Custom software for independent restaurants, multi-location chains, and restaurant tech companies who need operational systems built around their specific format and service model.
Off-the-shelf restaurant platforms cover common workflows. We build what they can't — the loyalty mechanics, ordering logic, and kitchen integrations your operation actually requires.
POS systems with loyalty integration, table management, and multi-location support
Online ordering platforms with direct delivery and third-party aggregator integration
Custom loyalty and rewards programs that connect every channel — dine-in, takeaway, delivery
Kitchen display systems and order routing built for your kitchen's workflow
Summary
RaftLabs builds custom restaurant software for independent restaurants, multi-location chains, and restaurant tech companies. We develop POS systems, online ordering platforms, loyalty and rewards programs, kitchen display systems, table management tools, staff scheduling, and delivery integration. We've shipped 20+ loyalty platforms across hospitality and food service — we know the retention mechanics that bring diners back.
4+Restaurant and food service businesses in 4+ markets
·0%Online ordering with zero third-party commission
·100+Software products shipped
·FixedCost delivery
Restaurant software built for how your operation actually runs
Off-the-shelf restaurant platforms handle standard table-service and fast-casual workflows. Multi-location chains with custom loyalty mechanics, ghost kitchens with complex order routing, and restaurant groups managing multiple brands under one loyalty programme — these require software built around the actual operation.
We've shipped loyalty platforms, ordering systems, and kitchen management tools for food and hospitality businesses. We know the difference between software that demos well and software that survives a Friday dinner rush.
What we build
Point of sale systems
Custom POS built for your service format — table service, counter service, or hybrid. Table-level order management with split billing, course firing, and modifier handling. Payment processing with card, cash, and digital wallet support. Integration with your loyalty programme for points earning at every transaction. End-of-day reconciliation and till management. Offline mode for resilience when connectivity drops. Hardware integration for your specific POS terminals and receipt printers.
Online ordering platforms
Direct online ordering that keeps the customer relationship in your hands rather than a third-party aggregator. Menu management with item availability by time of day, modifiers, upsell prompts, and real-time stock updates. Order routing to kitchen display or printer. Payment processing with saved cards for repeat customers. Loyalty points earning on every online order. Integration with Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Just Eat for aggregator-channel order management alongside your direct channel.
Loyalty and rewards programs
Custom loyalty programmes that connect dine-in, takeaway, and delivery into a single points balance. Tier management with benefit escalation for your top diners. Campaign tools for bonus points on quiet nights, birthday rewards, and win-back offers for lapsed guests. Digital stamp cards for simpler visit-based programmes. We've shipped 20+ loyalty platforms across hospitality and food service — we know the mechanics that drive repeat visits versus the ones that just add complexity. See our Loyalty Programme Development page.
Table management and reservations
Reservation management with table assignment, cover count tracking, and guest arrival management. Waitlist handling with SMS notifications when a table is ready. Floor plan management with drag-and-drop table assignment for your specific venue layout. Integration with your POS so front-of-house and kitchen always have the same view. No-show protection with deposit capture and cancellation policies. Multi-dining-area management for restaurants with bar, terrace, and private dining.
Kitchen display systems
Order routing from POS and online ordering to kitchen display screens. Station-level routing so starters, mains, and desserts go to the right preparation area. Order timing with course-fire controls so the kitchen knows when to start each course. Bump and recall functionality for kitchen confirmation and order review. Expediter display for pass management. Integration with your POS so the kitchen view always matches what the server entered. Built for your kitchen's specific station layout and workflow.
Staff scheduling and inventory
Staff scheduling with shift management, availability tracking, and labour cost visibility against revenue. Rota publication with staff self-service for shift swaps and availability updates. Inventory management for food and beverage with par level alerts, purchase order management, and wastage tracking. Recipe costing with actual vs. theoretical food cost comparison. Supplier management with ordering integrated into your stock management workflow. Reporting on labour cost percentage and food cost percentage against target.
Problems we solve for restaurant businesses
Online ordering platform taking 30% commission when you could own your own
Third-party aggregators charge 15-30% per order and own the customer relationship. Restaurants that rely on Uber Eats and DoorDash for their online volume are paying commission on orders they could be taking direct. Every order through a branded direct channel is 15-30% more margin on the same sale.
Table management and reservation system disconnected from your POS
When reservations live in one system and orders in another, your front-of-house team is reconciling two views manually during service. Tables get double-booked, covers are miscounted, and the kitchen gets no advance warning of party size. A connected system means one source of truth from booking to bill.
Kitchen display system not matching front-of-house ticket flow
Tickets printed at the pass don't match what the server entered, courses fire in the wrong order, and the expediter is resolving conflicts verbally instead of reading a screen. A KDS built for your station layout and course-fire logic eliminates the gap between what's ordered and what's prepared.
Loyalty program only tracked on paper punch cards
Paper stamp cards have no customer data, no purchase history, and no way to target a win-back offer at a diner who hasn't visited in 45 days. A digital loyalty programme connected to your POS knows who your regulars are, what they order, and when they're drifting -- so you can act on it.
Staff scheduling done in WhatsApp groups with no shift management
WhatsApp scheduling has no visibility into labour cost against revenue, no formal shift swap process, and no record of who confirmed what. When you're running a restaurant at 60-70% labour cost, a scheduling system that ties headcount to forecasted covers pays for itself quickly.
Manual stock counts are slow, inconsistent, and always slightly wrong. POS-integrated inventory depletion means your stock levels update with every sale. Par level alerts and automated purchase orders mean you're not running out of your top-selling items mid-service.
How we work with restaurant businesses
We spend time with your floor staff, kitchen team, and management before writing a line of code. We map your order flow, POS setup, and the specific breakdown points that cost you revenue or margin. Discovery produces a fixed-scope document that defines exactly what we build, at what cost, and in what timeline.
Restaurant software fails when it's designed for generic workflows rather than your specific service format. We design the data model for your table structure, kitchen stations, loyalty mechanics, and multi-location setup if applicable. Architecture decisions made here determine whether the system survives a Friday dinner rush or breaks under load.
We build in two-week cycles with working software you can see and test at each stage. Front-of-house staff and kitchen managers review real workflows -- not mockups -- so problems surface before go-live rather than after. Integration with your existing POS, payment processor, and aggregators happens in this phase.
We don't hand over a finished product and disappear. Go-live includes staff training for front-of-house and kitchen, a parallel-run period where your old system and new system run together, and direct support during the first service periods on the new platform.
Once your system is in production, real data surfaces things that a controlled test won't. We work with you post-launch to refine loyalty mechanics, adjust kitchen routing rules, and add capabilities based on what your actual service pattern reveals.
What to ask any restaurant software team
Operations and POS
Can the system handle your specific service format -- table service, counter, or hybrid?
Does the KDS route by station or does every screen show every order?
How does the system behave when internet connectivity drops mid-service?
Can split billing and course firing be configured for your floor layout?
Loyalty and ordering
Does the loyalty programme connect dine-in, takeaway, and delivery into one balance?
Can you run targeted offers to specific customer segments without manual exports?
Does direct online ordering integrate with aggregators in one management view?
Delivery and cost
Is pricing fixed before development starts, or hourly and subject to overruns?
Who owns the code and data after delivery -- you or the agency?
What does the ongoing maintenance and hosting cost after go-live?
Restaurant software development cost
Scope
Estimated range
Timeline
Online ordering platform
Online ordering platform
$25,000--$50,000
8--12 weeks
Table management and reservations
Table management and reservations
$20,000--$40,000
6--10 weeks
Loyalty and customer app
Loyalty and customer app
$30,000--$55,000
10--14 weeks
Full restaurant management platform
Full restaurant management platform
$80,000--$150,000
16--24 weeks
Frequently asked questions
Off-the-shelf platforms handle standard workflows for table service and counter service restaurants well. Custom software is the right choice when your loyalty programme mechanics are complex enough that platform plugins can't support them; when you're managing multiple brands or locations with shared loyalty and different menus; when your ordering or kitchen workflow doesn't fit the platform's assumptions; or when you're building a restaurant tech product to sell to other operators. The wrong answer is building custom when a standard platform configuration would work — custom development carries ongoing maintenance cost that platforms absorb for you.
Yes. An omnichannel loyalty programme that connects dine-in POS transactions, direct online orders, and third-party delivery aggregator orders into a single points balance is a meaningful engineering project — the data model has to handle different transaction sources with different customer identification methods. We've built this pattern for hospitality and food service businesses. The aggregator integration is typically the complex part: Uber Eats and DoorDash don't share first-party customer data, so the loyalty earn mechanics for aggregator orders require a different approach than direct channels.
Yes. Most restaurant software projects involve integrating with existing systems rather than replacing everything at once. We integrate with major restaurant POS systems, delivery aggregators (Uber Eats, DoorDash, Just Eat, Deliveroo), payment processors, and accounting systems. The integration complexity depends on what APIs the existing system exposes. We scope integrations during discovery because they're often the most time-consuming part of a restaurant software project.
Multi-location restaurant software introduces complexity in: menu management (shared menus vs. location-specific variations), loyalty (consistent points balance and tier status across locations), reporting (per-location and aggregate performance), kitchen routing (different kitchen layouts at different sites), and staff management. We design the data model for your specific multi-location structure during discovery. The right architecture for three locations is different from fifty. We've built both.
Restaurant software by product
Online Ordering System -- branded ordering website and app with menu management, payments, and delivery integration
Restaurant POS Software -- table management, order routing to kitchen, split bills, and end-of-day reporting
