10 Great Apps for Managing Your Bar or Restaurant

Do you own or manage a bar or restaurant? If so, the following is a great list of apps for you. We’ll go through everything from inventory management, to clocking in and out on an iPad.

1. Bev Spot 

Founded in 2014, Boston based, BevSpot has an online tool that helps bar managers keep track of their inventory and spending. Learn how to manage inventory, ordering, and invoicing to make your bar more profitable. They have a great blog, jam-packed with information on running a successful bar, that’s definitely worth checking out.

Here’s what they say about it: 
Manage your bar online and access all of your bar’s data in real time. BevSpot backs up everything to the cloud and so you can access valuable information anywhere. You can take inventory, track orders and see sales data on any device. BevsSpot learns from your trends and suggests improvements to your beverages program, saving the business time and money, as well as reducing excess inventory.

2. Partender 

Throw out your paper and do your inventory in minutes, not hours, with the Partender smartphone app. We love the simplicity of this app. It usually takes forever to measure spirits at the end of the night, but this app saves you so much time. You can quickly cycle through the products and mark what you see – it couldn’t be more straightforward and speedy.

Here’s what they say about it: 
Partender allows you to build a virtual representation of your bar on your smartphone. Instead of manually writing down your inventory using cumbersome scales or expensive hardware, simply tap where the liquor level is in the bottle and swipe to the next bottle on your shelf. All your bar’s inventory information is stored in the cloud. Just log in to see beautiful graphs of your bar’s trends.

3. Orderella 

Orderella is a UK-based app that allows your customers to order directly from their smartphones. It makes ordering a dream – they simply sign in, choose your venue, and fill their basket with food or drink. This means avoiding waiting around for ages in queues for them, increasing customer satisfaction and the likelihood of repeat business.

Here’s what they say about it: 
Users can browse a pub’s food and drinks menu, place orders and pay with Paypal or credit card details stored on the app. Once the order is ready, it can be picked up or will be delivered to the table by bar staff.

4. Tap Hunter

San Diego company, Tap Hunter have built the only tool you need to manage and market your beverage program. Create and showcase customized print and digital menus on your website and social media channels, as well in your physical place of business. Save hours weekly with easy, automatic updates to your menu. Drive thirsty patrons through your door with alerts through social media and the TapHunter app, which create an engaging experience for your customers.

Here’s what they say about it: 
TapHunter is the leader in beverage marketing and management software for bars, restaurants, brands and consumers. It is a bar owner’s best friend. Our tools help bars, restaurants, tasting rooms, and bottle shops more effectively manage and market their beer, spirits & cocktail programs.

5. Mixology App  

Mixology™ is a great tool for creating cocktail specials, or as a quick way to excite your customers, who request a special drink with a key ingredient. You can input specific ingredients you have on hand and Mixology will conveniently make a recipe suggestion, with the option to view more. It’s impressive in that you can search by multiple ingredients and be presented easily with a compatible result, based on what you input.

Here’s what they say about it: 
Mixology™ is the ultimate drink & cocktail recipe app. Browse and search through nearly 8,000 drink recipes and over 1,000 ingredients. Metric and Imperial (US) units can be chosen for all cocktail recipes with the click of one button on the “More” tab.

6. Bar and Club Stats

Bar and Club Stats is a quick and easy-to-use app for iPhone and iPad, allowing you to check ID with increased accuracy. With this app, you can be confident that the customers in your bar are of legal age. It’s a simple way to increase peace of mind and protect your business against underage drinkers and any resulting fines. Simply open the app, scan the ID and as such, increase your business’s security.

Here’s what they say about it:
Based off an iPod, iPad, iPhone or Android device, Bar and Club Stat’s ID scanners protect against underage drinking and enable you to become smarter about your customers. They also provide you with valuable insights on your customers, allowing you to optimize marketing and promotional efforts.

7. Untappd 

Untappd allows patrons to share and discover their favourite beers. They can use the app to rate what they try, unlocking achievements along the way. If a user is in a new location and is curious as to the popular bars in the area (with specific beers on tap), they can use the app to pinpoint an appropriate recommendation.

Here’s what they say about it: 
Untappd is a mobile social check-in and discovery network specifically for beer enthusiasts. Users can keep track of the beers they’ve tried and what they thought of them, as well as unlock badges by expanding their palates.

8. Wine Ratings + 

Do you serve wine at your bar? Then you just have to get Wine Ratings + from Wine Spectator. This app allows you to access expert advice on wines, ensuring your bar stocks the best rating options. You can use the app to stay updated on the latest and greatest, and their free download gives you access to a large array of vintage charts, extensive wine education and a timely news feed.

Here’s what they say about it: 
Wine Spectator’s flagship Wine Ratings+ app lets you quickly consult all of their wine reviews – more than 300,000. Designed for connoisseurs, this comprehensive app for iPhone, iPad and Android devices helps you make better choices, discover great value, learn about wine, and stay updated on what’s new.

9. Belly  

Besides having a great name, Belly also have a great app! With multiple loyalty cards jammed into my wallet and/or pockets at any given time, this app is a welcome way to free up space and be able to provide customers rewards anytime. Belly allows you to toss away unnecessary cards, stop wasting money on printing, and just use your phone to provide customers rewards digitally! They can easily sign up, check in, and earn points which they can then redeem or save up.

Here’s what they say about it: 
Create and strengthen customer relationships with the world’s best loyalty platform. Collect customer info after their first visit to keep them engaged and interested, and run email marketing and mobile campaigns without lifting a finger. 

10. Bizimply 

The list of 10 great apps for managing your bar or restaurant wouldn’t be complete without a nod to Bizimply. We’re all about saving you time and money, which can be better spent elsewhere! We do this by helping you take control of your bars labour costs and improve daily communication with your teams in multiple locations.

Bizimply allows you to quickly schedule your team across multiple locations, capture day-to-day information from each location, monitor attendance via our iPad app and prepare payroll in minutes, not hours. Want to know more about how we can help your business? Request a callback from our Sales Team today.
Bizimply, and all of the apps listed above are great ways to better manage your bar or restaurant. Improving processes and increasing customer satisfaction become much more achievable with these available at our convenience!