The restaurant ops stack (2026)

The rule

This is an operations stack for a US independent restaurant or small group — one to a few locations, full-service or fast-casual. It is not a craft stack. We will not rank AI menu writers, photo generators, or review-reply bots. That catalog is Aiacent, on purpose. If the leak is the food, leave. If the leak is tips in a spreadsheet, a schedule nobody trusts, and the founder’s personal checking, stay.

The default stack

• POS: Toast if you are a full-service restaurant and will live in that platform. Square if you are counter-service, a cafe, or a food shop that is still retail-adjacent. Do not buy Toast to get payroll for a gift shop.
• Payroll: Toast Payroll if the POS is already Toast and the quote is in writing. Square Payroll ($35 + $6 per paid employee on the public card we reviewed) if the floor already lives in Square. Homebase if scheduling is the leak and payroll rides along. Gusto Simple ($49 + $6) if the POS is not the system of record.
• Scheduling: the POS or Homebase first. Deputy or 7shifts when a multi-location crew outgrows the free tier. See employee scheduling.
• Books: QuickBooks Online Essentials or Plus once a CPA appears. Wave is a starter, not a restaurant close. Tips and sales tax are a ledger job.
• Banking: a business checking account in the entity name. Mercury or Relay at $0 if you do not deposit cash. A branch (Chase-class) if you bag deposits.
• Payments out: Melio or the bank’s bill pay for vendors. Do not pay the produce vendor on a personal card “for points” without the fee math.

Floor and labor

Time on the POS is the timesheet. That is why Toast wins when you are already on Toast, and why Square Payroll wins when the iPad is already Square. Homebase is the fork when hiring and shift swaps are the weekly fire and you are not ready to re-platform POS. Gusto is the clean published-payroll default when the register and payday should stay separate — a catering company with a simple Square reader, or a group whose POS vendor is a quote you will not sign this quarter.

Scheduling is not HRIS. Buy a crew tool the floor will open on a phone. PTO and handbooks can wait until the first salaried manager. We are not your tip-credit or overtime advisor. Classification of bussers, events staff, and “salary” kitchen managers belongs to counsel and a CPA.

Money

Processing is the tax you already pay. Square Free in-person is 2.6% + 15¢ as of September 20, 2026. Toast is quote-shaped hardware plus processing — get the effective rate in writing next to the software line. Square Payroll is $35 + $6 per paid employee. Gusto Simple is $49 + $6. Homebase publishes per-person payroll math — confirm joinhomebase.com/pricing. QBO Simple Start is $38; Plus is $140 if you need classes for two locations. This is not tax advice.

Open business checking before the first wine distributor wants an ACH. Cash businesses still need a branch or a cash-friendly bank. Sub-accounts for tax, payroll, and operating are how you stop raiding next Friday’s Gusto debit. See the LLC banking ranking and Is Mercury banking worth it if you are not depositing bags of cash.

What to skip

• An enterprise HCM because a multi-unit consultant said Workday.
• A second POS “for online ordering” while tickets already leak.
• Rippling for a 12-person line. Devices are not the fire.
• AI menu and photo tools as a reason to ignore tip reporting and payday.
• Personal Venmo as the tip jar and the operating account.