--- title: "Square for Restaurants Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is Square for Restaurants the right Restaurant POS solution for you? Explore 54 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/175628/Square-Point-of-Sale/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" --- Square for Restaurants 4.4 (54) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/175628/Square-Point-of-Sale/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated September 4th, 2026 # Reviews of Square for Restaurants Ease of use 4.5 Customer Service 3.9 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews JL John L OwnerEntertainment, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “I have multiple types of businesses under my roof (retail, quick service restaurant and full service restaurant) and Square manages all of it, seemlessly.“ June 17, 2025 JS Julie S First LadyFood & Beverages, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Our hardware takes a lot of abuse as our bar/restaurant is outside“ November 20, 2024 DM Donnie M Multi-Unit ManagerRestaurants, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Square for Restaurants is the first Point of Sale that I found that I could fully customize for myself the way I wanted. “ November 19, 2024 LC Leah C OwnerFood & Beverages, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “We’ve spent thousands of dollars on staff trying to figure it out, but random glitches that have no explanation crash the iPads, QR codes and printing capacity.“ June 9, 2022 CS Clay S OwnerFood & Beverages, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Easy to manage website and make changes.“ October 9, 2025 SC Sam C Restaurant Owner Restaurants, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “Unfortunately this is all overshadowed by the day-to-day experience of using the POS for an actual restaurant, especially if you are using a combination of online ordering from a Square website, and in-person dining. “ July 24, 2021 CS Clay S OwnerFood & Beverages, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Great device integration.“ October 9, 2025 AA Angela A Owner/managerFood & Beverages, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: I used a free trial. “Partial payment and leave tab open would be very difficult. And the support said even with paid software “it’s not set up for tab management“ I’m a bar“ May 25, 2021 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 54 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Matthew L. Operations Support Staff Food & Beverages Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "A seamless staff and guest experience " August 3, 2026 4.0 Overall square is easy to use and setup our staff and guests have a decently seamless experience when we take their orders and payment. Pros When taking orders for our guests it makes it easy to choose the options that they want. It is customizable for you to be able to have different options for your menu items. We can add inventory to the system and keep track of what we are selling and what we need to order. Cons The software updates often kick off the printer profiles we have connected. We are unable to use the tap to pay on one system after an update last year. Review Source JL John L. Owner Entertainment Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Square for Restaurants makes my diverse business operations seemless" June 17, 2025 5.0 It's been great. The system has been reliable and it's easy to use. The cloud based system makes it easy for me to manage my business, even when on the road. Pros The vast functionality allows me to run my business the way I need to. I have multiple types of businesses under my roof (retail, quick service restaurant and full service restaurant) and Square manages all of it, seemlessly. Cons The Loyalty and Marketing program is good, but not great. The system does a great job automating text and email sending, but I wish it had a bit more depth on the reporting side. Alternatives considered [Toast POS](https://www.capterra.com/p/136301/Toast-POS/) Reason for choosing Square for Restaurants The integration to QubicaAMF Conqueror POS made my choice easy. Review Source CS Clay S. Owner Food & Beverages Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "It’s Okay, not my favorite " October 9, 2025 3.0 Pros The ease of setting up and contacting customer service. Easy to manage website and make changes. Great device integration. Lower upfront cost, often making updates to improve the product Cons Customer service is not always helpful or good with resolution. There’s a fee for almost every additional feature that could benefit the business. Review Source CR Charly R. Operations Manager Food & Beverages Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Square POS review" June 4, 2026 5.0 overall I would say that it is a really good POS , I have switch from BEPOZ to square and I don't regret it a second to be honest Pros I am using square for restaurant in one of my cafe , it is really simple to get the hang of it , all my staff love it as well , simple and efficient Cons they are taking 1.6% of all transaction which adds up overtime , however in exchange they provide a really nice and efficient support , however 1.6% is a bit high Switched from [Bepoz](https://www.capterra.com/p/144156/Bepoz-Point-of-Sale/) The ease of use is way better with Square than Bepoz Review Source JS Julie S. First Lady Food & Beverages Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Square for Restaurants is a solid POS system. Glad its part of our team." November 20, 2024 5.0 It has been a good experience. I have had a few issues with hardware but the support team is helpful. Our hardware takes a lot of abuse as our bar/restaurant is outside so they get unplugged and put away at the end of each business day. Pros I have found it easy to manage, pull reports, and manage staff. The online menu options was super nice as well. The new addition of the pre-authorization feature is a GAME CHANGER at our establishment. Cons I would like a report that shows me my exact payout of credit card sales less the Square fees for each business day. I know the information is there and I can search for it but would like a page just for payouts. Alternatives considered [Clover](https://www.capterra.com/p/226864/Clover/)[Toast POS](https://www.capterra.com/p/136301/Toast-POS/) Reason for choosing Square for Restaurants We had used Square POS in our retail store and it made sense so we gave Square for Restaurants a try. Review Source DM Donnie M. Multi-Unit Manager Restaurants Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Square for Restaurants - The only real POS you can try before you buy for small restaurants." November 19, 2024 5.0 So, overall, It is excellent low cost way to get started. Paying for the upgrades is well worth it to manage staff, an online ordering site, and have all the registers and equipment you need. Other competitors are very good too, but the monthly charges for them greatly outweigh the processing of cards cost that square charges. You pick your poison sometimes, but for a small restaurant, it is a no brainer to start out with square for restaurants. Even a multi-location set up like mine really takes advantage of the packaging of services. Pros Square for Restaurants is the first Point of Sale that I found that I could fully customize for myself the way I wanted. Help was available if I needed it, but I like to throw away the instruction book and do it myself. I could use hardware/tablets I already had to use the software and the tight integration with the KDS was what I needed. I didn't have to run a bunch of wires to have a printer in the kitchen and a screen. Cons My 2 big caveats are the nature of cloud based kitchen display system. If the internet goes down you not only lose the tickets, but the printers won't print from the kds. It is not impossible, but for any pos I recommend a cellular backup for your business. It is necessary. The second thing is there are a few quirks with the system that have gotten updates, I just didn't know when it was going to change. I used to not be able to have photos on the display, but they are making it "prettier" as time goes on. Alternatives considered [Clover](https://www.capterra.com/p/226864/Clover/)[Toast POS](https://www.capterra.com/p/136301/Toast-POS/) Reason for choosing Square for Restaurants Ultimately, it was the cheapest to get started and had all the features I needed without some sales rep constantly after me. Review Source DM Dannyelle M. Owner Food & Beverages Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Enough for what we need" March 24, 2023 5.0 8/10 overall, with unique issues to certain industries that makes it frustrating here and there. I'd suggest it, there's a reason it's the most popular POS system for small businesses on the market, but don't expect it to be perfect! Pros Easy to set up and adjust menus and such, does most everything we need it to do. Have to think outside the box to get it to do some of the things I need it to do, but overall, if you take the time to figure it out, you'll get there. Cons A few things are a bit narrow in customizability, I wish we could do more variation in things like loyalty programs and discount set-ups, and sometimes some adjustments can be a bit tedious to change. We're a brewery with a constantly changing menu of beer offerings, so having to make 5-10 clicks per beverage change every single week can be a bit frustrating, but it's overall pretty user friendly so I can't complain too much. Alternatives considered [Wix](https://www.capterra.com/p/169007/Wix/)[Clover](https://www.capterra.com/p/226864/Clover/)[Toast POS](https://www.capterra.com/p/136301/Toast-POS/) Reason for choosing Square for Restaurants Relatively within budget, and popular enough that I knew it would be easy to find solutions to issues within online forums and other business owners across the platform. Had also used it before at a previous job so I knew I could integrate it into some of the things I also wanted to use. Review Source KZ Kevin Z. Director Of Operations Food & Beverages Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "The Obivious choice for Payment processing " January 15, 2020 5.0 The major benefits we experience are as follow: Payment processing is a breeze, we are able to integrate our system with Quick books seamlessly, the many option for accepting payment means we never miss out on being able to receive payment at any time, Customer service is very helpful and they genuinely care about helping your business succeed and the most important for us is we never have to think about it, it just works. Pros Square has streamlined my credit card processing immensely, We were using a different merchant service before that had higher fees and less intuitive features. Square is very useful for our staff accepting payments on site, at events, Bar Tending and processing catering invoice payments. it is fully integrated with our Quickbooks software for a streamlined process. The speed in which receiving credit to our bank account is also pleasantly fast. Finally being able to accept a credit card while in an out of service area (No Wifi/Cellular) is an excellent feature we have already taken advantage of. Cons There are no issues in the two years I have been using Square to report. The addition of NFC payments has made my life even better! Alternatives considered [PayPal](https://www.capterra.com/p/207944/PayPal/)[Stripe](https://www.capterra.com/p/123889/Stripe/)[Flint Mobile Payments](https://www.capterra.com/p/136760/Flint-Mobile-Payments/) Reason for choosing Square for Restaurants When choosing Square I did a ton of research on other companies, from reading reviews and watching videos on how they work it was clear to me that Square was the no Nonsense approach we were looking for. If you are a small business looking to take control of your payment processing I highly recommend Square to you. Review Source CK Camila K. Manager Restaurants Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "the best POS for restaurants" December 2, 2020 4.0 Square was a huge help for us as a restaurant this year. With covid-19 businesses had to move really fast to the online market and Square provides the tools to get there really fast and easy. Pros It is really easy to set up, the price is way better than the other systems in the market, it works with wifi and you can use it on your laptop, Ipad, smartphone. I love how they offer the CRM tool and even more I love how easy is to create a website for your restaurant with them. Cons they could improve some of the features so It is even easier and faster to select the items. for example to add more options to the conditional words ( add, yes, No, extra, etc...) they could put the option to replace (ex: replace Ham for turkey) so when we have a customer who wants to customize a product we do not have to write long sentences all the time, instead we can just click a few buttons and is done. Alternatives considered [Clover](https://www.capterra.com/p/226864/Clover/)[Toast POS](https://www.capterra.com/p/136301/Toast-POS/) Reason for choosing Square for Restaurants The quality of the product was better and for a better price Switched from [Revel Systems](https://www.capterra.com/p/135040/Revel-iPad-POS/) Price, features, customer service. Review Source SD Sayda D. Owner Food & Beverages Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Square for Restaurants is amazing " June 17, 2025 5.0 Square for restaurants has been absolutely amazing to use and absolutely easy in all of its reporting and adapta to the constant changes in the food industry. Pros The ease of use and the ability to set up your table settings in your dining area. It is absolutely easy to train new staff on it. Cons Switching between tickets and to go orders has to be the most frustrating. As well as adjusting items on entered tickets can be a bit tricky. Review Source BG Bryan G. Marketing Manger Market Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Swipe right material" March 13, 2019 4.0 Overall ok. Worked most of the time and I like that you can hook up your phone to the little swiping dude. Fix the tipping section at a buyer's checkout stage and you will do wonders. Lower CC fees please. Pros Working at a restaurant, this software made life easy for everybody (most of the time). Easy to set up a menu and add images, calculate tax, and reports. Cons When wifi went down so did our morale. However, the worst thing about this program was the Tipping Section. Customer's can't read the fine text at the tip checkout phase. They are deer in headlights. "Where do i sign?!" "What do I do" There is a big hiccup at this stage of the check out. Please bring up to your UX team. Square needs to make it simpler for end users. Bless them. I heard the fees are higher than most competitors. Review Source dH dario H. Owner Restaurants Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQUARE POS and its issues" October 11, 2022 3.0 Processing orders and time keeping Pros Trying to improve the reports and order processing Cons No onsite help to set up properly so consequently not able to use all it's features Reason for choosing Square for Restaurants Works well for quick serve Review Source JS Julie S. Professor E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Contract Sign Language Interpreter" April 26, 2022 5.0 Pros I like square for restaurants because it is tech savvy and lets the customers easily receive receipts and give feedback through their phone. Cons There is nothing that I can think of that I do not like about this software. Review Source DT Danika T. Event Specialist Events Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Simple and easy to use" August 2, 2021 5.0 I have enjoyed using it overall as a user to save time and be efficient. Pros I like that this software is automatically linked to my accounts as a user. I don't need to keep track of rewards programs. I also like that you don't have to calculate tip amounts as it gives suggested amounts and percentages. Cons It does sometimes make it awkward for users to feel obligated to tip for transactions that wouldn't normally require tips but in the end it helps the team. Review Source GS Greg S. Owner Restaurants Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Used square for a food trailer." March 11, 2020 4.0 Square has been great for our food trailer. Ours came with a card swiper and we purchased the chip reader for less than $50.00. Pros Square is easy to use. The chip reader is easy to connect to your phone with bluetooth. The transaction are in your account the next day. Cons The chip reader does not stay on long enough when not in use, and you have to reconnect to your phone everytime you turn it back on. Reason for choosing Square for Restaurants Considering a lot of transactions Square calculated out to be the best price for what we needed. Review Source CW Cait W. Teacher Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Review 11 Square for Restaurants" March 12, 2019 5.0 Pros I am a customer that has a friend that uses this for her small business. I love that this product gives small business the ability to set this up without paying for credit/debit fees. Cons I think this software is great - sometimes I have seen people struggle with their cards swiping correctly (could be user error) Review Source RW Rochelle W. Founder Entertainment Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Saved the small restaurant business " May 23, 2019 4.0 Overall I think this has been great. Works well for small restaurants, especially mobile food trucks. Pros I love that product. It has made it easy for consumers to make purchases with debit and credit card in an era where nobody really uses cash too much. Cons Sometimes the square might not be able to read the card that is used to make purchase but if that doesn’t work you can always key in the card number so you don’t miss sale. Review Source KC Katie C. Student Higher Education Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Easy and efficient!" August 17, 2021 5.0 Overall, Square is incredibly useful for our ability to manage payment and make things easy for our customers. Pros I love that with Square, I can count on effective usage and payment process. The QR codes are a fantastic feature, especially during difficult times with COVID. Cons Hmm, based upon my usage thus far- I have not encountered difficulties with Square. This is not to say there is no room for improvement, however I do not have a specific suggestion at this time. Review Source mV matthew V. Carpenter Construction Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Square for restaurants " November 30, 2024 5.0 Great! For parking lot and county fair gives everyone options and equal transactions grounds Pros Simple, out of location (parking lot)with all payment options as interior of brick and mortar Cons Fear of multiple transactions and fraud Not sure as to how safe and secure in long run Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Restaurant Owner Restaurants Used the software for: 6-12 months ### ""Square for Restaurants" is not for Restaurants. " July 24, 2021 3.0 They slapped the words 'For Restaurants' on a product that has not been properly optimized for restaurants. For very small, very simple operation (e.g. coffee shops) it is probably fine. Beyond that steer clear if you are a restaurant. The convenient tech on the backend does not justify to the awful day-today, and utterly useless reporting. Pros Setup is easy. HR, on-boarding, benefits, payroll, CC processing all built in is very convenient. Cons Unfortunately this is all overshadowed by the day-to-day experience of using the POS for an actual restaurant, especially if you are using a combination of online ordering from a Square website, and in-person dining. Creating new menu items is very tedious, even when duplicating. Drill-down reporting is almost non-existent, stops at the category level. E.g. I have a category called "Beer" that contains 8 different beers. I can see how much gross sales the category does, but I cannot look into the category to see any more detail than that. I have to look at the entire inventory itemized sales report and pick the beers out 1 by 1 to get info on which ones are selling. Reason for choosing Square for Restaurants Convenience. Review Source LC Leah C. Owner Food & Beverages Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Glitchy Hellish Nightmare" June 9, 2022 1.0 Traumatizing. Glitches crashed our restaurant multiple nights in a row. Can’t handle a complex restaurant. Fine for a 1 terminal retail operation, but RUN AWAY if you are a restaurant owner. Use Toast! Pros The price is the only good thing about this software. But you get what you pay for and it’s not worth the savings! Cons The software is so glitchy that it has been an epic fail! QR codes fail; printers randomly disconnect; the software double & triple prints tickets (but with delays so it seems like new tickets); tech support is terrible (often barely speaks English & can’t solve complex issues). No on-site support like competing products. We’ve spent thousands of dollars on staff trying to figure it out, but random glitches that have no explanation crash the iPads, QR codes and printing capacity. This doesn’t even scratch the surface of the issues we’ve had. The software cannot handle the complexity of a restaurant. NIGHTMARE! Alternatives considered [Toast POS](https://www.capterra.com/p/136301/Toast-POS/) Reason for choosing Square for Restaurants Price Review Source YD Yuki D. Restaurant business Hospitality Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Lost of time and money big impact on small business" June 23, 2024 3.0 Not bad but would be better if square take responsibility when application not working and refund the customers for the lost Pros The system himself is not bad, when it is working! Cons The customer service and the way they treat the customer and never refund money Review Source CT Christina T. Interim manager Food & Beverages Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Business owner’s best friend " December 20, 2020 5.0 The choice to use Square for our credit/debit transactions was the best choice for us financially. Signing up was stress free, without a ton of confusing paperwork, and the fees were more than manageable. In less than a week I received a card reader that was compatible with my device, and free of charge. Transactions are securely managed by the Square app that allows me to track sales any time I want. A very small percentage of each transaction goes to fees and is processed immediately eliminating the monthly bill process. The app also features tools that track inventory, set up promotional offers, loyalty rewards, and collect feedback from my customers. On app tutorials walk you through everything with outstanding customer service for the bigger issues. Pros The financial side of any business can be very stressful. Square offers a wide variety of tools and resources that help business owners monitor sales, track inventory, and reward customer loyalty. It’s free to join, and fees are a small percentage of each transaction. Using the app eliminates paperwork giving me more time to focus more on customer satisfaction. Cons Not a software, but a very minor inconvenience with the round jack. The reader would occasionally turn during a card swipe, causing a read error. I secured a thin piece of sturdy plastic on the back side of the reader that uses the back of my device as an anchor. Review Source JR Jonathen R. FoH Manager Restaurants Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great as long as you got it" August 20, 2021 5.0 Pros I loved how in depth and detailed one could get and that it considered things like substitutions and such. Cons Heaven forbid something wasn't working on the machine and we needed customer support. Always was a hassle, especially if it was an issue involving the POS system not wanting to be online. Review Source NS Nick S. Owner Food & Beverages Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Square For Restaurants is A+++" March 25, 2023 5.0 Pros Great features, easy to use, fast, great hardware and customer support Cons No cons come to mind. Square has pretty perfect for our needs Alternatives considered [Toast POS](https://www.capterra.com/p/136301/Toast-POS/) Reason for choosing Square for Restaurants Square rep was friendly and supportive. Switched from [talech](https://www.capterra.com/p/155256/talech/) Better hardware and support Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.