A busy restaurant or cafeteria in the UAE can take hundreds of orders a day – dine-in, takeaway and delivery, often at the same time. When orders are written on paper and shouted to the kitchen, mistakes happen: wrong dishes, forgotten tables and bills that do not match the cash drawer.
A restaurant POS system brings billing, tables and the kitchen together on one screen. Here are the 9 features we recommend every restaurant and cafeteria in the UAE look for.
Quick summary: look for table management, a kitchen display or KOT printing, fast billing with split payments, product options, VAT receipts, stock, staff roles, clear reports and cloud access on any device.
1. Table map and takeaway orders
Waiters should see every table on one screen: free, occupied or waiting for the bill. Opening a table, adding items and moving an order should take a few taps. Takeaway and delivery orders should sit in their own list, so they never get mixed with dine-in.
2. Kitchen display and KOT printing
When the waiter sends an order, the kitchen should receive it instantly – either on a kitchen display screen or as a printed KOT (kitchen order ticket). A good system lets the kitchen mark orders as started and ready, and alerts the waiter when food is ready to serve.
3. Fast billing with split payments
At lunch rush every second counts. Look for quick item search, hold and resume, discounts, refunds and the option to split a bill between cash and card.
4. Product options and add-ons
Restaurants rarely sell a single version of a dish. You need sizes (small, medium, large), extras (cheese, sauce) and add-ons – each with its own price – so the bill and the kitchen ticket are always correct.
5. Correct receipts with VAT
Receipts should print clearly on 58 mm or 80 mm thermal printers and show VAT correctly. This keeps customers happy and makes life easier for your accountant.
6. Inventory and purchases
Track stock of drinks, packaging and ingredients, record supplier purchases and get low-stock alerts before you run out of a best-seller in the middle of service.
7. Staff roles and permissions
The owner, manager, cashier, waiter and kitchen staff all need different access. A waiter should not be able to delete a paid bill; the owner should see everything.
8. Daily and monthly reports
Sales by day, gross profit, top-selling items and expenses tell you what is really happening. Reports you can export to Excel or CSV are a big help at month end.
9. Cloud access on any device
A cloud POS runs in the browser on a PC, tablet or phone. You can check today’s sales from home, and your data is backed up even if a device breaks.
Restaurant POS checklist
- Table map, dine-in and takeaway
- Kitchen display or KOT printer
- Hold, resume, discounts and split payment
- Sizes, extras and add-ons
- 58/80 mm receipt printing
- Stock, purchases and low-stock alerts
- Staff roles: owner, manager, cashier, waiter, kitchen
- Daily and monthly reports with export
- Works on phone, tablet and PC, in English and Arabic
Smart POS Manager for UAE restaurants
Smart POS Manager is our cloud POS for restaurants and cafeterias in the UAE. It includes a table map and takeaway orders, a live kitchen display with KOT printing and ready alerts for waiters, product options, inventory, purchases, staff roles, reports with CSV export and five languages including Arabic.
Every feature is included for AED 550 per year, and you can try it free for 14 days with no credit card.
Want to see it with your own menu? Message us on WhatsApp +971 58 156 5050 and we will help you set up your free trial.
