Local by Toast

Rating: 4.7	Downloads: 1,000,000+
Category: Food & Drink	Offer by: Toast, Inc.

The “Local by Toast” app is a powerful mobile tool designed for restaurant owners, managers, and operators using the Toast point-of-sale system. It allows users to efficiently manage and complete essential restaurant tasks anytime, anywhere, directly connecting with their Toast hardware and digital platforms. This empowers staff and owners to handle crucial operations remotely or on the go.

Its key value lies in bridging the gap between physical restaurant management and digital convenience. “Local by Toast” enables real-time updates for tasks like order processing, team scheduling, performance review, and issue resolution, significantly improving operational responsiveness, speed, and overall restaurant effectiveness.

App Features

• Welcome Center & Dashboard : New users are guided through an intuitive onboarding experience. The central dashboard provides a quick overview of pending action items like urgent orders, staff requests, or alerts from Toast hardware, allowing immediate attention to critical or time-sensitive tasks.
• Order Management : Access all pending orders or open tickets from the cloud kitchen or front-of-house systems right on your device. Verify order details and process quick unlocks if required, ensuring orders are correctly and expeditiously prepared and sent with minimal delay.
• Schedule Management and Staff Actions : Add, edit, or view staff schedules with drag-and-drop simplicity. Approve or reject staff time-off requests directly, giving managers the flexibility to manage their team efficiently, supervise breaks, and adapt staffing levels without needing physical access to the restaurant.
• Hardware Interaction & Setup Support : Get direct access to unlock Toast payment pads or kitchen display systems remotely, automating routine tasks for efficiency, especially during shift changes or busy periods. It helps resolve system- related issues promptly.
• Performance Reviews & Operations : Review analytics reports like menu comps and shift summaries. Monitor guest count estimates or specific performance metric data points, providing supervisors with essential insights for real-time decision making, strategic planning, and performance improvement.
• Advanced Settings & Device Management : (Optional): Explore deeper configurations for smoother operation integration. Users often customize notifications on iOS or Android to stay alerted only to critical Toast events, optimizing focus and workflow consistency directly from the app’s notification settings, even for advanced control tasks not exposed via main features.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Incredible convenience for managers and staff away from the physical location
• Central access point for essential daily restaurant chores backed by Toast’s system
• Improves responsiveness for order and shift management in real time
• Reduces dead time for onboarding new staff familiarization by offering mobile guidance

Cons:

• Requires active Toast POS system connectivity which can be a vulnerability point
• Effectively limited by the capabilities and interfaces of supporting Toast hardware
• The curated experience might feel somewhat restricted compared to native mobile apps
• Some complex system-wide configurations remain web app oriented rather than mobile-first

Similar Apps

App Name	Highlights
Toast Go	Primarily focuses on backend order fulfillment for delivery from Toast locations. Offers synchronization with hardware locks, distinct from broader task management.
Self- Serve	Designed as an ordering and kiosk management interface. Provides direct control over cloud kitchen functionality but lacks comprehensive management suite like scheduling and deployment management typical of “Local by Toast”.
Eater	A versatile restaurant management platform accessible via web and mobile. Offers insights into operations but differs in integration and focus from a companion application directly linked to Toast point-of-sale hardware deployment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What platforms does the Local by Toast mobile application run on?
A: You can download and use the Local by Toast app as long as your mobile device meets the minimum technical requirements specified by Toast, typically a reasonably recent iOS iPhone or Android smartphone.

Q: Do I need a separate account or anything beyond my Toast login for managing things on my phone?
A: No technical barrier exists beyond the standard Toast system requirements; simply login with your existing Toast credentials to access your operational dashboard and tasks.

Q: How often or in what situations is updating schedules or orders most useful using the Local by Toast app?
A: Especially useful during peaks or busy times, when off-premise staff are away, or when resolving urgent situations remotely provides direct control, allowing faster task completion without needing to be physically present.

Q: What happens if I can’t connect my phone or experience issues with the Local by Toast app?
A: Toast’s support team is generally helpful with troubleshooting. Outages are reported externally, so regaining connection and addressing errors depends on operational stability, usually providing notifications when service is restored.

Q: Are there any costs besides the Toast subscription for using the Local by Toast function?
A: The core capabilities are offered on the “active Toast plan” itself, which means there shouldn’t be separate mobile app fees associated, provided you have Toast’s platform running in your restaurant.

Screenshots

Local by Toast App Download