Everything You Need to Know About Restaurant Kiosks and Handhelds in the UK

Running a restaurant in the UK has never been more complex. Labour costs are rising, guests are more price-conscious, and expectations around speed, accuracy, and convenience continue to climb. For full-service and casual dining operators, the challenge is not just doing more with less, but doing it without losing the warmth and hospitality that keep people coming back.

That’s why more UK restaurants are rethinking how they use front-of-house technology. Rather than replacing staff, tools like handheld POS devices and self-ordering kiosks are increasingly being used to support service, smooth pressure points, and help teams stay present on the floor.

This guide breaks down everything you need to know about kiosks and handhelds for restaurants, with a particular focus on how they work in full-service and casual dining environments, what to look for when evaluating options, and where they fit into a modern, UK-compliant restaurant operation.

What Are Restaurant Handhelds and Kiosks?

At a high level, handheld POS devices and self-ordering kiosks both sit on top of your core restaurant POS system, but they serve very different moments in the guest journey.

Handheld POS devices are portable, restaurant-grade terminals used by staff. They allow servers to take orders, send them straight to the kitchen, and take payment at the table or bar without returning to a fixed till. In a full-service setting, handhelds support table-side ordering, coursing, bill splitting, and quick checkouts, all while keeping servers on the floor.

Self-ordering kiosks are guest-facing touchscreen terminals. They're most commonly associated with quick-service, but in casual dining and mixed-service restaurants they're increasingly used at entry points, bars, or high-traffic zones to handle specific order types. 

Both tools are most effective when they're fully integrated with your POS, kitchen display system, menus, and reporting, so orders, payments, and data all flow through one connected platform.

Toast is designed to support exactly these kinds of real-world restaurant workflows.

Toast handheld POS devices allow teams to take orders and payments at the table, send tickets straight to the kitchen, and stay present on the floor during busy services. Toast Kiosk integrates directly with the same POS and kitchen display system, so orders, payments, menus, and reports all live in one place.

Why Full-Service Restaurants Are Investing in These Tools

According to Toast’s Voice of the UK Restaurant Industry 2025 report, profitability is the single biggest challenge facing UK operators, with nearly half citing it as their top pain point. At the same time, 69% plan to increase technology spend in the next twelve months, not to chase novelty, but to run leaner, more resilient operations.

For full-service and casual dining restaurants, handhelds and kiosks are being adopted for very practical reasons.

Handhelds reduce friction during service. Instead of servers constantly walking back and forth to a terminal, orders reach the kitchen sooner, questions are answered at the table, and bills can be settled the moment guests are ready. On a busy Saturday night, those saved minutes add up.

Kiosks can take pressure off key bottlenecks by handling certain interactions so staff can focus on hospitality. That might mean handling lunchtime walk-ins while the floor team focuses on seated guests, or giving regulars a fast way to reorder drinks without flagging down a server.

The common thread is control. These tools help restaurants shape service flow instead of reacting to it.

How Handheld POS Devices Work on a Real Service

In a full-service restaurant, handhelds tend to earn their keep during peak periods. A server greets a table, takes a full order at the table, and sends it directly to the kitchen display system. 

The little details get captured properly as you go, too. For example, if someone wants their burger well done, you can tap it in there and then without relying on memory or scribbled notes. And when the table’s ready to pay, you don’t have to disappear to find a card machine. You can take payment right there.

At Brother Marcus, moving from pen-and-paper ordering to Toast handhelds allowed servers to spend more time with guests and less time running to a till. They’re also able to push menu updates across locations instantly, which has reportedly saved around two hours a week on admin and avoids that awkward moment where you’re trying to update the menu during service.

How Kiosks Fit to Mixed-Service Dining

Kiosks don’t have to change the whole feel of your restaurant. For a lot of casual dining operators, they’re simply a way to take the pressure off at busy moments. You might use them at the entrance, near the bar, or in a counter-service area, while still keeping full table service on the floor. 

That works particularly well when lots of guests arrive at once and just want to get their order in quickly. Instead of everyone queuing at a single till, orders naturally spread across a few touchpoints. 

From an operational perspective, kiosk orders tend to be accurate and consistent. Guests see what they're ordering, adjust modifiers themselves, and send clean tickets straight to the kitchen display system. For menus with lots of customisation or allergen considerations, this can significantly reduce misunderstandings. Kiosks also support modern payment expectations. 

The Operational Impact Behind the Scenes

The real value of kiosks and handhelds shows up in back-of-house operations as much as front-of-house service.

When orders flow directly from guest or server to the kitchen display system, chefs see clear tickets in the order they’re meant to be prepared. No deciphering handwriting. No duplicate or missing slips. Items can be eighty-sixed centrally and removed instantly from handhelds, kiosks, and online menus.

At Riding House Café, switching to an integrated POS and KDS resolved long-standing issues with orders not appearing or appearing twice. Menu updates that once required days of planning now happen instantly across three locations, giving the team far more control during service.

Reporting also improves. With handhelds and kiosks feeding into a single POS, managers can see table turns, revenue per cover, and peak ordering times without stitching together spreadsheets at the end of the week. For multi-site groups, that visibility becomes essential.

Questions to ask when evaluating options

When you’re comparing kiosks or handheld POS systems, it helps to focus on how they’ll actually perform on a busy service, not just how they look on a spec sheet. A few fundamentals tend to make the biggest difference day to day.

Is it built for your space? 

Systems designed specifically for restaurants or bars can handle their unique requirements and busy services far more smoothly.

Will it connect to your other systems? 

Orders, menus, payments, and reporting should all live in the same system to avoid double entry and messy reconciliation.

Does it offer flexible payment options? 

Support for all the different types of payment methods is essential. This includes tap, chip-and-PIN, and mobile wallets and should feel fast and frictionless.

Is it durable enough for service? 

Devices need to withstand spills, heat, and long shifts without slowing teams down mid-service.

Is it easy to learn and is there support? 

An intuitive interface and restaurant-savvy support make training faster and busy nights less stressful.

Legal and Compliance Considerations in the UK

When introducing kiosks and handhelds, there are a few UK-specific considerations worth keeping in mind.

Any system that processes card payments must comply with PCI DSS standards, ensuring cardholder data is handled securely. Integrated payments help simplify compliance by keeping transactions within a single, certified platform.

Restaurants also need to meet accessibility expectations under the Equality Act 2010. This includes ensuring kiosks are usable by guests with different needs, through clear layouts, readable text, and accessible positioning.

Pricing transparency is equally important. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, guests must clearly understand what they’re being charged. Kiosks and handhelds support this by displaying prices, service charges, and totals clearly before payment. 

None of this replaces legal advice, but the right technology can make compliance easier rather than harder.

The Final Takeaway

Kiosks and handhelds can help you improve hospitality by removing friction. When the everyday friction is taken out of service, your team has more headspace to do what they do best: look after guests.

Handhelds help servers stay on the floor, keep orders moving smoothly, and settle bills quickly and clearly. Kiosks, used in the right places, take the edge off busy moments and give guests an easy way to order without forcing everyone into the same experience.

If you’re thinking about adding kiosks or handhelds, the most useful next step is seeing how they’d actually work in your restaurant, with your layout, your menu, and your team. That’s where it becomes clear whether they’ll actually support the kind of service you want to deliver.