Choosing restaurant management software in the UK: a practical guide

The essential criteria (short answer)

1. Check the four core modules: floor-plan bookings, a menu with recipe cards, table orders to the kitchen, and stock.
2. Ask for a walk-through of a busy Friday: booking, table order, kitchen, bill and end-of-day report.
3. Confirm which current tools it replaces and which stay, such as your till and accounting software.
4. Ask for reports by day, dish and waiter; without them you cannot fix the menu or the rota.
5. Work out the full cost: subscription, devices, training and menu set-up time.

The essential features

• Floor-plan bookings, showing reserved and free tables at each time.
• A QR digital menu linked to recipe cards and the food cost of each dish.
• Table orders taken at the table and sent to the kitchen.
• Ingredient stock levels, counted against the recipes that use them.
• Shift clock-in for the team.
• Sales reports by day, by dish and by waiter.

Table: separate tools against a dedicated system

Many venues start with a booking book, a group chat for shifts and a spreadsheet for stock. The table compares that with one system.

Separate tools against dedicated restaurant software

What UK rules mean for your software

• The 14 major allergens must be available for food sold unpackaged (retained EU Regulation 1169/2011).
• Natasha's Law requires full ingredient labels, with allergens emphasised, on prepacked food made on site.
• Food businesses need food safety management based on HACCP principles (Food Safety Act 1990).
• Food and drink served on the premises carries the standard 20% VAT rate.
• If VAT-registered, Making Tax Digital for VAT requires digital records and compatible software.
• PAYE pay runs go to HMRC through Real Time Information on each payday.
• Tips and service charges must be shared fairly under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023.

What matters, by type of venue

• Restaurant: the floor plan, reserved tables and orders sent to the kitchen.
• Café: a short menu, with a recipe card for each drink and cake.
• Bar: pour sizes in the recipe card, and stock for spirits, wine and beer.
• Pizzeria: the QR menu, a recipe card per pizza, and orders to the kitchen.
• Bistro or catering: recipe cards with portion weights and dish costs.

A practical example

Example: a 60-cover bistro with eight staff, moving from a booking book and handwritten orders to one system. Orders now go from the application to the kitchen, and closing reports show sales by day, dish and waiter.

Measure it yourself: the time from taking an order to the kitchen, before and after the switch, over a few services.

Common mistakes

• Buying stock software but keeping bookings in a book, so the two never match.
• Keeping recipe cards in someone's head, so food cost stays a guess.
• Ignoring shift clock-in, though labour is one of a restaurant's biggest costs.
• Choosing on the headline price without listing the modules you need.
• Deciding without seeing a busy service, when the software matters most.

How 4restaurants.net helps

• Bookings, floor plan, table orders, stock and shift clock-in sit in one application.
• The QR menu runs on recipe cards, so food cost comes from the same data.
• Table orders reach the kitchen from the same application.
• Reports by day, dish and waiter come from the orders recorded in the application.
• Ingredient stock is counted against the recipes that use it.