Independent restaurants switched to SpotOn’s restaurant POS for support, flexibility, and lower total cost while restaurant transactions declined nationwide.

Key highlights:

• SpotOn grew signed hospitality locations 25% year over year in Q3 2026
• SpotOn added a run of notable new independent restaurant clients in Q3, including Ruby Chow’s and Pour Destino, while expanding its platform through a new Developer Portal and Integration Marketplace.
• Named the #1 restaurant point-of-sale system for the eighth consecutive season by G2, SpotOn introduced a redesigned Dashboard for operators with real-time performance tracking, unified guest reviews, and AI-powered profit insight enhancements.

SpotOn, a leading restaurant technology provider, grew its signed hospitality locations 25% year over year in the third quarter of 2026, even as industry-wide restaurant sales stalled on weaker foot traffic. As restaurants nationwide faced declining transactions, new clients switched to SpotOn’s restaurant management system for better support, flexibility, and fair pricing.

Quick summary: SpotOn added 25% more signed hospitality locations year over year in Q3 2026, gaining share as independent restaurants switched point-of-sale providers during a slower quarter for the industry. G2 ranked SpotOn the best restaurant POS system for the eighth straight season, based on reviews from restaurant owners and staff.

Why SpotOn grew locations

Independent operators are running on thinner margins than at almost any point in recent memory with total operating costs up roughly 36% from 2019. Foot traffic reflects that strain with restaurant transactions falling 3.9% year over year in September according to the Fiserv Small Business Index. With tight budgets, operators are taking a hard look at their POS platform costs and more of them are choosing SpotOn to do more with less. SpotOn is seeing that shift firsthand, with a run of independent restaurant clients switching over from other systems this quarter. Independent restaurants are looking for a platform that earns its keep, not another vendor to manage.

Why restaurants are switching to SpotOn

Ruby Chow’s, an Asian fusion restaurant in Atlanta, switched from Toast to SpotOn in Q3, adopting SpotOn’s restaurant POS, reporting, and SpotOn Capital in a single switch. A SpotOn Capital restaurant loan consolidated the restaurant’s existing financing into one payment.

“We switched from Toast to SpotOn for three main reasons,” said Brian Seo, General Manager and Partner at Ruby Chow’s. “The most important one being the customer service is so much better. SpotOn has a dedicated account manager for me, and their support is so much faster. It’s easy to feel like I have someone in my corner.”

SpotOn's new-account roster this quarter included a run of recognizable, high-traffic restaurant brands:

• Brick & Bourbon has built its menu around bourbon since opening in Stillwater, MN, in 2018, from the smoked Maple Old Fashioned to a burger on a glazed donut bun, and has since grown to multiple Minnesota locations. SpotOn’s restaurant management system gives the team the reporting needed to keep a creative menu and a busy bar running smoothly.
• Pour Destino: A Spanish tapas restaurant and bar in Elmhurst, Illinois, with a living-room feel, a seasonal patio, and service from morning coffee to late-night cocktails. SpotOn’s POS platform helps the team keep orders moving across the dining room, bar, and patio from brunch through last call.
• Port Union: A Wicker Park restaurant and cocktail bar from James Beard Award-nominated Chef Rodolfo Cuadros, known for $1 oyster happy hours, Martini Wednesdays, and bottomless brunch. SpotOn’s POS platform helps the team keep specials, bar tabs, and dinner orders in sync from happy hour to close.
• Garozzo’s is a Kansas City Italian tavern known for its chicken spiedini, with restaurants in Downtown Kansas City and Overland Park. Between dine-in, online ordering, catering, and party pans, the team relies on SpotOn’s restaurant management system to keep every channel in sync.

"Every account on this list chose SpotOn because they wanted a partner who actually understands running an independent restaurant — not a vendor who treats them like an afterthought next to a grocery chain or a big-box retailer," said Zach Hyman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of SpotOn. “Twenty-five percent location growth in a tough quarter is what happens when our sales, go-to-market and support teams show up for independent restaurants every single day.”

#1 restaurant POS on G2 for eight straight seasons

Based on reviews from restaurant owners and staff, G2 has ranked SpotOn as the #1 restaurant point-of-sale system. This recognition reflects SpotOn’s top rankings across multiple categories, including satisfaction, quality of support, and more. Fall 2026 is SpotOn’s eighth consecutive season in the top spot on G2’s Grid® Report for Restaurant POS.

Platform updates that deepen daily use

SpotOn’s Q3 releases expand the platform for partners and give existing clients more reasons to run their whole operation on SpotOn. Over the last quarter, SpotOn rolled out a redesigned Dashboard homepage, giving operators a modern, interactive snapshot of daily performance. Real-time sales tracking lets operators compare performance across custom time periods instantly, upgraded widgets like Staff Leaderboard and Top 5 Items help optimize day-to-day operations, and key performance data is now visible the moment an operator logs in — no digging through reports required. The Dashboard surfaces labor and payroll data directly: Employee Time, Payroll, and Payroll Summary reports streamlining payroll prep and giving operators real-time visibility into labor costs. A new Reviews page rounds out the update, pulling Google, Yelp, and direct guest feedback from SpotOn Order, the GoTo Place app, and Mobile Pay & Review into one unified view, so operators can trace feedback to specific orders and resolve issues faster.

SpotOn further deepened its platform this quarter with a new Developer Portal and an expanded Integration Marketplace that now features SpotOn's own products alongside third-party tools. Additional updates — including an updated Profit AI insights view, KDS improvements, and the SpotOn Card for DayCheck employee tip access — extend the platform further into the daily operations of independent and multi-concept restaurant groups.

Key figures

• 25% year-over-year growth in signed hospitality locations in Q3 2026
• #1 restaurant POS on G2 for eight consecutive seasons

"Every product we shipped this quarter — the Marketplace, the labor reporting, DayCheck — started with the same question: what does an independent operator actually need that they're not getting today," said Matt Hyman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of SpotOn. "That's our why. It's why our addressable market keeps growing. We're not adding verticals for the sake of it. We're following where operators are telling us they're stuck."

Restaurant operators interested in learning more about SpotOn's point-of-sale platform can visit spoton.com/restaurant-pos.

About SpotOn

SpotOn is a leading restaurant technology company that builds practical AI into the tools operators rely on every day. Its restaurant management system brings together the point-of-sale, online ordering, reservations, and labor management, plus access to top integrations into one platform. AI is integrated throughout so operators get the benefits of artificial intelligence without having to think about it. SpotOn backs it all with 24/7 support and hospitality. For more information, visit www.spoton.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261021616570/en/

"Every product we shipped this quarter started with the same question: what does an independent restaurant operator actually need that they're not getting today," said Matt Hyman, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of SpotOn.