Best POS for a restaurant in Dublin
Last reviewed 2026-08-05 · by the RetailPOS team
A neighbourhood bistro in Rathmines and a two-site group in the city centre need the same core: orders that reach the kitchen cleanly and inventory that understands recipes. Here is what to look for in Dublin, and where RetailPOS fits.
What a Dublin restaurant POS must do
1. Kitchen tickets / KDS. Orders reach the pass clearly with modifiers attached.
2. Food-cost tracking. Recipe inventory ties each dish to its ingredients for true margin and waste.
3. Correct VAT per line. Irish hospitality food/drink and the 23% standard rate differ; the POS should apply the right rate per item and report it for your VAT return.
4. Split bills. Split a bill by seat or evenly, with clean receipts.
5. Own your hardware. No mandatory leased terminal — run on tablets and printers you buy once, with your own processor.
How the options compare
| RetailPOS | Square | Lightspeed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware | Use your own, buy once | Buy Square hardware | Buy Lightspeed hardware |
| Card processing | Bring your own | Bundled fixed rate | Own or Lightspeed Payments |
| Kitchen tickets / KDS | Yes | Yes (for Restaurants) | Yes |
| Recipe / food-cost | Every plan | Limited | Higher tier |
| Per-line VAT rates | Yes | Basic | Yes |
| Multi-site on base plan | Yes | Higher tier | Per-location |
Where RetailPOS fits — and where it doesn’t
Pick RetailPOS if you want kitchen tickets, food-cost tracking and flat pricing without a hardware lease, using your own processor.
Consider Lightspeed if you want deep purchasing and advanced hospitality analytics for a larger operation; that depth is a fair reason to choose it. RetailPOS covers the core restaurant workflow flatly.
Frequently asked
- What VAT applies to a Dublin restaurant?
- Ireland applies a reduced VAT rate to much hospitality food and drink and a 23% standard rate to other items; rates are set by government and change periodically. The POS applies the right rate per line — check values with the tax calculator (select Ireland) and confirm current rates with Revenue.
- Does it print to the kitchen?
- Yes — orders route to the kitchen as printed tickets or an on-screen display, with modifiers attached.
- Is there a hardware lease?
- No. RetailPOS runs on tablets and printers you own; there is no proprietary terminal lease.
Open your shop in 30 seconds.
No card. Free until your first 100 sales. Bring your own Stripe; keep your hardware.