How to set up your Square POS for restaurants

To set up Square POS for a restaurant, create your Square account and locations, choose hardware for each station, pick a restaurant POS mode, build your menu, set up sales taxes, connect the kitchen, add your team with the right permissions, then run a full test service. Doing it in that order avoids the most common rework, like rebuilding menus after you change POS modes.

The steps below assume a small restaurant or cafe. If you are opening a brand new business, also read starting a new restaurant business with Square POS.

Before you start: decide how you serve

Your service style drives almost every setting. Answer these first:

• Counter or table service? Quick service needs speed at one register. Full service needs tables, seats and checks that stay open.
• How many order points? Counter, bar, patio, drive-through window, online, kiosk.
• How does the kitchen get orders? Printed tickets or a kitchen display, and how many stations (grill, fry, cold, bar).
• Which plan do you need? Square offers free and paid restaurant plans. Features such as table management and coursing are on paid plans, so compare plans on Square's site before you commit.

Step 1: Account, business details and locations

1. Create your Square account and verify your business and bank details so payouts can start.
2. Add each physical location with its address and business hours. Hours matter: some features, such as low stock alert emails, are timed around them.
3. Set up receipt details (logo, contact info, social links) so every receipt looks professional.

Step 2: Choose hardware for each station

Map hardware to stations, not to a shopping list:

• Main counter: a countertop register or tablet setup with a customer-facing display for tipping and loyalty.
• Tables or line busting: a handheld device so staff can take orders and payments away from the counter.
• Kitchen: a kitchen printer or kitchen display screen for each station.
• Extras: cash drawer, receipt printer and a reliable internet connection with a backup plan.

Check Square's site for current hardware and compatibility before buying, since models change.

Step 3: Pick a restaurant POS mode

Square lets you assign a mode to each device, such as quick service, full service or bar. The mode controls the screens your team sees. Restaurant modes also matter for menus: Square's help center notes that managing menus on the POS channel requires a restaurant mode rather than standard mode.

Step 4: Build your menu

Create items, variations (sizes) and modifiers (add-ons, cooking temperature, milk choice) in Square Dashboard. Then organize them into menus and menu groups, which control how items appear on the POS, online and on kiosks.

• Use clear item names that work for both staff and customers.
• Turn common requests into modifiers so they print cleanly on tickets.
• Assign categories with reporting and kitchen routing in mind.

Our guide to customizing your restaurant's menu on Square covers items and modifiers in detail.

Step 5: Set up sales taxes

In Square Dashboard, sales taxes live under your account settings in the payments section. Create each tax with a name and rate, choose the locations and items it applies to, and choose whether it is added on top of the price or included in it. Confirm the correct rates with your state and local tax authority or your accountant, since rules for prepared food vary by location. See how to use Square for tax reporting in the US for more.

Step 6: Floor plans and tables (full service)

If you seat guests, build a floor plan in Square Dashboard. You can add sections like a dining room, patio or bar, then add tables and drag them into place. Some restaurants create more than one floor plan, for example one for lunch and one for dinner.

Step 7: Connect the kitchen

• Route each category to the right printer or kitchen display station, so drinks go to the bar and burgers go to the grill.
• Decide what prints on tickets: modifiers, notes, table number, order type.
• Send a test order for every category and confirm it lands in the right place.

Step 8: Add your team

Add each team member in Square Dashboard with their job, assigned locations and a personal passcode. Personal passcodes let you see sales, time and actions by person instead of by one shared login. Create permission sets so servers cannot issue refunds or change prices unless you allow it. Our guide to managing employee permissions in Square explains how to structure them.

Step 9: Payments, tips and receipts

• Choose tip options that fit your service style, and include a no tip option.
• Decide on receipt defaults: print, text, email or none.
• Set your cash management routine (opening float, end of day count).

Step 10: Run a test service

1. Ring up a full mock shift: dine-in, takeout, split checks, a refund, a sold-out item and a tip adjustment.
2. Check that every ticket reaches the right station.
3. Review the day's sales report to confirm taxes, tips and categories look right.
4. Fix anything confusing, then train the full team on the final setup.

Common setup mistakes

• Building the menu before deciding on POS modes and categories.
• Guessing tax rates instead of confirming them.
• Giving everyone full access to save time.
• Skipping the test service and discovering routing errors on opening night.

Once you are live, our guide to optimizing your Square setup for fast service helps you fine tune.

Add online ordering and kiosks on day one

Your Square setup is the foundation for every other channel. Orda uses the menu you just built in Square to power your own branded app and ordering website, and Orda Express self-ordering kiosks for the counter. Orders from every channel flow into Square POS, so your kitchen works from one queue. More than 10,000 Square businesses have used Orda.