Turn on the POS
Press 'Add the POS'. It is a yearly add-on on top of your plan, and you can add more devices at any time.
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POS hardwareRestaurant POS hardware: the drawer, the printers and the tablets you already own
GetMenu's POS runs on restaurant POS hardware you already own: an iPad, iPhone or Android tablet. Add a receipt printer and a cash drawer, and the drawer opens through the printer on every cash sale. Counter sales, online orders and WhatsApp orders show on the same POS screen, and the kitchen gets one ticket for each order.
Devices
Which iPads and Android tablets run the POS
The GetMenu POS runs on any iPad or iPhone with iPadOS or iOS 16 or later. It also runs on Android phones, tablets and POS terminals with Android 5.0 or later. A tablet POS system for your restaurant can start with a device you already have.
Get the app for iPad and iPhone from the App Store. The Android app installs from a download link we give you. In your dashboard, you add each device, give it a name and choose its job. A six-character code then appears. Type it into the app within 15 minutes and the device is paired. The code works only once.
You can add more devices at any time. Each person signs in with their own four-digit PIN, so every sale shows who took it.
- The counter POS: takes counter sales and table bills. The cash drawer sits next to it.
- A screen in the kitchen: shows the cooks every order they need to make.
- A waiter's phone: takes orders at the table and sends each set of items to the kitchen.
What runs the GetMenu POS
iPad and iPhoneiPadOS or iOS 16 or later, from the App Store
AndroidPhones, tablets and POS terminals on Android 5.0 or later
PairingA six-character code, used once within 15 minutes
Staff sign-inA four-digit PIN for each person
DevicesAs many as you need
Cash drawer
Cash drawer POS system: the drawer opens through the printer
The cash drawer plugs into the receipt printer with a short cable. When a cash sale goes through, the POS tells the printer to open the drawer.
You decide which ways of paying open it. Cash opens the drawer. The card machine does not. For any other way of paying that you add, you make the same choice. A waiter's phone never opens the counter drawer. So the drawer only opens at the counter, next to the cashier.
A restaurant cash register used to do this job. The POS also keeps a full record of every sale and every shift. Each shift opens with the starting cash you put in the drawer. Money put in or taken out during the day is recorded too. At closing, a button opens the drawer and the cashier counts the cash. The POS shows how much should be in the drawer and the gap, if there is one. Then the end-of-day report (the Z report) goes to your managers' group on WhatsApp and to the owner's email.
Printers
Restaurant printers: receipt, kitchen and built-in (USB on the LAN, network, Bluetooth, built-in)
The POS prints receipts and kitchen tickets on USB (on the LAN), network, Bluetooth and built-in printers. Keep a receipt printer at the counter and give each kitchen station its own printer.
The POS prints to ESC/POS printers. ESC/POS is the standard printer language that Epson created, and most receipt printers use it. Star printers work too. Paper rolls can be 58 mm or 80 mm wide.
You choose what the receipt says. It can carry a closing message, a QR code that opens your ordering page, and the name of the person who served. Once you add your tax number, it also carries a VAT line. When a shift opens, the POS checks that each network printer is switched on and connected. With no printer at all, the receipt shows on the screen and can be sent to the customer on WhatsApp.
Printers and the GetMenu POS
ConnectionsUSB (on the LAN), network, Bluetooth, built-in
What printsReceipts at the counter, a ticket for each kitchen station
Printer languageESC/POS, and Star printers
Paper58 mm or 80 mm rolls
No printerThe receipt on screen, or sent on WhatsApp
All-in-one terminals
Touch-screen and all-in-one terminals
An all-in-one Android POS terminal, such as a Sunmi or iMin machine, runs the GetMenu POS and prints on the printer built into it. The touch screen and the printer sit in one box, so the counter needs fewer cables. A cash drawer plugged into the terminal opens on a cash sale, just as it does through a receipt printer.
Some of these terminals have a second screen that faces the customer. The POS shows the order there while the cashier adds each item, so the customer sees what they are buying and the total before they pay. On an ordinary tablet, you turn the tablet around to show the customer the same screen.
A touch-screen POS system for a restaurant can be an iPad on iPadOS 16 or later, or an Android machine on Android 5.0 or later. GetMenu runs on both. The POS is an app, so it does not run on Windows machines or in a web browser.
Buying a used POS system for a restaurant: what carries over
Online orders
Online and WhatsApp orders on the same POS screen
Orders from your online ordering page and orders that come in on WhatsApp show on the POS screen, in the same list as the sales made at the counter. The cashier sees every order in one place, and the kitchen gets one ticket for each order, however it came in.
The moment a delivery order is placed, the customer gets a confirmation on WhatsApp, and your managers' group and riders' group get the order. You send the rider from the POS, and the rider gets the job on WhatsApp. An order taken by phone call and typed in at the counter goes to the kitchen and the riders the same way. Pickup orders show on the same screen until the customer comes to collect them.
A customer who orders from the QR code on a table shows up on that table in the POS floor plan. The bill is paid at the POS. The POS and the ordering page share one menu and one stock count, so when a dish reaches zero, nobody can order it.
Kitchen
Kitchen screen or kitchen printer
GetMenu is a restaurant POS system with a kitchen printer, a kitchen screen, or both. Your cooks can keep paper tickets, move to a screen, or use both. The kitchen screen is a tablet or phone that you pair with the POS and put in the kitchen. It shows counter sales, orders sent from tables, online orders and WhatsApp orders together.
Each order has a coloured ring that shows how long it has waited: green when it arrives, amber when it is close to late, and red when it is late. Cooks tap a dish when it is done and tap Ready when the order is finished. A station's own screen shows only its dishes, orders for later are marked 'Later', and allergy notes stand out.
With kitchen printers, every order prints a ticket for each station, whether it came from the counter, a table, the ordering page or WhatsApp. Every station's ticket carries the same order number and no prices, and special requests are printed in bold on the kitchen ticket.
GRILL
A-128
Counter19:40
2 × Chicken shawarma
No garlic
1 × Mixed grill
Sauce on the side
The juice bar gets its own ticket with the same order number.
Setting it up
What you set up in the dashboard
Add your devices
Name each one, choose its job (counter, kitchen screen or waiter's phone), and type its code into the app.
Settings → The POS → Devices
Add the people
Give each person their name and a four-digit PIN, and choose what they may do.
Settings → The POS → People at the POS
Choose how people pay
Tick 'Opens the cash drawer' for each way of paying that should open it.
Settings → The POS → How people pay
Set up the kitchen and the receipt
Name your stations, give each one its printer, and write what the receipt says. Then, on each dish under Menu, choose who cooks it.
Settings → Printing & receipts, then Menu
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to buy new hardware for the GetMenu POS?
No. An iPad or iPhone on iPadOS or iOS 16 or later, or an Android phone or tablet on Android 5.0 or later, can run it. A receipt printer and a cash drawer are only needed if you want paper receipts and a drawer that opens on its own. Without a printer, the POS shows the receipt on its screen and can send it to the customer's WhatsApp.
Which receipt printer should I buy for a restaurant POS?
Choose a receipt printer that uses ESC/POS, which most do, or a Star printer. It can connect over USB (on the LAN), your network or Bluetooth. A network printer that plugs into your router or joins your Wi-Fi can serve every device at the counter. For a drawer that opens on each cash sale, pick a printer with a port for the cash drawer cable. Paper rolls of 58 mm or 80 mm both work.
Does the GetMenu POS connect to my card machine?
No. Keep the card machine you already have. The cashier types the amount on it, and the POS records the sale as paid by card. At the end of the shift, you type the total from the machine's end-of-day slip. The end-of-day report shows it next to the card total the POS recorded, so a gap between the two is easy to see.
What happens to the POS when the internet goes down?
The POS keeps taking counter sales. Each sale is saved on the device first. It is sent when the internet comes back, and it is never sent twice. The cashier still sees how much change to give back, and the cash drawer still opens. Paying a table's bill and signing in a new person both wait until the connection is back.
Do I need a separate printer for each kitchen station?
No. A dish with no station prints on the counter's receipt printer. Add a station for each place that cooks, such as the grill or the juice bar, and give it its own printer when you want its tickets there. Every station's ticket carries the same order number. If a station's printer stops answering, its dishes print at the counter with the station's name across the top.
Is the POS included in the 15 free days?
No. The POS is a yearly add-on that sits on top of your plan, and it has no free trial of its own. Your 15 free days cover the ordering page, the WhatsApp order messages and the rest of the dashboard. When you add the POS, you can pair more than one device. The pricing page shows the add-on in your own currency.
If my monthly plan stops, does the POS stop too?
No. A POS add-on you have paid for keeps selling at the counter until the end of its paid year, even if your monthly plan has stopped. The online features wait until the plan is running again. Before the add-on's year ends, we remind you 30, 15, 7 and 2 days ahead, and it renews from your card unless you turn renewal off.
Keep reading
POS with online orderingHow counter sales, online orders and WhatsApp orders share one screen, one stock count and one kitchen ticket.Buying an iPad point of sale systemWhat goes wrong with tablets in real service, and what to check before you buy one.POS and the counter, in the help centreStep-by-step answers on pairing devices, the cash drawer, shifts and receipts.See the plans and pricesThe plans and the POS add-on, shown in your own currency.
Run the counter on a tablet you already own
Start with 15 free days on the ordering page and the WhatsApp order messages. Add the POS when you are ready: it is a yearly add-on, with as many devices as you need.