For years a “POS” meant a bulky terminal bolted to the counter, sold to you at a markup and locked to one vendor. It doesn’t have to anymore. A tablet — an iPad or an Android tablet you may already own — runs a full restaurant POS, and for most restaurants and cafés it’s the better choice. Here’s why, and what you actually need to start.
Why a tablet beats a locked-in terminal
Three reasons:
- Cost. A proprietary terminal is hardware you effectively rent at the vendor’s margin. A tablet is a commodity you can buy anywhere, replace cheaply, and repurpose. No locked-in box, no locked-in price.
- Familiarity. Your team already knows how a tablet works. New staff are productive in minutes, not a training session — which matters when turnover is real and a Friday is busy.
- Mobility. A terminal lives at the counter. A tablet goes to the table, the terrace, the queue or the food truck. You take the order where the guest is, and it fires to the kitchen before you’ve walked back.
iPad or Android?
Both work. Choose what your team is comfortable with and what your budget allows.
- iPad — rock-solid, long supported, great screens; the safe default if you’re buying new.
- Android tablets — cheaper per device and plentiful, so it’s easy to add a few or keep spares.
Garivio POS runs on both, so you’re not forced into one ecosystem — mix them if you like.
Take the order where the guest is
The biggest day-to-day win of a tablet POS is mobility. A server takes the order tableside on the tablet, it lands on the kitchen display instantly, and nobody re-keys it at the counter. Fewer trips, fewer mistakes, faster tables. At the counter the same app runs split bills, tabs and payments; on a terrace or at an event the same tablet keeps serving.
What you actually need to start
Less than you’d think:
- A tablet or computer — the iPads, Android tablets or computers you already have are fine.
- That’s the requirement. Everything else is optional: a receipt or kitchen printer, a cash drawer, a barcode scanner, a customer-facing display. Add them when you want them; none is mandatory to take orders and payments.
You don’t buy a special “POS tablet” — you open Garivio in the browser on an ordinary tablet or computer.
It still has to work offline
A tablet on café Wi-Fi will lose its connection sometimes — that’s normal. A tablet POS that gives up when it does isn’t built for a floor. Garivio POS keeps taking orders and payments offline during service and syncs automatically when the connection returns, so a dropped router never stops service.
No locked-in hardware, no locked-in margin
This is the part vendors don’t advertise: a proprietary terminal ties your software to their box and their price. Tablets break that. You own the hardware, you choose it, you replace it on your terms — and the software should earn your business every month, not trap it in a multi-year hardware lease.
That’s how Garivio POS is built: it runs in the browser on the iPads, Android tablets and computers you already own, works offline, includes the QR menu, and has no locked-in hardware or long contract. Not sure what to pick? Our guide to choosing a restaurant POS goes deeper. Or see Garivio POS and start a free one-month trial — no card on the device already in your hand.