How to set up online ordering for your restaurant

To set up online ordering for your restaurant, pick how orders come in (a delivery app, an ordering page of your own, or your POS's ordering), put your menu online with options and prices, decide pickup or delivery and how diners pay, then choose where each order lands in the kitchen: a phone call, a tablet, or a printer. Run five test orders, start on a slow weekday, and put the ordering link on your Google profile, your menu and your bags. A small place can do all of it in a day.

Below: the four ways to take orders and what each costs on a $25 order, the settings that decide whether the kitchen copes, how to test it, how to launch it, and what to watch in the first month.

Not sure it's worth it yet? The benefits of online ordering for restaurants goes through what each benefit is worth and the downsides. On a tight budget, start with a free online ordering system.

1. The short version: eight steps

1. Pick your channel. A delivery app, your own ordering page, or your POS's online ordering (section 2).
2. Pick pickup, delivery or both. Pickup is the easy start (section 3).
3. Put the menu online for ordering. Every item with its price, options and add-ons (section 4).
4. Choose how diners pay. Online by card, or at the counter when they pick up (section 5).
5. Set hours, prep time and cutoffs so orders only come in when you can cook them (section 6).
6. Decide where orders land and who accepts them (section 7).
7. Run five test orders before anyone else sees the link (section 9).
8. Launch on a slow day and tell people: Google, your menu, bags, receipts, social (section 10).

2. What are the ways to take orders online?

There are four, and many places run two of them side by side. The biggest difference is who keeps the money on each order.

Delivery apps bring new diners who have never heard of you; your own page keeps the money from diners who already know you. That is why the usual setup is both: the apps for discovery, your own page for regulars. Our guides on the DoorDash commission fee and commission-free online ordering work through the numbers for a whole month. If you already ring up on Square, see Square online ordering for restaurants for its plans, fees and limits.

3. Pickup, delivery, or both?

Start with pickup. It needs nothing you don't already have: a counter, a shelf and someone to hand the bag over. Delivery adds a driver and a cost on every order.

• Your own drivers. You set a delivery area and a fee. You pay wages or per-trip pay, mileage and insurance, and a driver who is out can't help in the kitchen.
• Courier on demand. Services like DoorDash Drive, or Square's on-demand delivery, send a courier for a flat fee per trip. Square lists DoorDash couriers at $6.99 per delivery up to 5 miles, plus $1 for each extra mile up to 10 ($8.99 in California, $9.98 in New York City) [5]. You can usually pass some or all of it to the diner.
• The delivery apps. They bring the driver and the diner, and take the bigger commission.

A good test: if most of your phone orders today are pickups, open pickup online first and add delivery once the kitchen handles the extra orders without slipping.

4. How do you put the menu online for ordering?

An ordering menu is stricter than a printed one, because nobody is there to ask "what comes with that?" Before you type it in, mark up your printed menu:

• Every price, in dollars and cents. Online prices that differ from the counter should be a decision, not an accident. Many places charge the same online as in the store on their own page and higher on the delivery apps.
• Options that change the dish: size, protein, spice level, bread, sides. Mark which are required (pick one) and which are extra (add bacon +$2).
• Items that don't travel. Leave out dishes that arrive soggy or melted, or say "best eaten here".
• A short line per dish for anything a stranger wouldn't know from the name.
• Allergens and dietary marks you already use in the store. Don't add claims you can't stand behind.
• Categories in the order people eat: starters, mains, sides, drinks, desserts. Put your best sellers first.

Typing a full menu takes an hour or two. Some builders read a photo or PDF of your menu and type it for you; you then check every price. Our guide to making a restaurant menu online for free compares the menu makers.

Keep a "sold out" switch within reach. Diners forgive "sold out" far more than a call ten minutes later saying the dish they paid for isn't available.

5. Should diners pay online or at pickup?

Most small takeout places start with pay at pickup, because regulars rarely no-show and there's nothing to set up. If no-shows become a problem, ask for a phone number on every order and call back anything over a set amount before you cook it, or switch large orders to pay online.

6. What settings keep the kitchen from drowning?

Most online-ordering trouble isn't the software. It's orders arriving when the kitchen can't make them on time. These settings prevent it:

Toast's own launch checklist suggests the same idea from the other side: launch on a slow day such as a Tuesday or Wednesday, and pause intake if you fall behind [6]. If Toast is your POS, Toast online ordering setup walks those steps with Toast's own settings and fees.

7. Where do the orders land in the kitchen?

An order nobody sees is worse than no order at all: someone paid, or someone is driving over. Pick one way orders reach you, and one person per shift who owns it.

• A phone call. Some services call the restaurant's phone and read the order or send it by text. Nothing new to watch; works in the busiest kitchen. Best for small places without a POS.
• A tablet with a loud alert. Most ordering apps ring until someone accepts. Keep it charged, plugged in and on the pass, not in the office. Turn the volume all the way up and turn off sleep.
• A ticket printer. The order prints next to the dine-in tickets, so the cooks treat it like any other ticket.
• Your POS and kitchen screen. On Square, Toast or Clover, online orders can land on the same screen as counter orders. Tidy, but the screens cost extra per device: Square lists its kitchen display at $20 to $30 a month per device, depending on plan [7].
• Email. Fine as a backup record. Never as the only alert: nobody reads email during service.

Whatever you pick, write down three rules for staff and tape them by the alert: who accepts, how fast (aim for within two minutes), and what to do when an item is out (call the diner, offer a swap or remove it).

8. Packaging and the pickup shelf

• A shelf or table by the door just for online orders, so diners don't queue at the till to collect.
• The name on every bag in big letters, and the order number if your system gives one.
• Containers that suit the food: vented boxes for fried food, sauces on the side, hot and cold bagged apart.
• A seal or sticker on delivery bags, so the diner knows nobody opened it.
• Napkins, cutlery and the menu card with your ordering link, so the next order comes to you directly.

9. Run five test orders before launch

Test from a phone on mobile data, not the restaurant's Wi-Fi, because that's what your diners use. Have a friend place some of them.

1. A simple order: one item, no options. Did the alert reach the kitchen? How long did it take?
2. An order with every kind of option: a required choice, two add-ons, a note. Did the ticket show all of it clearly?
3. An order for later today. Did it arrive at the right time, and did the kitchen know when to start?
4. An order outside your hours. Was it refused or scheduled, as you wanted?
5. A paid order you then refund, if diners pay online. Did the money go back, and what fee stayed?

Also check: the prices match the counter, sold-out items can't be ordered, the confirmation the diner gets shows your address and phone, and the page loads in a few seconds on a phone.

10. How do you tell customers you take online orders?

Nobody finds an ordering page by accident. Put the link everywhere a diner already looks, starting with the free places:

• Your Google Business Profile. Add your ordering link as the order link, so "Order online" on your listing leads to your page instead of only to the apps [8]. Our guide on getting your restaurant on Google Maps covers claiming the profile first.
• Your website's top button. "Order pickup" as the first thing on the phone screen.
• A QR code at the counter, on the menu and on every takeout bag. Our free QR code menu page shows a way to make one.
• Your phone message: "You can also order online at…" for the lunch rush when nobody can answer.
• Instagram and Facebook: the link in your bio, and a post on launch day.
• In delivery app bags, a card with your own ordering link, so app diners can order from you directly next time.

Tell regulars in person for the first two weeks. It's the most effective launch there is, and it's free.

11. The first month: what to watch

• Missed or late accepts. If any order sat unseen for more than a few minutes, move the alert or change who owns it.
• Pickup waits. If diners are waiting at the counter, raise the prep time shown online.
• Calls about orders. Each "did you get my order?" call means the confirmation isn't clear enough.
• What people order. Online diners often order differently. Move the best sellers to the top.
• How many come direct vs through apps. Count both each week. Every order that moves from an app to your own page keeps the commission in your pocket.

What if you're on GloriaFood?

GloriaFood is closing: it takes no new sign-ups and ordering stops on April 30, 2027. If you run your orders on it now, our guide to GloriaFood shutting down covers what to save before it closes and how to switch without a day of missed orders.

Common mistakes

• The tablet in the office. The alert has to be where people work.
• A prep time from a quiet afternoon. Diners judge you on the busy hour.
• Launching on a Friday night. Start on a slow weekday and learn before the rush.
• Different prices everywhere by accident. Decide online prices on purpose, and keep your own page no higher than the counter.
• No pause button plan. Someone on each shift must know how to stop new orders.
• Hiding the link. An ordering page only Google's crawler knows about takes no orders.
• Only the delivery apps. Regulars who would happily order direct pay the app's fees through you.

Questions

How do I set up online ordering for my restaurant for free?

Use an ordering page where diners pay at pickup: there's no card fee online, and several services have free plans. Check for monthly order caps and for any fee shown to diners. Our commission-free online ordering guide lists eight options with prices.

Can I take online orders without a website?

Yes. Many ordering services give you a page with its own link that you put on Google, Instagram and a QR code. A website with your menu on it still helps people find you.

How long does it take to set up?

A day for most small places: an hour or two for the menu, an hour for settings and tests. Payment accounts can take a few days to verify, which is one reason to start with pay at pickup.

Do I need a tablet?

No. A service that calls or texts your phone works without one. A tablet or printer helps once orders come in steadily.

Should I charge more online?

On your own page, most places keep counter prices so regulars aren't punished for ordering direct. On delivery apps, many charge more to cover the commission. See how to price a menu item for the maths.

What about orders that are never picked up?

Ask for a phone number, call back large orders before cooking, and switch to pay-online for big orders if no-shows repeat.

Want ordering running today? Build your menu free from a photo of your menu: diners order pickup, your phone rings with each order, and there's no card to go live. More on sites, ordering and Google in all our guides.

Sources

1. DoorDash commission rates and pricing, DoorDash, read Oct 23, 2026.
2. Uber Eats pickup rates as summarised in our Uber Eats commission guide, with its sources, Nov 2, 2026.
3. Stripe pricing, Stripe, read Nov 1, 2026.
4. Square online ordering pricing and fees, Sauce, 2026, and Square Online plans, Square, read Nov 2, 2026.
5. On-Demand Delivery Pricing Policy, Square, updated March 16, 2026.
6. Online ordering launch best practices checklist, Toast, read Nov 2, 2026 (as listed in search).
7. Square for Restaurants pricing, Square, read Nov 2, 2026.
8. Manage online ordering options, Google Business Profile Help, read Nov 1, 2026.