17 Best Restaurant Checklist Apps: In-Depth Guide

Operations
Restaurant
Published on:
December 19, 2024
Read Time:
8
min

Running a restaurant often feels like juggling a dozen spinning plates. With keeping the kitchen spotless, managing a huge inventory, and ensuring your team stays on track. Overwhelming? Absolutely. But here’s the good news: a restaurant checklist app can take the guesswork out of your day-to-day operations.

A checklist software for restaurants often acts like our secret weapon to eliminate the daily chaos.

These apps ensure every task gets completed on time and to standard. Whether it’s cleaning the ovens, checking stock levels, or prepping for the dinner rush. Restaurant checklist ensure no more steps are missed.

No more unnecessary stress.

Our this guide dives deep into the world of restaurant checklist software. You will discover how these tools help simplify restaurant operations, improve accountability, and ensure consistency across your restaurant. Also, we’ve rounded up the 17 best restaurant checklist apps to suit your needs.

Let’s explore how the right checklist app can boost your restaurant’s efficiency, enhance customer satisfaction, and make managing your business a whole lot easier.

Sign up to get expert articles, guides, tips, and inspiration straight to your inbox.
You're in! Look out for our emails in your inbox.
Oh no! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

17 Restaurant Checklist Apps to Improve Your Business's Performance

Our Top Picks
#1
Xenia
The Workforce Operations Platform for Frontline Teams
#2
FusionPrep
Good for medium sized businesses
#3
Connecteam
Flexible solution for multi-sized businesses

1. Xenia - Overall No. 1 Best & Free Online Restaurant Checklist App

Xenia Restaurant Operations Management Software
Xenia Restaurant Operations Management Software

Whether this is your first checklist app or your tenth, our #1 pick Xenia has you covered. 

Deceivingly powerful while being simple to pick up and use immediately, Xenia has the right solution for teams of all configurations. Available on both Android and Apple products, Xenia was purpose-built for quickly knocking down checklists and tasks on the go.

Price-effective and scalable for organizations with one location or 50, one of the best things you can do as a business owner is standardize your operations, and having a strong restaurant checklist app is a great way of doing just that.

Using one of the 500+ free templates available in their library you can jump right into running your spot like one of the pros. If you already have forms and processes in place, it takes only moments to digitize them in Xenia.

Restaurant opening and closing checklist, cleaning, food safety compliance, training, equipment maintenance - all of these tasks are easily logged and analyzed within the platform so you can identify areas of improvement, or just ensure that your staff are meeting your expectations.

Here’s a quick look at some of the notable features of this restaurant checklist software.

Xenia's Key Features

  • Tasks: Create, assign, and track tasks (or work orders) in seconds. You’ll drive performance and accountability, all in the name of a better customer experience.
  • Scheduled Work: Never miss another opening or closing check with centralized work schedules. Automatic notifications ensure nothing flies under the radar so you can spend more time improving the business and less time planning work.
  • Checklists & SOP’s: Xenia’s checklist builder and template library combine to provide everything you need to get going - in minutes, not days. Countless step types, publicly available URLs, media attachments and conditional logic are just a few of the ways you can conduct digital checks. Store SOP’s for reference or use them as an instructive tool to ensure adherence to brand standards.
  • Real-Time Updates & Collaboration: Receive instant feedback and notifications when work is performed, tasks are overdue, or the results of an assignment are unsatisfactory. Be in the know with your team, even if you’re miles away.
  • Preventive Maintenance: For operators who maintain their own assets (fridges, freezers, fryers) it’s imperative that you keep a detailed record of the work you did and when. Even if you outsource this, it’s a great way of keeping tabs on your contractors.
  • Inspections: When you break it down, just about every inspection is a checklist in some form or another, right? Digital food safety compliance checklists for things like HACCP and GFSI are completed from your phone or tablet and recorded forever on the cloud - next time you need to get recertified it’s easy to jump right into things with Xenia.
  • Corrective Actions: Even though we like to think we’ve got everything under control, accidents are bound to happen. Whether it’s an incident or a temp check that was out of range, corrections need to be made. Xenia’s powerful corrective and preventive action (CAPA) workflows allow you to track these tasks and ensure proper and timely follow up happens.
  • Reporting: Take all of the valuable information you’ve collected while performing your checklists and analyze the results. With configurable dashboards out of the box, and the ability to order customized reports made by their data science team, there’s no insight you can’t find using Xenia.

Pricing

  • Free Forever: Free for up to 5 users with access to task & work orders, parent assets, internal chats, template builder etc.
  • Starter: $99 / month for 15 users and comes with a work calendar view, work and template reports, sub assets and sub-locations.
  • Premium: $199 / month for 15 users and offers limitless access to all the core features.
  • Custom: Need something tailored to your organization?

Book a Demo Today!

Rated 4.9/5 stars on Capterra
Pricing:
Supported Platforms:
Priced on per user or per location basis
Available on iOS, Android and Web
Pricing:
Priced on per user or per location basis
Supported Platforms:
Available on iOS, Android and Web
Download Xenia app on

2. FusionPrep

Centralize all your recipes and related documentation with FusionPrep, an all-inclusive restaurant checklist software designed specifically for the kitchen. 

With checklists for managing inventories and recipes, it focuses on back-of-the-house operations. With this basic yet nifty software, users can keep track of temperature records, line inspections, and other fundamental food safety checklists and compliance schedules. 

Features such as staff screening and the option to save training materials are also available. FusionPrep sends all its data to an insights dashboard, allowing users to see how well their restaurants are performing.

Key Features

  • Detailed Checklists: Get through your checklists more quickly with alerts viewable in real-time via FusionPrep’s web-based control panel.
  • Temperature Logs: Wireless thermometers from Cooper Atkins/Emerson and ThermoWorks make it easy to record temperatures.
  • Scheduling: Make sure your whole brand is compliant by creating everyday processes.

Pricing

  • Contact vendor for price

3. Connecteam

Next up, we've got a powerful restaurant checklist app for business at a price that won't break the bank! Connecteam provides a comprehensive app for managing your business.

Regardless of the size of your restaurant, this tool can help you automate your manual operations and optimize your workflow.

With Connecteam's digital forms and checklists, you can always stay on top of everything that goes on in your restaurant. Easy digitization of all critical tasks and the ability to attach shift-specific checklists to allocated staff from the employment schedule make this tool invaluable.

Employees will never overlook a step when it comes to cleaning kitchen equipment, being mindful of their side jobs, and being aware of opening and closing protocols.

Key Features

  • Digital Forms: You can quickly and simply standardize your methods for creating inventory and food safety forms using their digital forms software. 
  • Tailor-made Templates: Digitize pre-inspection, safety, and inventory checklists simply and with little pre-configuration.
  • Ensure Compliance: Restaurants can create their own unique work lists by uploading staff documentation about health and safety standards.

Pricing

  • Operations Expert: $119/month for the first 30 users, $3.6/month for each additional user
  • Operations Advanced: $59/month for the first 30 users, $1.8/month for each additional user
  • Operations Basic: $35/month for the first 30 users, $0.6/month for each additional user
  • Small Business Plan: $0

4. MeazureUp

The MeazureUp Restaurant Checklist App provides for overall task management and operational performance excellence within the enterprise and at the location with customized templates that make doing quality assurance and field inspections a breeze even tasks like the kitchen cleaning checklist become reality and an attention point with smart checklists with scoring, actions, photo captures.

MeazureUp allows managers to use it from any device to report real-time results on how they’re doing.

This is pretty crucial since a manager can’t very well read about what’s happening in their stores from their office.

Being able to access their MeazureUp from anywhere using any device allows managers to make decisions regardless of where they are, ensuring they don’t have to waste time getting back to the office.

This one of a kind restaurant checklist app is, in a way, a real-time dashboard of how one location is doing no matter where a manager is.  The app also has built-in calendar software that allows owners to monitor task progress over time. 

Moreover, MeazureUp offers automated email alerts to notify appropriate users of when certain tasks are due or overdue.

With automatic notifications, MeazureUp helps teams remain on top of their work and ensure that things are completed on time.

Key Features

  • Customizable and configurable checklists
  • Audit planning
  • Real-time progress tracking
  • User-friendly interface
  • Easy report generation

5. Trail App

Trail is a comprehensive end-to-end - multi-industry app ,designed for different niches. 

As a robust restaurant checklist app, It acts as a virtual handover book; a system that lists all the tasks that need to be done in a team that needs to be completed for a team in the hospitality sector to close down. 

From managing opening tasks, to carrying out essential food safety checks Trail is here to ensure you get it right.

What differentiates Trail from its competitors like Hubl is the broader range of what it can do. On top of core functions such as task creation etc, Trail boasts performance reviews and logs furthering their objective of helping businesses to systemize and CRM-proof their operations. 

Trail was designed to incorporate the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) system so that food safety checks can be aligned with best practices across the industry, rather than having to resort to specific manual checking to avoid compliance issues that could affect customers of the restaurant or hotel.

Another thing to consider is the task management system for Trail. Even though it has an effective system it doesn’t give much visibility for managers or leaders. 

The only way to tell if a certain task has been completed is by checking if the user drafted, published, or archived a certain task, rather than seeing who has done what task.

Key Features

  • Digital task checklist with performance log
  • Template library for tasks
  • Compliance with HACCP standards
  • Robust notifications
  • Customize checklists

Pricing

  • Starts from $17 

6. FoodReady

FoodReady is an inventive digital checklist app for restaurant industry that combines ready-to-use templates with a convenient drag-drop checklist builder to enable businesses to stay on top of their quality & operational tracking seamlessly on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis – without drowning in paperwork.

By embracing digital and automating elongated manual processes, Food Ready assists organizations to smoothly make the transition from using clunky traditional spreadsheets into a dynamic modern environment. 

FoodReady is the complete food safety and HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) software solution for all types of food-related businesses, such as food producers, service establishments, distributors, etc.

The software’s intelligent platform allows users to quickly and easily build strong food safety and HACCP programs, keeping all records together in one spot. In addition, FoodReady supports national and international certifications like GFSI, SQF, FSSC, BRC, HACCP, and many more to guarantee that you are up to the industry standards.

One highlight of Food Ready is its features often designed for food safety and boosting overall productivity.

The app has a dynamic checklist builder, which allows the App users to choose from a variety of templates and customize them to their specific needs. The user has an option to create or import checklist configuration saving them time and also provides the option to create group items saving more time.

The whole aim of the checklist is to reduce the time the food technologists, supervisors, or managers spend writing their reports.

Key Features

  • Dynamic checklist builder
  • Check alerts
  • Access to customized checklists
  • Auto signature
  • Auto time and date stamp
  • Real-time data analysis 

Pricing

  • Contact vendor for price

7. Hubl

Hubl positions itself as a hospitality checklist app with an acute focus on food safety and ardent tracking of food temperature recording.

In addition to this most crucial function, it also includes calendar features to facilitate the tracking of team responsibilities which lead to a higher level of overall operational efficiency.

While its affordability and clean interface can appeal to any restaurant, Hubl is particularly effective for those small restaurants looking to make their first move in the digital world. Hubl is relatively basic when compared to some of its more modern competitors, however, what it lacks in functionality, it makes up for in price.

It is a popular product given its low cost as more and more businesses take advantage of cut-price solutions with a one-size-fits-all solution.

But then again, it is important to note that Hubl may not have advanced features as in more comprehensive apps.

For instance, it does not have integrated team communication solutions and knowledge bases to store recipes and important health and safety protocol documents. As a result, larger restaurants may find Hubl to be insufficient in ensuring standardization collaboration and total compliance with regulations.

Key Features 

  • Operational checklist
  • Dashboards for issue resolution 
  • Calendar management
  • Cost-efficient solution 

 Pricing 

  • Starts from $20/month 

8. OpsAnalitica

OpsAnalitica offers a mobile app and web-based auditing software specifically designed for restaurants. It helps with managing operations, food safety, and compliance with configurable checklists, automatic alerts, real-time data collecting, and analytics.

Gain access to up-to-the-minute operational data to better understand where things are going, provide guidance and support to team members, and boost productivity, satisfaction, and sales.

Key Features

  • Food Safety Recalls: use the OpsAnalitica restaurant checklist app to get the latest information on food safety recalls from the field.
  • Continuous Training Reinforcement: In order to get the most out of your training budget, it's important to teach your staff and make sure they understand how to progress in their careers.
  • Crowdsource Solutions: Start a channel of direct connection with your frontline workers so you can get ideas for issues solved from those who see them every day.

Pricing

  • Contact vendor for price

9. Axonator

Last one on our best restaurant checklist app list, we've got Axonator.

Feel free to utilize the platform to effectively monitor all activities within your restaurant and efficiently manage them.

By automating processes and developing a variety of business process applications, restaurants can enhance productivity and make data-driven decisions with the assistance of business insights and reports.

Key Features

  • Inspection Checklists & Forms: Use highly customizable, easy-to-use forms for better data collection and inspections.
  • Mobile Workflows: Timely task assignment, communication, and SLA compliance—all automatically executed.
  • Instant Reports: Get rich media reports out to stakeholders, managers, and consumers automatically.

Pricing

  • Contact vendor for price

10. Zeper Audits

Zeper Audits Price, Reviews & Ratings | GetApp Ireland 2023

Zeper Audits brings together the advantages of digitization while retaining the flexibility found in spreadsheets.

Its mobile tool is great for performing your different checks and tasks from the field as well.

The platform's unique strength lies in its ability to allow users to configure even the minutest details, ensuring a great match to each specific use case.

Key Features

  • Desktop and mobile versions
  • Support for a variety of checklists and audits
  • Detailed history
  • Excel and PDF report exports
  • Traceability

Pricing

  • Not publicly available.

11. UrAudits

Coming next in our rundown of the best restaurant checklist apps is UrAudits.

This end-to-end operation software is flipping the script of how inspections and service quality are approached by restaurants and setting a new standard for excellence.

How? You might want to know 

Using UrAudits, a restaurant can ensure they remain consistent, decrease mistakes drastically, and give clients the best experience they can possibly have by making sure the restaurant manager's decisions are right.

The best part about UrAudits is probably how it makes the performance data for all of your restaurants easy to get to. No longer does the restaurant manager need to go digging through binders full of paper or countless spreadsheets online.

Employing a mobile restaurant inspection checklist app like UrAudit is an effective method of preserving and upgrading safety as well as quality standards in your restaurant. Consequently, your relationship with customers will become harmonious leading to their repeated visits.

This easy-to-use app ensures that you always have an adequate amount of supplies, confirm orders as they arrive, and observe your restaurant’s performance remotely.

But that’s not all

The app also allows you to zero in on what counts — coaching your staff to deliver superior service and guaranteeing they’re abiding by the laws. And, you don’t have to be there all the time.

Key Features

  • Build A Template: Create customizable templates that meet your inspection needs.
  • Report Incidents: Quickly document and track incidents for a fast resolution.
  • Reporting and Analytics: Perfectly generate comprehensive reports and share them with your team in an instant.
  • Automation: Streamline and automate inspections, audits, and corrective actions for maximum benefit.
  • Track Your Team: Organize and track your own team's tasks and performance with ease.
  • Dashboard: Assess all your operations and ability to monitor performance at a glance, follow company or unit metrics, and KPI-template-enabled alerting.

Pricing

  • Free 
  • Small/medium:£8.00
  • Enterprise:£23.00

12. Wooqer

Rounding off our list of best restaurant checklist apps with Wooqer. Don’t be fooled by the name, this app is loved by restaurants as well as retail giants. Why?

This easy-to-navigate app is built on solid security and quality frameworks, making it perfect for meeting the rigorous audit requirements of major brands and restaurants.

Developed with business executives in mind, this mobile app is a one-stop shop for robust workflow execution.

Designed to streamline audits, data capture, compliance, task management, and business-wide process communication. Featuring real-time dashboard reporting for ultimate decision-making, the app is a must-have for management looking to maximize output.

One of the highlights of this app is live camera evidence, with geo-fencing and date/ time stamps on pictures - so nothing slips through the cracks. 

Auto-reminders and notifications keep your team on track, whilst offline mode makes sure inspections go on seamlessly even when you don't have internet.

With pre-defined cut-off dates, automated escalations, and real-time auto-aggregated reports, issues are never ahead of you. 

Storage is never an issue- Wooqer supports all file types and offers unlimited storage, so all the data can stay in one place. Assignments can be directed to particular team members making task management easy.

What’s more?  VMC WorkApp provides restaurant managers with the capability to expedite modifications and policies uniformly and efficiently all over the map while heightening the consumer ordeal and promoting sales.

Key Features

  • CAPA: Address and prevent restaurant issues swiftly to maintain excellent service and safety.
  • Access Controls / Permissions: Control who can access and alter particular information to maintain secure sensitive data.
  • Document Management: Keep all important documents, such as health inspections and safety protocols, organized and accessible.
  • Quality Control: Ensure that food preparation and service consistently meet high-quality standards.
  • Training Management: Keep track of and manage staff training to verify that everyone is well-informed about best practices and compliance.
  • Alerts / Notifications: Get automatic alerts and notifications for important updates, such as equipment maintenance or health inspection schedules.

Pricing 

  • Contact Vendor

13. Certainty

In the world of restaurant checklist software, Certainty Software stands out for its practical approach to streamlining audits. With customizable templates, automated workflows, and simplified data handling, it's a solid choice for businesses aiming to enhance their audit processes. 

Whether you're focused on compliance, risk mitigation, or continuous improvement, Certainty Software offers a straightforward solution without unnecessary frills. 

Key Features

  • Data Collection: Conduct audits and inspections seamlessly on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. Collect data both online and offline, ensuring flexibility. 
  • Reporting and Analytics: Generate detailed system-wide reports sorted by site, region, or inspection type. 
  • Action Management: Assign tasks directly from inspection results to ensure timely follow-up. Automate notifications and escalations to keep tasks on schedule, while attaching documents and photos for additional context.

Pricing

  • Standard - $18/user/month
  • Enterprise - Contact Certainty.

14. StartSafe

StartSafe offers a straightforward solution for restaurants - using uncomplicated templates, checks, and alerts, this platform facilitates real-time reporting on various aspects like equipment, buildings, and product quality control. 

Its digital nature simplifies the process of connecting employees, clients, and procedures all in one place, providing assurance that your business is fully compliant. It’s a practical approach to a practical problem and has found much success in industrial settings.

Key Features

  • Define Assets: Streamline asset management by defining and categorizing all your assets in one centralized platform. 
  • Create Template Procedures: Simplify workflows with customizable templates for standard operating procedures (SOPs). 
  • Dashboard: Gain real-time insights into your operations with an intuitive, customizable dashboard. Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), track asset performance, and oversee pending tasks.

Pricing

  • Business - £28/month
  • Business Premium - £120/month
  • Enterprise - Contact StartSafe.

15. Action Audit

Action Audit does best at tracking and performing actions related to audits (unsurprisingly).

This app efficiently handles audits, capturing non-compliance issues and areas for improvement. Its functionality extends to generating analysis reports and action plans, with the added benefit of customized report editing. 

Their workflows help provide alignment with operations and task management and could be quite affordable for those with small teams.

Key Features

  • Audit Zones: Divide your operations into clearly defined audit zones, making it easier to manage inspections and monitor compliance across different areas or locations. 
  • Multiple Checklists: Access a variety of checklists tailored to your plan. Whether it’s for health and safety, maintenance, or operational tasks, customizable checklists help ensure thorough coverage and consistency across all inspections.
  • Storage for Attachments: Keep all related documents, photos, and records securely stored in one place. Attach files directly to audits or checklists for easy reference, ensuring that critical information is always accessible when needed.

Pricing

  • Starter - €7/user/month
  • Standard - €10/user/month
  • Expert - €15/user/month

16. Bindy

Bindy | Audits, Corrective Action Plans and Tasks

The next recommendation to be a part of our best restaurant checklist software list is none other than Bindy.

It is a valuable tool for retail and hospitality brands, ensuring the accurate and complete execution of standards and programs at every location. 

Juice up performance through tailored checklists, photos, and signatures, supported by a closed-loop corrective workflow.

This software is designed to boost productivity by streamlining inspection workflows, eliminating the need for paper forms, Excel, and reducing delays. 

Key Features

  • Audits
  • Tasks
  • Tickets
  • Communication
  • Dashboard
  • Single Sign-On

Pricing

  • SMB 1 - $119/month
  • SMB 2 - $359/month
  • Enterprise - $959+/month
  • Feature availability and usage limits depend on the chosen plan.

17. mQuest Audit

The mQuest Audit platform is one part of a suite offered by mQuest. This app is available as an offline mobile as well as a web app. This provides a cost-effective and secure solution for performing various audits.

With their platform, you can say goodbye to unmanageable excel sheets or pile of paper sheets.

The pricing of the app is not public so you'll have to contact the vendor for more details.

Key Features

  • Record Keeping: With mQuest, you can maintain an organized and secure repository of all your essential documents. Some of them include audit records, maintenance logs, and compliance reports. This restaurant checklist app ensure easy access to historical data for analysis and audits.
  • Data Visualization: Take actionable insights with the data provided in form of intuitive charts, graphs, and dashboards. This helps you visualize trends, monitor key metrics, and make informed decisions to optimize operations and improve overall performance.
  • Offline Mode: Conduct inspections, manage tasks, and capture data even without an internet connection. Offline mode ensures uninterrupted workflow, with automatic syncing once connectivity is restored.

Pricing

  • Not publicly available.

What is a Restaurant Checklist App?

best restaurant checklist online tool

The heart of a checklist app for restaurants lies in its simplicity. It's a digital tool that condenses your array of daily restaurant tasks into manageable, efficient, and trackable checklists. The concept isn’t new. 

For years, restaurants have used physical checklists to keep track of tasks. But the restaurant checklist app takes this concept into the digital realm. 

It replaces piles of paperwork with a sleek, efficient app that can be accessed on your nearest device. 

It only takes you a few clicks to create and customize checklists for a variety of procedures. From the opening and closing of the restaurant, health and safety inspections, to inventory checks and quality assurance assessments- it covers everything.

It depends on your business all in all. Some restaurants may be able to get by with a simple restaurant management checklist, and others may need something more thorough. 

Apps for restaurant checklists are compatible with all smart devices. The user is then connected to a series of detailed instructions that cover each of your standard operating procedures (SOPs). Team members can have their work divided up by management using this restaurant checklist app. 

Upon completion, an alert will be sent to these team members. The restaurant checklist software goes so far as to enable management to track work in real-time and get notifications when something needs their attention.

You can start using Xenia restaurant checklist software to make sure that regular jobs are done on time, but they also make sure that every location follows your standard operating procedures. This way, managers can focus on bigger concerns instead of just keeping personnel on track.

Understanding Daily Restaurant Checklists

Certain tasks at a restaurant must be done on a daily basis. These will keep your restaurant on track and ready to offer the best experience possible to all of your customers. 

This daily restaurant management checklist is divided into six sections depending on the staff who will be doing the duties listed. A well-structured restaurant management checklist includes the following duties:

  • Managerial Responsibilities: This will include a rundown of everything that needs to be done before service starts, during peak hours, at shift change, and at the end of the day.‍
  • Side Work Checklist: This section of the checklist covers duties to be completed by restaurant workers during off-hours or when the restaurant shuts for lunch breaks etc.
  • ‍Kitchen Prep Work and Cleaning Checklist: These will comprise prep work activities for kitchen personnel as well as cleaning chores at various times of the day to provide an exceptional client experience.‍
  • Server's Checklist: Similar to the manager's checklist, this checklist will cover responsibilities to be accomplished before the service starts, during a shift change, and when the restaurant closes.‍
  • Bartender's Checklist: This is exclusively for restaurants with an in-house bar and includes the bartender's tasks at various times of the day.‍
  • Marketing Checklist: This checklist will have nothing to do with your long-term marketing objectives or present marketing techniques but will concentrate on marketing that occurs inside the restaurant, such as upselling meals, offering information to clients about the restaurant, and so on.

Challenges of Using a Restaurant Checklist App

issues with modern day restaurant checklist tools

Like any other tool, restaurant checklists software have a few challenges along with the long list of advantages. There are a few problems that restaurant managers may face when integrating these apps into their operations.

Technology Adaptation

The shift from paper-based checklists to a digital platform could seem overwhelming. However, with proper training and Xenia's quickly available support, your team can make a smooth transition. 

You can start by introducing the app's basic functions before moving on to more advanced features. Additionally, you should encourage feedback and be patient as staff members adapt at their own pace.

Data Security Concerns

A concern about data security is genuine and arise more often than not.

To mitigate this risk, you need to choose a restaurant checklist app that ensures data security. Look for features like encryption, two-factor authentication, and adherence to data protection regulations to ensure your data remains secure.

Internet Connectivity Issues

A checklist app for restaurants relies on internet connectivity to function optimally. 

In areas with unreliable connections, this could pose a problem. However, some apps are designed to work offline, storing data locally and syncing when a connection is restored. 

Customizability

No software can fit every restaurant without any tweaks and changes. Each restaurant has its unique needs and workflows. 

You need a software that offers customizability and flexibility.

Thus, opt for an app that offers customizable checklists, enabling you to tailor tasks to suit your specific requirements.

What To Look For In The Best Restaurant Checklist App?

This is always the most common, and perhaps most important question that comes up when beginning to evaluate restaurant task management software.

There are a multitude of variables to consider, from price to features and everything in between.

This post covers these consistently across our 15 vendors in the hopes of creating an even playing field, for the purpose of evaluation.

There’s no right or wrong answer here, by the way. Each app that we have put on this list is because they have won customers over with its unique set of features, user experience, and more.

That being said, let’s go over a few typical factors that shoppers consider when looking for the right restaurant checklist app.

Cost Factor: You won’t find as crazy of a pricing range as with some other automated restaurants tools, but it can get pricey depending on the size of your team and the pricing model of your selected restaurant checklist app. Some charge by user, as opposed to unlimited user counts available on a platform like Xenia.

Regulatory Compliance: There are a few levels to this; depending on your geographic region, you may have federal or nationwide regulatory requirements.

Then there are state, and even city laws to comply with, so getting some technological assistance here will go a long way in ensuring compliance (and avoiding fines).

Specificity: Are you a quick-service restaurant? Michelin-starred brasserie? Or perhaps somewhere in between - depending on your specific business, you’re going to have specific needs. Make sure your primary pain points are actually being addressed with your tool for restaurant task management.

User-Friendliness: Just like being the smartest doesn’t make you the best teacher, being able to technically do the most functions doesn’t make you the best restaurant checklist app.

Integration: You have a POS, inventory management platform, some back-office software - being able to have them speak to each other is a potential huge benefit. While not necessary for everyone, make sure you properly scope your needs so you know for certain if you need to connect a few of your existing tools.

Real-time Monitoring: If you’re using something like a temperature monitoring system then having real-time alerts could be the difference between catching an open freezer door before the long weekend, and coming back to five figures of spoilage.

You’ll also benefit from improved analytics if your restaurant checklist app can digest operational performance data in real-time.

Training and Onboarding: With turnover rates as high as we’ve seen in the last few years (just check out the data courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics) it’s more important than ever to get positive ROI from your employees.

That means quick, efficient training and onboarding, which is something that a strong restaurant checklist app has the means of doing.

Mobile Functionality: This is similar to user-friendliness, in a way. If you’re supposed to be completing AM/PM checklists it doesn’t make much sense to have to log the results on the computer back in the office, right?

Having a native mobile app is just about required these days if you want to be a serious player. 

Scalability: This one’s for all of our big dreamers out there. You want to see your concept go from one to three to ten locations, and beyond? You can’t be changing systems and processes every step of the way. Find something that works well in the present, and which can be adapted in the future too.

The Bottom Line

Restaurant checklist apps are amazing tools that improve the efficiency of your restaurants' daily operations and management.

These apps helps restaurant owners and managers stay organized with rules that can be preset and followed easily.

If you're in search of a restaurant checklist app, look no further than Xenia. It offers a user-friendly, unified platform for various purposes, including collaboration, inspection, compliance, and more. Work schedules, work chat, a template library, and custom forms and checklists are just a few of the features available.

FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions About Restaurant Checklists & Related Topics

1. Are Xenia's checklists only applicable to restaurant and such other industries?

Good question. Xenia is an all-inclusive solution that caters to multiple industries - and that's respective of their individual requirements.

So, if you were looking for a robust "hospitality checklist app," as a budding hotel business owner, or a manager, you can find a multitude of features in Xenia that are attributed to your platform's requirements.

Same goes for housekeeping checklists, preventive maintenance, overall operational efficiency checklists; anything that you can think of.

The platform has a constantly ever-growing repository of checklists, templates and forms concerning industries from hotel/ hospitality sector, restaurants, food and beverage, facilities - so on and so forth.

2. What is the most critical, or most important part of a restaurant checklist?

To be fair, that depends on your business requirements.

For example, maybe your restaurant is not doing too well on the BOH restaurant operations side, while the front ended customer related activities are near perfect.

That'd mean that your customer are having a delightful experience, but you are struggling to monitor and improve your restaurant's daily operations.

In that sense, activities related to back of the house processes, such as opening and closing restaurant checklist based procedures, staff training and accountability, sanitation tasks, food preparation and food storage processes etc. become the most desired part of your restaurant checklist.

Take it up by a few notches in the context of multi-unit business, and you're looking at a tedious amount of such activities that need to be handled through a centralized restaurant software.

That's where Xenia comes in, as it's how the program's been created with business requirements in mind, and their associated issues.

3. What is the best way of choosing the right restaurant checklist software?

There's no hard and fast rule to determine that so and so features make up for a perfect restaurant checklist tool online.

So, if something falls along the lines of ease of use, customization, reporting, cost management - these may not be the primary features that will make a positive impact on your restaurant business.

We advise going on a trialing spree, by signing up for a free account on different restaurant task management software websites, and see how things pan out.

Alternatively, if you are WELL AWARE of your exact business requirements, then you can match up those business needs against the software features that you're considering signing up for.

And yes, don't forget to read existing customer reviews. They are very important in determining whether the juice is eventually worth the squeeze!

Unify Operations, Safety and Maintenance
Unite your team with an all-in-one platform handling inspections, maintenance and daily operations
Get Started for Free
Streamline Restaurant Accountability With Xenia's Digital Solutions
Book a Demo
Rated 4.9/5 stars on Capterra

Latest Articles

Frequently Asked Questions

Got a question? Find our FAQs here. If your question hasn't been answered here, contact us.

Illustration for empty FAQ section.
No FAQs Found

Looks like there's no data available in our FAQ section at the moment.