What should a restaurant POS system in Riyadh actually do?
A restaurant POS system in Riyadh should manage tables and QR table ordering, send tickets to the kitchen or a kitchen display, print thermal and A4 invoices, close the day with a Z report and keep selling when the internet drops. Ideally it builds loyalty into the receipt itself. For e-invoicing, check your phase-2 integration obligations with your accountant and ZATCA before you buy.
Why is choosing a POS different for a Riyadh restaurant?
Answer: a Riyadh restaurant runs three streams at once: a dining room full of families and groups, car pickup orders, and delivery-app orders. A till that only prints receipts is not enough. You need a system that knows which table ordered what, when each dish left the kitchen and what should be in the drawer at closing.
Peaks in Riyadh run late. Dinner stretches past 10 pm, summer heat pushes it later still, and Ramadan flips the day around iftar and suhoor. During Riyadh Season, restaurants on the boulevards and near event venues fill up suddenly. A slow system, or one that freezes without internet, creates an angry queue at the worst possible moment.
If you operate in Olaya, along King Abdullah Road or in the northern districts, see neighbourhood examples on the Riyadh loyalty and growth page.
Which core functions should you never compromise on?
Answer: tables, ordering from the table, the kitchen flow, invoices, daily closing and offline mode. Each one solves a daily problem every floor manager knows.
Tables and QR table ordering
A table map shows what is open, occupied or waiting for the bill. With QR table ordering, guests scan the code and order from the menu themselves, and the order lands straight in the system. This helps at peak time, when you have fewer waiters than tables.
Kitchen tickets and a kitchen display (KDS)
Instead of lost paper slips, orders appear on a kitchen screen (a tablet or TV) in three states: New, In progress, Ready. The chef sees the sequence, and the cashier knows when to run the order out to the car.
Invoices, Z reports and offline mode
Thermal 58 or 80 mm tickets and A4 invoices you design yourself, with refunds, discounts, promo codes and a PIN per cashier. At the end of a shift, the Z report closes the drawer and CSV exports go to your accountant. If the internet drops, you keep selling.
What about ZATCA and e-invoicing?
The plain answer: the Dawwerni POS can optionally print the ZATCA phase-1 QR code on simplified invoices only. It contains the seller name, VAT number, invoice timestamp, total including VAT and the VAT amount.
It is not a phase-2 (Fatoora integration) solution. Phase-2 obligations depend on your business and on the rollout waves, so confirm them with your accountant or directly with ZATCA before you rely on any POS. When any vendor makes broad claims, ask two precise questions: which phase exactly, and on which invoice type?
A buyer checklist to use in every demo
Answer: compare systems by category, not by advert. Bring this table to every demo and ask the vendor to show each line on your own device.
| Category | What to ask | Why it matters in Riyadh |
|---|---|---|
| Dining room | Table map, split and merge bills, QR table ordering | Families and big groups order in rounds |
| Kitchen | Kitchen tickets and a KDS with clear states | Late dinner peaks plus car orders |
| Invoices | Thermal 58/80 mm and A4, phase-1 ZATCA QR | Fast simplified invoices for guests |
| Cash control | Z report, cashier PINs, logged refunds | Clean handover between shifts |
| Continuity | Offline mode | Sales continue during an outage |
| Loyalty | Points, stamps, prizes redeemed at the till | Bring guests back without discounting |
| Data | CSV exports and a dashboard | Easy handover to the accountant |
| Cost | Clear yearly price and what it includes | No surprises after installation |
How does Dawwerni combine the till and loyalty?
Answer: the Dawwerni POS prints a “Scan & win” QR code on every receipt. The guest scans it with the phone camera, with no app, plays a short game such as a spin wheel or mystery doors, and wins a prize valid on the next visit. After playing they are invited, optionally, to follow you on Instagram and leave an honest Google review. The prize never depends on the review, and every guest sees the same invitation.
When the guest returns, the cashier redeems the prize from the same screen after checking the unique code, points are added to their card and the profile is stored in the restaurant’s CRM. The receipt stops being paper in the bin and becomes a reason to come back. Module details are on the Dawwerni restaurant page, and the till itself is on the POS and selling page.
What does it cost, and how do you estimate the return?
Answer: Dawwerni in Saudi Arabia costs 750 SAR a year for Standard and 900 SAR for Premium, with a 7-day free trial; multi-branch chains get a quote. Confirm which modules your plan includes on the setup call.
Illustrative example: a restaurant with an average bill of 120 SAR. If the “Scan & win” prizes bring back one extra family a week, that is about 520 SAR of additional sales a month, so under that assumption the yearly plan pays for itself in roughly two months. Work out your real figure with the lost-customers calculator.
A one-week rollout plan
Answer: do not switch everything on a Thursday night. Start early in the week and run the new system in parallel for a day before going fully live.
- Enter the menu, prices and VAT; switch on the phase-1 ZATCA QR if you need it and review invoice settings with your accountant.
- Draw the table map and print a QR code for each table.
- Set up the KDS in the kitchen and train the chef on the three states.
- Create a PIN for each cashier and test a refund, a discount and a Z report.
- Turn on “Scan & win” on receipts and choose prizes with a known cost.
- Test offline mode by cutting the internet on purpose for a few minutes.
- After a week, review reports: peak hours, best-selling dishes and prizes redeemed.
FAQ
Is the Dawwerni POS a phase-2 e-invoicing solution?
No. It prints the phase-1 ZATCA QR code on simplified invoices only and is not a phase-2 integration solution. Check your phase-2 obligations with your accountant or with ZATCA directly.
Does the POS work when the internet goes down?
Yes. Offline mode is allowed, so you keep selling and printing, and data syncs when the connection returns. Test it yourself during rollout week, before a peak evening.
Do I need special hardware?
No. The till runs in the browser on a tablet, PC or phone, with a 58 or 80 mm thermal printer. The kitchen display can be a tablet or a TV.
Can guests order from the table themselves?
Yes. They scan the QR code on the table and order from the digital menu; the order reaches the system and appears in the kitchen without waiting for a waiter.
Can I keep my current POS and only add loyalty?
Yes. If the restaurant runs Foodics or Loyverse, purchases flow into the loyalty card through the integration; any other POS can connect through the REST API, or staff can use cashier mode to find the guest by phone number and add points manually.
Can prizes be linked to a Google review?
No. Prizes are for the visit or the game only. The invitation to leave an honest review is optional and shown to every guest the same way, in line with Google’s policy.
Turn visits into reviews, repeat visits and sales
Try Dawwerni free for 7 days. Setup takes about 10 minutes.