Systems for restaurants, cafés & cloud kitchens
Orders arrive from the dining room, the takeaway counter and several delivery apps at once, while food costs creep up and branch reports arrive late. Amwaj Solutions builds custom restaurant POS and management systems, or integrates the ones you already run, so orders, kitchen, stock and ZATCA invoicing share one record.
Each bill a restaurant hands a guest is a simplified tax invoice. In ZATCA's integration phase, the seller issues it straight away and reports it to ZATCA through the integrated e-invoicing solution within a maximum of 24 hours. Source: ZATCA
Smaller outlets are now being brought in too. ZATCA's Wave 25 targets businesses whose VAT-able revenue passed SAR 187,500 in any year from 2022 to 2025, with Fatoora integration set for 1 February 2027. Source: ZATCA
Since 1 July 2025, SFDA requires restaurant and café menus to show caffeine content for drinks, a salt icon on items above 5 g of salt, and the physical activity time needed to burn each item's calories, on paper and electronic menus. Source: SFDA
Restaurants and cafés, including fast food and mobile food vendors, were one phase of the Ministry of Commerce's electronic payment obligation, which has applied to all retail outlets since 25 August 2020. Electronic payment must be available to every guest. Source: Ministry of Commerce
Quick answer
A restaurant POS system takes orders from tables, the counter and delivery channels, sends them to the kitchen, settles the bill and issues the tax invoice. A full restaurant management system adds recipes, ingredient stock, staff shifts and branch reporting. In Saudi Arabia every guest bill is a simplified tax invoice under ZATCA rules, so e-invoicing sits at the core.
What we build
We engineer the system around how your kitchen and branches actually work, or connect the tools you already pay for. Amwaj does not sell a packaged restaurant POS subscription.
Table, takeaway, drive-through and delivery app orders arrive in one queue with consistent item codes, so cashiers stop re-keying orders and menu changes are pushed once to every channel that the platforms' integration options allow.
Orders are routed to kitchen screens by station with modifiers, notes and timers, bumped when ready and measured for preparation time. Expediters see which orders are running late, and managers get speed-of-service reports by branch and daypart.
Each menu item is linked to a recipe with ingredient quantities and yields, so every sale deducts stock. Waste, staff meals and spoilage are logged with reasons, giving theoretical against actual food cost per branch and per dish.
Simplified tax invoices with QR codes and cryptographic stamps, split bills between guests, credit notes instead of deleted invoices, and reporting to Fatoora inside ZATCA's window. Our e-invoicing guide covers the integration phases in detail.
Role-based logins, shift opening and closing with cash counts, approval for discounts and voids, and a full activity log. Card and mada settlements reconcile against shift totals, so cash differences are caught the same day rather than at month end.
Sales, VAT, food cost and supplier invoices post to your restaurant accounting software or ERP. For cloud kitchens running several virtual brands from one kitchen, we separate brands, menus and profitability while sharing stock and staff.
Why it is its own job
A restaurant sells dishes but buys ingredients, works against the clock and takes orders from channels it does not control.
Dine-in, takeaway, drive-through and several delivery apps all compete for the same kitchen. When delivery orders are re-typed from separate tablets, mistakes and delays follow, and menu prices or item availability drift out of sync between the apps and the restaurant.
Each order must reach the right station, whether grill, fryer or cold section, in the right sequence, with modifiers and allergy notes clearly shown. Without a kitchen display that tracks preparation time, managers cannot see where service slows down until guests complain.
A burger sale should deduct the bun, patty, sauce and packaging. Without recipe-level costing, food cost is a month-end surprise, waste stays invisible, and nobody can tell which menu items still earn money after supplier prices rise.
Saudi menus need caffeine, salt and calorie-burn information, and prices often differ across branches and delivery apps. One menu master that feeds the POS, digital menus and every channel avoids mismatched data and endless manual updates.
Multi-branch brands need shift openings and closings, cash and card reconciliation, staff permissions and comparable branch reports every morning. When each branch reports in its own spreadsheet, owners decide late; a connected ERP and custom software layer closes that gap.
The plan
Duration depends on branch count, menu and recipe complexity, the delivery platforms involved and your existing hardware, so the plan is fixed after discovery, not before.
We observe a lunch or dinner service, map how orders flow from each channel to the pass, and review menus, recipes, stock counts and shift closing. The result is a scope, an integration map and a ZATCA plan aligned with your group's date.
We develop the POS, kitchen screens and back office or extend what you have, connect delivery platforms, payment terminals and accounting, and onboard devices on Fatoora. Then we pilot in one branch through real peak services before changing anything elsewhere.
Remaining branches go live in groups with staff training and support during the first services. We then compare theoretical and actual food cost, fix recipe gaps and add improvements such as loyalty, table QR ordering or central kitchen planning.
Your options
A single café or small restaurant is usually best served by a ready-made restaurant POS subscription. Custom or integrated systems earn their cost when you run several branches, virtual brands, a central kitchen or a non-standard workflow.
| Ready-made restaurant POS | POS plus separate tools | Custom system built with Amwaj | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best fit | A single café or restaurant with a standard menu | A few branches tolerating some manual work | Multi-branch brands, central kitchens and cloud kitchens |
| Delivery app orders | Only the integrations the vendor already supports | Separate tablets, often re-keyed by staff | Integrated through each platform's available APIs |
| Recipe costing | Basic recipes and standard reports | Spreadsheets maintained by hand | Recipe, yield and waste logic matching your kitchen |
| ZATCA e-invoicing | Usually included; confirm the integration status | Depends on each tool in the mix | Built into the billing flow and architecture |
| Central kitchen and transfers | Limited | Manual transfer sheets | Production, transfers and branch requisitions in one system |
| Cost profile | Monthly fee per device or branch | Several subscriptions plus staff time | Project investment plus hosting and support |
Free consultation
Tell us about your branches, sales channels and current tools, and we will review where orders, food cost and invoicing are leaking time or money. We reply within 24–48 business hours.
How orders move from tables, the counter and delivery apps to the kitchen, and where re-keying causes delays or errors.
Whether your recipes, stock counts and waste records can show the true food cost of each dish and each branch.
Your ZATCA integration status and the cleanest way to connect POS, delivery platforms and accounting into one flow.
Proof
Amwaj does not yet have a published restaurant or hospitality case study. The metrics shown below are from our government, industrial and cloud work, and they reflect the engineering discipline we apply to F&B systems.
Restaurant POS system
For one café or small restaurant, a ready-made restaurant POS subscription is usually the sensible choice: quick to set up, a predictable monthly cost, and ZATCA support from most vendors. Check Arabic invoices, Fatoora integration status, your payment terminal and the delivery apps you use. Custom work makes sense later, when branches, a central kitchen or several brands add complexity.
Often, yes, but it depends on what each delivery platform offers. Some provide integration APIs for partners; others need middleware or only allow a separate tablet. A well-integrated setup brings delivery orders into the same queue and kitchen display as dine-in, and syncs menu prices and item availability, so staff stop re-typing orders.
It links every menu item to a recipe with ingredient quantities, so each sale deducts stock automatically. Comparing this theoretical usage with actual stock counts, purchases and recorded waste shows where food cost leaks: over-portioning, spoilage, loss or outdated recipes. Reports by dish and branch let you reprice or re-engineer the menu with evidence.
Yes, if you are VAT-registered and ZATCA has assigned you an integration group, from the date in your notification. Your POS must stamp each simplified invoice, show a QR code and report it to Fatoora within 24 hours. Wave 25 extends integration to businesses above SAR 187,500 in VAT-able revenue. See our POS and ZATCA guide.
Beyond sales and VAT, restaurant accounting needs food cost by branch, supplier invoices tied to purchase orders, card and delivery platform settlements, and shift cash differences. The key is that POS, inventory and accounting share item codes and branch structures, so entries post automatically instead of being rebuilt from spreadsheets every month.
Both depend on the number of branches and brands, the channels to integrate, menu and recipe complexity, hardware reuse, data migration and support needs. Integrating one branch is a much smaller project than a central kitchen system for a chain. We scope these drivers after a short review, then give a written estimate and plan. Contact us to start.
Related guides
How ZATCA e-invoicing works in restaurants and cafés: guest bills, QR codes, 24-hour reporting, voids and refunds, multiple devices, delivery-app orders and Wave 25.
How to calculate recipe costs and food cost percentage, compare theoretical and actual usage, track waste and supplier prices, and use menu engineering, with worked examples.
What a POS system in Saudi Arabia must do under ZATCA Phase 2, the features that matter locally, cloud vs on-premise, off-the-shelf vs custom, and how to connect POS to ERP and e-commerce.
Share your branches, channels and current systems, and we will map the cleanest route to connected orders, kitchen and invoicing.
