Restaurant catering software evaluation checklist

Evaluate a real order, not a polished slideshow

Choose a recent catering order that required a change, kitchen coordination and pickup or delivery. Remove customer personal information before sharing it in a demonstration. Write down what the team needed to know at each stage and where it had to ask twice. A software demonstration is more useful when it reproduces those decisions than when it tours a long feature list.

Use the same scenario with each system. For example, a fictional office lunch starts with 40 guests, rises to 48, and moves its delivery entrance the day before service. Ask the presenter to show the resulting order, not just describe the feature. This is an evaluation example, not a CaterWoo customer result.

Test 1: capture a complete inquiry

Enter the contact, event date, guest count, menu units, service time and fulfilment method. Leave one essential detail unresolved. Can the system show that the inquiry is incomplete without treating it as a confirmed production order? Check whether the same information can be found by a second staff member without a private message to the person who took the call.

Test 2: distinguish the latest approved version

Change the sample guest count and one menu quantity. Ask which version the kitchen should use, who approved the change and how affected people find out. A timestamp alone does not tell the team whether a customer has agreed to a revised order. Record whether approval and revision handling exist now, need a manual procedure or are only promised on a roadmap.

Test 3: produce a useful kitchen brief

Have the person who would run preparation review the output. It should make quantities, packaging, ready-by time, relevant notes and ownership understandable without exposing unnecessary customer information. The right test is whether this team can act on the brief during normal service—not whether the page looks attractive on a sales call.

Ask how edits after printing or exporting are handled. If an old sheet remains in use, the restaurant needs a clear way to withdraw it and confirm the new one. Software does not remove the need for the restaurant’s own food-safety and allergen procedures.

Test 4: separate payment status from order readiness

Record a deposit and an unpaid balance in the sample order. Check who may view or change payment information and whether the kitchen can still identify its production tasks. Distinguish payment recording from actually processing a payment. Ask about the named payment provider, fees, reconciliation and refunds only when those services are genuinely available.

Test 5: close the pickup or delivery handoff

Change the delivery entrance in the sample order, name the receiving contact and count the packed containers. Ask where the driver or counter staff finds those details and how an exception is recorded. A calendar entry is not the same as proof that the correct complete order reached the receiver. Determine whether delivery coordination is built in, handled manually or dependent on another service.

Test 6: check team access and recovery

Use the roles your restaurant actually needs: counter, kitchen, catering manager and owner. Ask the vendor to demonstrate who can edit an order, see customer details, invite a colleague and remove access when someone leaves. Request a clear explanation of exports, retention, backups and what happens if service is unavailable. Do not assume these controls exist because the product is cloud-based.

Test 7: confirm the real cost and integration scope

Write down the price for your expected users, locations and order volume, plus any setup, payment, messaging or delivery charges. Ask whether a listed integration is working today, restricted to a pilot or planned. Record the exact integration and task demonstrated; a company logo alone is not evidence of a live connection.

End with a short list of must-have gaps, their operational consequences and who will verify them. Choose a limited trial with a clear success criterion before moving active orders. CaterWoo’s iPhone app is available on the US App Store; Android remains in closed testing. US and India restaurant teams can discuss pilot access and current limitations. Its current app displays USD; INR support, live integrations and online payment processing are not available. This checklist is equally usable when evaluating another system. It is not a ranking of vendors or a claim that CaterWoo passes every test.

Check regional fit before a US or India trial

Use a fictional local order to test the formats your restaurant actually needs. Confirm whether a currency choice changes a label or performs a conversion; do not treat one as evidence of the other. Check the currency in totals and exports, not just the settings screen.

Enter the local address, postal code and telephone format, then confirm that date and time values mean the same thing to the counter, kitchen and receiving contact. Follow your own applicable charge and tax procedures; this guide does not establish local requirements. These are evaluation checks, not a claim that CaterWoo supports every regional feature.

• Required currency, such as USD or INR, is displayed consistently in totals and exports.
• Local address and postal-code formats can be entered without substituting a US state or ZIP code.
• Country codes and local phone-number formats are preserved.
• Event date, ready-by time and delivery window use an agreed time zone and an unambiguous date format.
• The system distinguishes manual charge recording from automatic tax calculation and payment processing.