The Modern RFP Guide
A no-guesswork way to choose restaurant technology. Who belongs in the room, how to write an RFP that gets real answers, and how to score vendors on structure instead of gut feel. 13 pages.
Get the guideWhat to ask a POS vendor, what operators say they're fixing next, and how to run the evaluation without guesswork. Written for the people who own the decision.
The five things that break during the restaurant holiday rush, and what to do about each one before 10.31. Outage drills, a delivery tablet audit, guest data scripts, a dated two-week checklist and a Saturday run-of-show.
Short, practical and built on what operators are actually dealing with.
A no-guesswork way to choose restaurant technology. Who belongs in the room, how to write an RFP that gets real answers, and how to score vendors on structure instead of gut feel. 13 pages.
Get the guideOperational efficiency, staff retention and tech-driven guest engagement: what restaurant operators say they are prioritizing, and what it means for your stack.
Get the reportDrive-thru breakfast, a Texas pit line, a chef-driven group running every concept on one platform. Filter by service style and read the whole rollout.
Browse customer storiesOur white paper library, rewritten with current data. Five pages each, built for operators and IT teams who want the short version.
Where card data leaks on a restaurant network, what PCI asks of you, and the controls that keep guest payments safe.
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Chip is the standard and tap is the expectation. Who pays for fraud now, and what your payment hardware needs.
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App, web, kiosk and delivery orders running on one POS, so the kitchen sees one queue instead of five tablets.
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How tabletop ordering and pay-at-table change check times, table turns and how your servers spend a shift.
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What connected kitchen equipment can report on temperature, runtime and health, and how to act on it.
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What restaurant systems need to stay up, what support should include, and how to judge a provider before you sign.
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Off-premise, catering and new channels in a year of cost pressure, and how to grow them without losing control of the store.
Get the white paperLooking for an older paper? Rising Labor Costs is still in the archive.
Shorter reads on the numbers behind restaurant technology decisions. More in News & Events.
Start with the problem you are solving, not a feature list. A good RFP names the stakeholders who will score it, asks questions that force specific answers, sets a realistic timeline, and defines how vendors will be scored before any demo. The Modern RFP Guide walks through all nine steps.
Agree on weighted scoring criteria first, then run every finalist through the same service scenarios, such as a lunch rush, a split check and an internet outage. Ask for customer references you can call, and judge vendors on verified results rather than promises.
Operations, finance, IT and marketing should all have a voice, along with at least one manager who runs a shift. Each group sees different failure points, and a decision made by one department usually misses what the others need.
Operators told us their top priorities are operational efficiency, staff retention and tech-driven guest engagement, followed by back-office efficiency and a stack that will not need replacing in a few years. The details are in The 2025 Restaurant Priority Report.
Run an outage drill, audit your delivery tablets, set up guest data capture, check your network under load and get new hires trained before the busy week. Then freeze changes for the final days. Avoiding Tech Terrors: A Spooky Guide includes a dated two-week checklist and a Saturday run-of-show.
Yes. Some open right away and some ask for your name, company and work email first. Nothing on this page requires a purchase or a sales call.
Our Customer Stories page has case studies from quick service, fast casual, counter service and table service brands, each covering why they switched and how the rollout went.
CBS NorthStar, a restaurant POS and order management company founded in 1994, with offices in Irvine, California and Dallas, Texas. NorthStar serves table service and counter service operators and runs its own 24/7 support team.
Yes. We rewrote our white paper library with current data on payments, network security, online ordering, tabletop ordering, connected kitchens, IT support and off-premise growth. Each one is five pages; some download right away and some ask for your email first.
Last updated October 5, 2026
One conversation with the team that installs, supports and answers the phone 24/7. No hand-offs.
