Why Restaurant Owners Love the DEJAVOO + PAYS POS Combo
I’ve owned restaurants for almost twenty years now, started as a server back in college. I’ve seen more POS systems crash and burn than I care to count.
Last month, I was talking to Tony at the restaurant supply store. He’s got three Italian places around town, been struggling with his POS for months. System kept freezing up, couldn’t handle busy nights, made his servers want to quit.
Then he tells me about switching to DEJAVOO with PAYS, and honestly, I thought he was exaggerating. But the more restaurant people I talked to, the more I kept hearing the same thing.
The Night Everything Changed
Picture this: Friday night, packed house, kitchen’s slammed, and right in the middle of dinner rush – BAM – your POS goes down. Credit card reader stops working. Servers standing around with checks they can’t process.
That was my life three months ago. Had this ancient system that worked fine during slow lunch shifts but turned into a disaster every weekend. The breaking point came when we lost power for two seconds and the whole thing crashed. Took twenty minutes to get back online.
My friend Carmen runs a taco place on the east side, went through the exact same nightmare. She switched to DEJAVOO + PAYS about six months back. Now when I visit during rush hour, everything’s smooth. Servers aren’t panicking, and Carmen actually looks relaxed.
Speed Changes Everything
My old system took forever to run credit cards. I’m talking thirty, forty seconds sometimes. Multiply that by every transaction on a busy night? Your servers are standing there watching a spinning wheel while customers tap their fingers.
DEJAVOO processes payments ridiculously fast. Cards go through in maybe three seconds. Contactless payments happen so quick that customers sometimes wave their phone again thinking it didn’t work.
Here’s a real number: since switching, my average table turn during dinner went from 78 minutes to 68 minutes. Over a full night, that’s the difference between serving 40 tables and 48 tables.
Jimmy, who owns that diner on Oak Street, told me his lunch rush completely changed. Used to have lines out the door because checkout took forever. Now he’s serving probably 30% more customers during lunch.
When Stuff Actually Works
I’ll be honest – I’m paranoid about system failures now. Once you’ve had a POS crash during your busiest night, you never quite trust technology the same way again.
Been running DEJAVOO + PAYS for three months. Know how many times it’s crashed? Zero. The hardware feels solid. Not like those cheap tablet setups that break if you drop them or spill coffee nearby.
Software doesn’t randomly log people out or lose orders. It just works. Every day. All day. Boring in the best possible way.
Staff Training That Doesn't Suck
Training servers on new POS systems used to be my least favorite part of hiring. Spend hours explaining how everything works, they’d be confused for weeks.
New girl started last week – never worked restaurants before. First day, I spent maybe twenty minutes showing her the PAYS interface. By her second shift, she was running it like she’d been there for months.
The buttons make sense. You want to add bacon to a burger? There’s a bacon button. Need to split a check three ways? Split check button, pick three, done.
Even the older servers who usually hate learning new technology picked it up without complaining. That alone was worth the switch.
Money Stuff Made Simple
I’m not an accountant. I just want to know basic stuff: How much did we make today? What’s selling well? Where are we losing money?
PAYS gives you clean, simple reports that actually help. Daily sales broken down by categories. Which menu items are winners, which ones nobody orders. How much each server sold, who’s good at upselling desserts.
The inventory tracking is pretty slick too. Tells you when you’re running low on stuff before you actually run out. Last Tuesday, system warned me we were getting low on chicken. Old me would’ve run out Thursday night and had to 86 half the menu.
Customers Notice Good Service
People might not consciously think about your POS system, but they definitely feel it when things go wrong. Long waits to pay, confused servers, payment problems – all that stress transfers to customers.
Since the switch, I’ve noticed people seem more relaxed at checkout. Payments happen quickly, servers look confident, whole experience feels professional instead of chaotic.
System handles every payment method people want nowadays. Regular cards, tap payments, phone payments, whatever. Had this family last week, parents wanted to split the bill, kids wanted to pay with their phones, grandpa insisted on using cash. New system handled it smooth as silk.
Growing Without Headaches
When I opened my second location two years ago with the old POS, setup was a complete disaster. Different passwords, different menu programming, different everything.
If I open another place now, DEJAVOO + PAYS makes it simple. Same interface everywhere, same training, same procedures. But I can still see each location’s numbers separately.
My buddy Steve runs four pizza places across town. Same system in all of them, but he can track which location sells more appetizers, which one has higher average tickets.
What It Really Costs
My old POS required three different monthly subscriptions. Crashed regularly, costing us money every time. When I added up all those hidden costs, DEJAVOO + PAYS actually costs less every month.
Plus faster table turns mean more revenue. Better inventory control means less waste. System basically pays for itself.
Real Talk
I’m not getting paid to write any of this. Sharing my experience because I remember how frustrated I was with crappy POS systems.
Talked to maybe fifteen restaurant people who use this combo. Everyone says the same stuff: reliable, fast, easy to learn, doesn’t get in the way of serving customers.
If your current system makes you want to throw it against the wall, this combination is worth checking out. Sometimes the best technology just works so you can focus on running a great restaurant. That’s exactly what DEJAVOO + PAYS does.
