Restaurant POS equipment refers to the physical devices used to run front- and back-of-house operations, including countertop terminals, handhelds, kitchen display systems, self-ordering kiosks, guest display terminals, and card readers. Toast designs its equipment to be restaurant-grade, tested to hold up against spills, drops, and the demands of a busy service, while helping staff take orders and process payments efficiently.

Restaurant point of sale hardware is the physical technology restaurants use to take orders, process payments, and manage service, such as countertop terminals, handheld devices, kitchen display systems, self-ordering kiosks, guest display terminals, and card readers. Toast builds its hardware to withstand the wear of daily restaurant operations, from spills to drops, so your team can keep moving through every rush.

No, Toast hardware is designed to work for retail, food service, or the increasing number of concepts that include both.

While you’ll currently find Toast in 171,000+* restaurants, we’ve also served thousands of retail stores (and counting!). Our experience in the restaurant industry has allowed us to create a retail platform that meets the evolving needs of stores that also offer some form of food or beverage service, from wine tastings, to sandwiches, to coffee, to full-blown restaurants.

Toast hardware undergoes rigorous internal testing to ensure it thrives in the realities of high-volume restaurants and retailers. Learn more here.

Yes, Toast offers a variety of optional accessories. For example, protective cases and Sling and Holster carriers are available for purchase to accompany the Toast GoⓇ 3 handheld. If you are a current Toast customer, you can explore and purchase accessories here.

Yes. Device Hub gives you real-time visibility into all your Toast handhelds, terminals, and printers from a single, centralized dashboard. You can quickly check device status, view alerts, access serial numbers, and get support for your Toast hardware — all in one place.

Most restaurants need four things to open: a terminal, a card reader, a receipt or kitchen printer, and a secure router. Everything else depends on service model. 1. A countertop terminal at each service station, such as the Toast Flex™ terminal. 2. A card reader. The Toast Tap™ card reader handles swipe, dip and tap. 3. A printer, kitchen or receipt, or a kitchen display system instead of tickets. 4. A data security router, included in every Toast Starter Kit. 5. Handhelds if you run table, patio or curbside service, such as the Toast Go® 3 handheld. 6. A self-ordering kiosk if guests queue at a counter. 7. A guest display terminal if you want order visibility and tip prompts at checkout. A Toast Countertop Starter Kit includes a Toast Flex™ terminal, Toast Tap™ card reader, data security router, POS software and self-service install support.

In most cases, restaurants moving to Toast use Toast-provided hardware, since it's built and tested specifically to work with the Toast platform. If you have questions about reusing specific existing equipment, it's best to check with a Toast specialist during onboarding to confirm compatibility for your setup.