Welcome to The Prep!

You’re officially part of a community of restaurant owners and operators in pursuit of making their restaurants a success.

Every week, we deliver the freshest restaurant stories straight to your inbox:

  • In-depth analysis on what’s working (and what’s not)
  • Practical insights you can use this week
  • Expert advice from operators who’ve been there
  • Systems and tools worth your time

Your first edition arrives this Wednesday. Check your inbox and add newsletter@theprep.co to your contacts so you never miss a beat.

⚡ Exclusive tools & pricing for Prep subscribers below

The Prep is a Tech.co newsletter bringing you restaurant-focused insights backed by 10+ years of software research. Here are the tools we’ve vetted that can make a real difference for your operation.

The POS System Restaurant Owners Actually Recommend

Tested by Tech.co

We know you don’t have time to demo every POS system on the market. After evaluating pricing, performance, and feedback from thousands of restaurant operators, one system consistently stands out for independent restaurants:

Square

9.5

Best for:

  • Best for Restaurants & Food Trucks
Visit Square Save up to $100 on hardware

Square gives restaurants one integrated system for front-of-house, back-of-house, and payment processing—no separate vendors to manage. Built for quick setup and staff training, with transparent pricing that scales as you grow.

  • Free to start—pay only transaction fees
  • Integrated payments with next-day deposits
  • Built-in online ordering and delivery integration
  • Kitchen display system for order routing
  • Table management and floor plan layouts
  • Real-time inventory tracking and alerts
  • Staff management with clock-in/permissions
  • No long-term contracts or cancellation fees

Why Square?

Most restaurant POS systems force you to choose: either pay for enterprise features you’ll never use, or cobble together five different tools that don’t talk to each other. Square’s bet is simpler—one system that handles payments, kitchen tickets, inventory, and staff scheduling without requiring a consultant to set up. You’re trading some advanced customization for something your team can learn in an afternoon. For most independent operators, that’s the right call.

Toast for Growing Restaurants
Subscriber Perk

As a Prep subscriber, you get fast-tracked access to Toast—the POS built for multi-location operators and growing restaurants. Get your custom quote below.

What makes Toast stand out:

✓Multi-location reporting in real-time: See performance across all locations from one dashboard.

✓Labor management that adapts: Built-in scheduling, time tracking, and forecasting.

✓Online ordering that actually integrates: Digital orders flow directly into kitchen operations.

Limited Time Offer

$4K off hardware + free digital storefront (12 months)

Advertising disclosure

Please be advised that the operator of this site accepts advertising compensation from the companies listed, and such compensation impacts the location and order in which the companies (and/or their products) are presented. Company listings on this domain do not imply endorsement.

Read more →