The Best Restaurant Apps of 2016 You Need to Download Today

Our staff loves being in the know. And, we might add, seeing their tips, tricks of the trade, and industry know-how highlighted here on our news blog pages.

2013-09-07-6e-topapps1920.928d2The focus today? Our team’s top go-to restaurant and hospitality industry apps & platforms.

There are lots out there. In order to whittle it down to our team’s top suggestions to get you started on your go-to list that’ll work within your business’s confines, our team offered up their favorites and we took it from there.

1) OpenTable. Aka the “big-daddy” of restaurant industry apps. Sure, maybe a slight overstatement but OpenTable has been facilitating restaurant reservations (to the tune of 16 million diners per month) and helping to grow restaurant businesses since 1998. The power of connection – among diners, restaurants, and local communities – global growth, and commitment to tech advances are part of their company culture. In fact, for our purposes OpenTable made our roundup due in part to the fact that their first mobile app was introduced in 2008 and today, in North America alone, 47% of reservations are made through an OpenTable app.

2) Pulse. The name says it all. According to our super-fan staffer, who admits it’s his ‘fave app,’ Pulse was created for users to be able to do just that: keep users truly on the pulse of the biz. Created by NCR/Aloha which develops POS applications aimed at improving efficiency + guest service, managing costs, and building sales + profits, Pulse follows suit by allowing operations a real-time tracking of servers’ activity, i.e. service time, guest check specs, seating time, etc. All through data retrieved from your POS system – and all at your fingertips.

3) GrubHub. We’re fans because of this apps’ guest efficiency and search filters that help diners find local area restaurants, their menus, and ease of ordering capabilities. From a restaurant business and operational standpoint, we like GrubHub for the broad-range exposure and the streamlined order management it offers our clients.

4) SinglePlatform. Heralded as ‘”fabulous” by our staffers, SinglePlatform strives to drive local business success by connecting users to top search engines, review sites, online listing directories, and mobile apps. A reported 200 million users find local businesses through SinglePlatform’s mobile technology tools, including listing optimizations, social media scheduling, and a comprehensive analytics suite.

*photo credit: mashable.com