Lavu POS

4.1 (168)
Cloud-based iPad POS system for the restaurant industry

Overall rating

4.1 /5
(168)
Value for Money
4.0/5
Features
4.1/5
Ease of Use
4.3/5
Customer Support
4.1/5

79%
recommended this app
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168 Reviews

Lok
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

Review

Reviewed on 18/02/2022

It’s been like a love and hate relationship

Pros

It was nice and easy to get used to. The system was nice.

Cons

The WiFi would go offline sometimes for hours

Alternatives Considered

Clover

Reasons for Choosing Lavu POS

My manager made the switch

Response from Lavu

Hi Lok, thank you for your feedback! We're sorry that your restaurant's wifi has been having issues - it's always a nuisance when that happens. Please reach out if there is anything we can help with.

Verified Reviewer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Management Consulting
  • Company size: Self Employed
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

Former Lavu User

Reviewed on 17/07/2020

Overall, for the two years the system was satisfacotry. Until recenlty it was for the current management at the restaurant. The dealer is helpful - he is our first line of tech support before we go to KLAvu for support.

Pros

I liked using Lavu because it was the first POS for the restaurant where I worked. While I was employed there I used the system for 2 years. The set up was easy as the dealer came to the restaurant and set it up and did a one day training for the staff.

Cons

They system seems to have alot of glitches. Recently, the restaurant reported to me that they had a glitch and lost printers. Tech support finally helped and got the printers up but somehow lost half the menu. Also, I have witnessed personally that the sales tax is charging out properly.

Alternatives Considered

Toast POS

Reasons for Choosing Lavu POS

We needed better reporting and labor tracking.

Reasons for Switching to Lavu POS

The fees and support were better by Lavu at the time.

Response from Lavu

Hello and thank you for your review! We appreciate the feedback and we are happy that Lavu worked so well for your business.

Jennifer
Overall rating
  • Industry: Food & Beverages
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 1.0 /10

Shutting Down During Peak Times

Reviewed on 01/06/2019

Pros

I like the simple interface, it is easy to use and simple to implement

Cons

99% of the time the software works well however we have had consistent problems with the system going offline in the middle of very busy nights. We will have a restaurant full of people 30+ tables with open orders and the system completely stops working (it always happens at peak times when we should be making the most money when we are the busiest, they have not invested enough to function at the scale they are selling for). Servers cannot send orders to the kitchen, we cannot run cards, servers loose track of what the final cost of the bill is for the customers and what their order is. The 1% of the time when Lavu goes offline has irreversible damage to our business. It creates chaos among staff members, it disrupts our reputation as a legit business and damages our relationship with our customers, and it causes us to loose money on tickets that do not get rang in right or when we have to jot down credit card numbers instead of running them to learn the card is no good once Lavu is back online. This has happened to us at least 8-9 times in the 1 year we have had LAVU. Not only is it unacceptable for this to ever happen but we do not get any compensation for our trouble or loss of income and the Lavu team will not return our calls or explain what is happening or reassure us that it wont happen again. There is no backup plan or support on help coming. Unfortunately I feel we are going to have to look for something else.

Response from Lavu

Thank you for your review, Jennifer. We hear what you're saying and we are working diligently to bring offline mode to our customers by late July. We know that the downtime is unacceptable and we appreciate your patience with us. The Lavu Team.

Brian
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Good product, hard to find anything that compares.

Reviewed on 09/05/2022

Pretty good experience overall. Over the years we've had communication issues. There have been some price increases and fees snuck in that I wasn't happy about. I can usually read between the lines and see when they are doing things to attempt to make.. and they haven't always been the most upfront about it. I usually call them out on it and at times have had to email the[SENSITIVE CONTENT] about issues that weren't getting resolved. I will say he's immediately gotten on the issues each and every time I've email and gotten me taken care of. Years ago there were some pretty bad issues with the service going offline and we were totally down. This has gotten 1000% better since they switched to AWS hosting. We did have another several hour outage recently, but that's the first and only one in years.

Pros

Pretty easy to use, stable for the most part. We've been using the software for 7+ years I believe. Over time we've integrated and started using more and more of their products such as KDS and card processing. Recently restructured their pricing and we now get the same service for less!

Cons

At times, certain things could be easier. I don't think the pizza building is perfect and could still use work. This goes for both Lavu and MenuDrive. We make it work and they've made lots of improvements over the years with help from our input.

Response from Lavu

Hi Brian! First off, I'd like to thank you for your continued business, and for your feedback! We really appreciate your comments, and we are continuously improving our product to fit the needs of each customer.

patty
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Great on-line ordering system for Breakfast/Lunch restaurant

Reviewed on 15/06/2022

We are happy with Menudrive, the cost is acceptable and we like how our staff doesn't need to answer the phone to get the order. Our diner is loud and it's hard to hear the order, get the payment info, delivery address etc. Plus they often want to know their total price. Menudrive allows them to easily place their order & pay for their order - without taking up staff time. We wish all of our take out and delivery orders would be via Menudrive.

Pros

Menudrive is easy to program; took some time but our menu is large and we being a breakfast diner we had many options for customers ie: how do they want their eggs cooked, meat type, bread type, etc. Menudrive allows an unlimited amount of items & required info

Cons

when entering items it was redundant having to enter the time available (if it wasn't an all day availability). Lots of key strokes but once it's done, it's done.

Response from Lavu

Hi Patty, thank you for your feedback! We love to hear from our MenuDrive customers, and how the product can help out businesses like yours!

Deanna
Overall rating
  • Industry: Wine & Spirits
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10

requested

Reviewed on 14/07/2022

Pros

The reports are extremely useful. I like the option to put recipes with the individual menu item.

Cons

When the system is overloaded and goes down, it never comes at a convenient time, generally Friday at 5pm

Alternatives Considered

Square Point of Sale and Toast POS

Response from Lavu

Hi Deanna, thanks so much for your feedback! We're glad to hear that Lavu helps specifically with your reporting! If you have any questions, please reach out!

Scott
Overall rating
  • Industry: Food & Beverages
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Great customer service

Reviewed on 22/08/2022

Using Lavu has made it easier to do online ordering and takeout meals. Reports are much better than our last POS.

Pros

Easy to use and train staff on. Customer service is always nice and helpful, stays on the phone, and then follows up afterward. Like the control panel and reporting.

Cons

Price point - it can be more pricey than expected.

Response from Lavu

Hi Scott,

Thanks for letting us know how well Lavu has worked for your restaurant! It's great to hear from our customers about what they specifically love about Lavu. Please reach out if you need anything!

Jackie
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

POS review

Reviewed on 29/06/2022

Hardly ever crashes

Pros

Tons of reports available, all tables at fingertips…

Cons

Wish all the reports would print from the new version by right clicking and printing on the page, like the old version…

Alternatives Considered

Toast POS

Reasons for Switching to Lavu POS

Price

Response from Lavu

Hi Jackie, we appreciate the feedback! We're happy that Lavu is helping your business streamline operations, and is a good price point for you as well.

Gabriela
Overall rating
  • Industry: Food & Beverages
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 5.0 /10

Good pos system

Reviewed on 01/07/2022

Good system, very easy to set up and use to the servers

Pros

Easy to use, very friendly for the new hires

Cons

Some of the reports we need are not ready

Alternatives Considered

NCR Aloha

Reasons for Switching to Lavu POS

Price

Response from Lavu

Hi Gabriela, thanks for your review! We are happy that Lavu is easy to use for your staff. We are also constantly updating our reporting options, so we will keep you posted.

Samson
Overall rating
  • Industry: Food & Beverages
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

Customer service

Reviewed on 14/05/2022

Overall it works well. There are small glitches but the latest update seems to have taken care of many of them. It works for our situation.

Pros

[SENSITIVE CONTENT] and [SENSITIVE CONTENT] are very helpful and knowledgeable in their fields. Great service and pleasant to speak with.

Cons

Menu drive online ordering needs to be more user friendly when updating items for pricing changes and adding pictures or descriptions.

Response from Lavu

Hi Samson - thank you so much for your feedback! We truly appreciate it, and your business. We are constantly working on making MenuDrive as user-friendly as possible for all customers.

Blaine
Overall rating
  • Industry: Hospitality
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

We are pulling our systems out of our restaurants

Reviewed on 27/07/2017

Nothing to come close to outweighing the cons

Pros

About the only thing that is positive about this system is that it is internet based and we can move freely about the restaurant to serve our guests.

Cons

Billing is constantly inaccurate and the system shuts down during service because of this.
If you're ok with the system going offline with no warning due to inaccurate automated billing issues and 3 hours on the phone with inept customer service reps while having zero access to input orders, print tickets to your kitchen, bills for the customers and not being able to process credit cards than this IS the system for you!
Our sales and install guy was a joke. Over promising on system answers he didn't even know but said yeah it does that. When it came to menu input it took him 2 weeks from start to finish and we had to just take over and redo everything ourselves.
Reporting functions that should be available that weren't we were told would be "coming soon" in the next version have not materialized.
Customer service is absolutely horrendous. If you like long hold times over an hour most times or a we will call you back message many hours most times then again this is the system for you!

Response from Lavu

Hello Blaine,

We are sorry to hear about your experience and hope we can solve these issues you've been having. Our customer care manager is looking into the issue now and will reach out to you. In the meantime, we recommend reaching out to our 24-hour customer care line 1.855.528.8457 with any immediate issues you may be having. We would be more than happy to address the problems with your system. Again, we apologize for any inconvenience you may have had and look forward to working through these issues.

-Kristin

Jamison
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

Worst POS System Ever

Reviewed on 20/01/2022

Horrendous. Customer Service pressures retention on cancellations - then they fraudulently charge bank accounts after the fact. T Their CEO spams all account holders each week with cringe-worthy emails. Lavu is an embarrassment to the POS industry. LAVU is a shady company at best and a headache for any real restaurant at worst.

Pros

There are NO Pros for this POS. Never using the software is the best Pro out there.

Cons

After canceling the software - they kept charging our accounts for months. When confronted about the charges and after submitting confirming emails, they stated the charges were approved but offer no proof even though email confirmations from their own AR show the opposite. Customer Service might be the worst in the business. Told us they would return our call in 1 business day to rectify the situation and they finally replied 3 weeks later - Drained over $300 directly from our accounts. STAY AWAY

Response from Lavu

Hi Jamison, thank you for being a customer of Lavu for more than two years, but I am very sorry to hear how bad your experience was, especially towards the end of your use of us. I do apologize on behalf of the customer support team if you were not contacted in a timely manner, or communications were not clear. We would be happy to sort any remaining issues out, so please let us know if that is something you are interested in.

Armond
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

The worst cuatomer service

Reviewed on 07/01/2020

Very very bad.

Pros

Always someone answer it in india
They always take the notes of problem and promiss someo e will call you. Nobody ever calls

Cons

I had 3 different tickets of issues with lavu one was about chipreaders that they send it and themselve couldnot activate it. all i got was that someone will call me soon and after 2 months all i had was excuses and the person who was supposed to call never did. Now they are saying that i cant return the items because it passed the 3p days even though it was never ooend or used. The raise the price without letting me know or get my approval ( apparently they send an email whicb is proabably still in my spam folder ) and charge my auto pay 5 times more than what originally were supposed to do. After i complain the shut down the system and refuse to give me the information i needed to do payroll and tip calculation.
The worst pos company. Do not buy this junk

Response from Lavu

Armond, we are very sorry to hear about the issues you are having. We strive to have the best customer service and provide a great experience for all of our users. Please reach out to our support team at at 855-528-8457 and one of our team members will be glad to help you out with any issues that you are having.

Sean
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 1.0 /10

Great solution....as long as you never plan on leaving!

Reviewed on 05/05/2021

Multiple price increases with no communication. Have tried to cancel for 5 months, multiple emails, cases, conversations and promises to cancel, just got our 4th email this week that they can't process our card. No access to accounting, don't believe me call their number. Had to fight charges and cancelled the credit card to stop them from billing. Do yourself a favor pick something else. We moved to Square for everything!

Pros

Used the software for 9 years, pretty easy to use and setup decent feature set, great that it was Ipad/iphone based instead of having to buy specific hardware.

Cons

Light to non-existent integration to Square for credit card processing.

Response from Lavu

Hi Sean, first off we would like to thank you for your business and for being with Lavu for 9 years. We are very sorry to hear you went elsewhere. We apologize about the billing discrepancies. Please reach out if we can do anything for you.

Ahmad
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Best software and easy.

Reviewed on 11/02/2022

Easy to use and the customer service are amazing.

Pros

Easy to use the pos while you are busy.

Cons

The customer service is one of the best customer service ever.

Response from Lavu

Hi Ahmad, thank you for reaching out and letting us know how happy you are with Lavu! We're always eager to help if you have any issues.

Luis
Overall rating
  • Industry: Food & Beverages
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

LAVU complete POS system

Reviewed on 19/07/2022

LAVU has been a really helpfull tool from organizing the orders that goes to the kitchen, to getting special reports.

Pros

It´s an easy sytem to learn and to teach to third parties, alot of filters to get the detail information needed.

Cons

One thing that i notice is that i can not move the category windows as i desire, to have a better organization in the POS. And another thing is that from time to time the POS in the tablets won´t let us login until some billling issues are resolved, not sure what is that about.

Response from Lavu

Hi Luis, thanks for your feedback! We're glad to hear that Lavu has been helpful in all aspects of running your restaurant. We are constantly working to perfect our product and eliminate bugs in the software. Please reach out if you need anything!

Cindi
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

My experience with Lavu

Reviewed on 28/10/2022

I have been very satisfied with this company.

Pros

The ease of navigating through all the different functions available.

Cons

I really haven’t found anything that I have felt is worth complaining about or suggesting changes.

Response from Lavu

Hi Cindi,

Thanks so much for reaching out and taking the time to provide us with valuable feedback. The Lavu team really appreciates hearing about your experience. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions.

Russell
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Online all inclusive restaurant POS

Reviewed on 15/06/2017

There is an open ended API for other application integration, but we are not savvy enough to do this ourselves. It would be great if there were more companies and different aspects of integration on the back end for more high end analytics and functionality. (IE: Quickbooks, Simple Order, Etc.).

Pros

Very versatile and easy to use. Easy to make modifications and adjustments within the system and customize to our specific operation.

Cons

Sometimes connection of iPads can be a little shotty as it goes for the order takers communicating with LAVU KDS, and it has been hard to get the problem fully resolved, but it only creates a mild irritant and not a full distraction from the overall business.

Response from Lavu

Hi Russell, thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate hearing how much Lavu is working for your restaurant. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you need anything.

Caryn
Overall rating
  • Industry: Hospitality
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Use as a server and bartender at independent restaurant

Reviewed on 09/08/2022

Lavu has helped our business stay afloat, especially during Covid as we had to close down. We use their online ordering software, Menudrive, as well. It made it easier for us to survive the pandemic financially and be able to open our doors again when restrictions were up.

Pros

At our restaurant, we pool tips each night, and Lavu makes it really easy to print out our tip report and figure out how much each server should be bringing home. Saves us a lot of time and effort.

Cons

The inventory feature could be better, but we don't use it that much, to begin with.

Response from Lavu

Hi Caryn,
Thank you so much for your feedback, we really appreciate it! It's so great to hear that your restaurant was able to make it through Covid with the help of MenuDrive. Please let us know if you need anything!

Steven
Overall rating
  • Industry: Food & Beverages
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Nice Job Lavu

Reviewed on 19/07/2016

I have a pretty big place, with a long wine and cocktail list, but this handled all of our menu, and getting running was fast with one of the distributors we found in our area. We switched from an older POS after our contract ran out, and this seemed like the new, efficient thing to try out. It was a quick install, and way less than what I paid before. I miss some of the inventory ordering and employee scheduling my old system had, but this makes up for it in other ways. My servers picked it up right away, almost no training needed

Response from Lavu

Hi Steven, thank you for your review! We love to hear that Lavu has worked so well for your restaurant. We're especially happy that Lavu was a better pricing point with more customizable features than your previous POS.

Brian
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

After one full year - still happy

Reviewed on 13/06/2017

Overall, a good product and always recommend to others.

Pros

System is fairly easy to use and navigate. Easy to setup menus and configure accordingly. Customer support is pretty responsive and quick although sometimes questionable knowledge to help with all situations. Cost for system is excellent.

Cons

Fonts can be a bit small on pos interface and thus hard to read. No big cons to comment on other than have had some big hassles configuring system to work with different credit card merchants and being bounced back and forth with customer support to resolve.

Response from Lavu

Hi Brian, thank you for your feedback! We are very happy that Lavu has worked so well for your business. Please let us know if you need anything at all at (855) 767-5288.

Lauren
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 0.0 /10

Constant Interruptions

Reviewed on 29/10/2019

I enjoy the reports and the admin website.

Pros

The software is very easy to use and the reporting system is great.

Cons

We have constant interruptions including but not limited to: data parse errors with the credit card processing company, iPads going down, the admin website going down, drawers locking up and printers going offline, etc. The customer service is mediocre when you can actually reach someone. Don't bother calling in for help, they don't answer the phone.

Response from Lavu

Hi Lauren, we're glad to hear Lavu's reporting was helpful to your business. We are sorry to hear that you experienced some technical and customer support issues with us. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Kevin
Overall rating
  • Industry: Food & Beverages
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Excellent POS System

Reviewed on 15/06/2016

Bought the system for my pub about three years ago and I'm glad I did. Lavu has helped my staff open/close tabs much quicker than before I bought the system. I'm making more money and I can say that part of the reason is due to Lavu. Excellent POS system.

Pros

Ease of use and the reliability. Hasn't crashed on me in the three years I've had it.

Cons

Lags every once in a while.

Response from Lavu

Hi Kevin, thank you so much for your feedback! We are very happy that Lavu has streamlined your restaurant operations, and made it easier to track your reporting. Please reach out if you need anything at (855) 767-5288.

Gonzalo
Overall rating
  • Industry: Restaurants
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Casa Mex

Reviewed on 15/02/2022

Pros

Send orders From table, and being able to not use a paper printer we use a kitchen display really helpful

Cons

When there’s a big table with several tickets how to put everything in one ticket and send it

Response from Lavu

Hi Gonzalo, thank you for reaching out with your feedback! We really appreciate it! If your servers need help combining tickets - please reach out to customer service and we are happy to help!

sam
Overall rating
  • Industry: Hospitality
  • Company size: 11–50 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Lavu review

Reviewed on 26/04/2022

very fun to see the company develop over the years. Almost all my experiences have been good with Lavu.

Pros

first POS that works on iPad. easy to use with nice graphical interface

Cons

no integrated electronic payment system in Canada

Response from Lavu

Hi Sam, thanks for your feedback! We love that you find Lavu easy to use. We're happy to have you as a customer!