best-in-class marketplace provides bars, restaurants, and retail shops the ability to discover new products, manage inventory and streamline the ordering process — helping them stay organized and save time.Available on Web | Join For FreeRestaurant365Restaurant365 is a consolidated back-office solution that helps manage your accounting, inventory, and labor scheduling. It helps forecast sales, better control your food costs, and optimize your staff's scheduling based on your sales history, timing, and even the weather.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreRestaurant Floor Plan TemplatesIf you’re building a new restaurant or remodeling your current one, check out Toast’s Restaurant Floor Plan Templates. They can help inspire you to reimagine the layout of your restaurant. Visualize how employees and guests will move through the restaurant space, and experience how technology has become an integral part of creating restaurant floor plans.Available on Web | Learn MoreRestaurant Productivity Calculator This free resource from Toast lets restaurant owners and managers identify the gaps in their day and see where they stack up against the average restaurateur. Enter how many hours per week you spend on tasks like inventory tracking, accounting and reporting, and menu work. The template adds up your time and provides you with concrete restaurant productivity metrics, so you can see just how long you spend in the restaurant each week and how you can become more productive.Available on Web | Try It Now Restaurant Scheduling TemplateHave you ever had an employee miss a shift, or come in at the wrong time because they didn't look at the schedule? Toast created this free, simple restaurant scheduling solution. The Restaurant Scheduling Template allows you to easily schedule your staff's shifts. It can be updated on the go, and employees can access it from home or on their phones.Available on Web | Try It NowRestaurant Technology ROI CalculatorMake sure you're getting the most out of your restaurant technology with Toast’s free Restaurant Technology ROI Calculator. It’s an easy guide for analyzing the success of your restaurant business. It also helps you calculate ROI down to the dollar and presents unique ways your point of sale system can pay you back, based on industry statistics.Available on Web | Try It NowReviewTrackersReviewTrackers' review management software allows you to use customer feedback to act today and predict tomorrow. Collect reviews and use data to gain insights on how to improve your business, all in one easy-to-use dashboard. This app consolidates reviews from Google+, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Yelp, and more.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Sign Up for a Free TrialRockbotWith over 16 million songs licensed for your restaurant, Rockbot lets you play the best background music to achieve the mood that matches your brand. Easily manage what's being played in your restaurant and control the app from any mobile device. Guests can also request songs from your pre-approved library.The music is customized so you can set playlists to automatically play throughout the day. The best part? You don’t need to worry about restaurant music licensing fees.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Sign Up for a Free TrialRooamRooam allows guests to pay their bar tab or restaurant bill remotely from their phones. It also includes chargeback protection and gives you a central way to drive customer acquisition and re-engage them with in-app events, targeted digital promotions, and segmented email campaigns. Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreSay2eatWant to make it easy for your guests to order from you on their preferred channels? Say2eat offers a white-labeled tool that allows your audience to discover your restaurant, connect, and order all within popular marketing and communication channels like Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Slack, and more.Available on Web | Learn MoreSlackSlack is a channel-based messaging platform that can be organized to fit your team by topics, private groups, or direct messages. Slack is faster and more organized than email, and it makes team communication a breeze. Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreSolinkProtect and monitor your business with Solink's video surveillance service, linking your security footage with your sales transactions. Have complete visibility into every action and transaction for every location from any device. Solink also offers the tools your team needs, addressing topics such as compliance issues and security concerns.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreSpeedETabSpeedETab is an industry leader in native mobile ordering, mobile payment, and analytics solutions for restaurants. It helps you design branded ordering experiences – whether that's an app, a landing page, or an online-ordering site – that targets both the technology and the channels that your guests use the most. Available on Android and iOS | Learn MoreSprout SocialSprout Social allows you to see all your messages in one place, view conversation history, and assign certain tasks or to-do lists from messages. It acts as a social inbox so you can quickly post, monitor, and schedule content across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Sign Up for a Free TrialUnroll.MeDo you find yourself inundated with emails that you don’t have the time to unsubscribe from? With Unroll.Me, you can instantly see a list of all your subscription emails, unsubscribe if desired, and consolidate the emails you want to keep ‒ all with a simple swipe.Available on Android and iOS | Learn MorextraCHEF by ToastxtraCHEF by Toast is an automated accounts payable processing and cost management platform built for restaurants. This restaurant inventory management software helps you automate invoice management, which eliminates manual accounting and inventory management tasks. In addition, you can analyze your food costs and improve your purchasing decisions with less effort. Available on Android, iOS, and Web | Learn MoreZero Hour HealthZero Hour Health is a crisis management solution that can help your restaurant navigate a multitude of issues — including foodborne illness outbreaks, violent episodes, workforce problems, and countless other crises. Zero Hour Health also offers comprehensive COVID-19 clinical guidance and medical direction, including reopening plans, employee health checks, and operating procedures.Available on Android and iOS | Learn MoreToast Restaurant Point of Sale & Management SystemToast is a single platform to manage your restaurant. It combines point of sale, point of sale, front of house, back of house, and guest-facing technology with a suite of third-party integrations to help you improve operations, grow revenue, and delight your guests.Available on Android and Web | Request a Demo Related ResourcesBest Food Truck AppsBest Bakery AppsBest Coffee Shop AppsBest Cafe AppsBest Restaurant Health Inspection Apps DISCLAIMER: This information is provided for general informational purposes only, and publication does not constitute an endorsement. Toast does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of any information, text, graphics, links, or other items contained within this content. Toast does not guarantee you will achieve any specific results if you follow any advice herein. It may be advisable for you to consult with a professional such as a lawyer, accountant, or business advisor for advice specific to your situation.