Openfront Restaurant - Modern Restaurant Operating Platform

A comprehensive restaurant operating platform designed for restaurants that need complete control over direct ordering, point of sale, kitchen operations, service workflows, and guest experience. Openfront Restaurant provides everything from guest storefront to admin dashboard, payments, kitchen display, and operational reporting - all built with modern architecture you can customize and truly own.

Key Features

Complete Restaurant Solution

• Guest storefront with mobile-responsive online ordering
• Admin dashboard for complete restaurant management
• Point of Sale (POS) for dine-in, takeout, and counter service
• Order management with kitchen, service, and payment workflows

Restaurant-Specific Operations

• Kitchen Display System (KDS) with station-based ticket management
• Table and floor management for dine-in service workflows
• Waitlist and reservation support for front-of-house coordination
• Menu management with modifiers, categories, and operational controls

Payments & Fulfillment

• Multi-provider support - Stripe, PayPal, and custom gateways
• Localized currency support with region-aware formatting
• Pickup, dine-in, and delivery workflows with live status tracking
• Integrated service sequencing for cashier, kitchen, and handoff operations

Ownership & Customization

• 100% open source - modify anything to fit your restaurant
• Self-hostable - complete data ownership and control
• Standards-based - integrate with any third-party service
• Restaurant-focused architecture - built as a modern alternative to Toast

Tech Stack

Backend:

• KeystoneJS 6 with GraphQL API
• Node.js 20+ with TypeScript
• PostgreSQL with Prisma ORM
• Built-in authentication and extensible business logic

Frontend:

• Next.js with modern React
• Mobile-first responsive design
• Real-time order and kitchen updates
• Progressive Web App capabilities

Payment & Operations:

• Stripe and PayPal integrations (built-in)
• Custom payment provider framework
• Restaurant workflow orchestration
• Currency, locale, and timezone support

Architecture:

• Single-location-first deployment model
• Feature-sliced platform design
• API-first architecture
• Extensible admin and storefront system

Perfect For

• Independent restaurants wanting an alternative to Toast
• Restaurant groups with branded ordering and operational needs
• Hospitality businesses needing custom service workflows
• Agencies building restaurant ordering solutions for clients
• Operators who want full ownership and customization

Built for Restaurant Independence

Unlike platforms like Toast that lock you into monthly fees, hardware decisions, and rigid workflows, Openfront Restaurant gives you:

True Ownership:

• Full source code access for unlimited customization
• No monthly platform lock-in or artificial feature limitations
• Self-hosting options for complete data control
• Freedom to modify any aspect of the system

Industry Focus:

• Built for restaurants, not generic online retail
• Workflows designed for real front-of-house and back-of-house operations
• Customizable to match your exact service model
• Built by people who understand hospitality operations

Common Use Cases

Independent Restaurant Operations:

• Run direct online ordering without marketplace dependency
• Manage dine-in, takeout, and delivery from one system
• Coordinate kitchen and service teams in real time
• Customize menus, modifiers, and service flows

Restaurant Groups:

• Standardize operational tooling across multiple concepts
• Configure currency, hours, and settings per deployment
• Launch branded ordering experiences for each restaurant
• Extend the platform with internal integrations and reporting

Full-Service Dining:

• Table management and floor coordination
• Split checks, paced service, and server-friendly workflows
• Kitchen and expediter visibility across live orders
• Better control over dine-in operations than generic POS tools

Quick Service & Counter Service:

• Fast cashier workflows with touch-friendly POS design
• Streamlined KDS ticket routing and preparation flow
• Pickup-focused online ordering
• Direct integrated payment processing

Modern Hospitality Brands:

• Unified ordering, operations, and reporting stack
• Custom branded guest experiences
• Operational dashboards for labor, menu, and sales visibility
• Flexible architecture for unique restaurant models

Deploy and Host

Deploy Openfront Restaurant to Railway for production-grade restaurant infrastructure that scales with your operational growth.

About Hosting

Railway provides production-ready infrastructure optimized for operational web applications like restaurant ordering, POS, and kitchen workflow platforms. With managed databases, deployment automation, and scalable services, Railway gives restaurant teams a reliable way to host Openfront Restaurant in production.

Key hosting benefits:

• Managed infrastructure for app and database deployment
• Auto-scaling handles growth in order volume
• Managed PostgreSQL with automated backups and high availability
• SSL certificates and security tooling included
• Real-time logs and metrics for operational visibility

Why Deploy

Openfront Restaurant is engineered for production deployment with restaurant-grade operational reliability:

Performance Optimized:

• Fast guest ordering and operator workflows
• Responsive POS and KDS interfaces
• Efficient GraphQL-backed data access
• Real-time operational updates without unnecessary complexity

Security First:

• Secure payment provider integrations
• Protected admin and staff authentication
• Automated deployment workflows and secret management
• Secure API endpoints and server-side business logic

Business Continuity:

• Reliable infrastructure for critical restaurant workflows
• Managed database foundation for orders, payments, and menus
• Easier monitoring, rollback, and deployment management
• Operational logs to diagnose issues quickly

Dependencies for

Openfront Restaurant requires these services for complete restaurant functionality:

Required:

• PostgreSQL Database (automatically provisioned on Railway)
• Node.js 20+ runtime environment

Payment Processing:

• Stripe Account for credit card processing
• PayPal Business Account for PayPal payments
• Custom payment gateways as needed for your region

Optional Services:

• SMTP Server for order confirmations and operational emails
• S3-compatible storage for menu images and media
• Custom domain with SSL for branded ordering
• Analytics service for sales and operational reporting

Deployment Dependencies

Automatic Setup:

• PostgreSQL database provisioning
• Environment variables for secure configuration
• Deployable Node.js application runtime
• Health monitoring and logs through Railway

Manual Configuration:

• SESSION_SECRET: Secure session encryption key
• DATABASE_URL: PostgreSQL connection string
• Payment Provider Credentials: Stripe keys, PayPal client credentials
• SMTP Configuration: Email server for confirmations and receipts
• Storage Configuration: S3 bucket for menu images and uploaded files

Post-Deployment Setup:

• Admin user creation and restaurant initialization
• Payment provider testing and validation
• Store settings setup for currency, locale, timezone, and hours
• Menu, floor plan, and operational workflow configuration

Built on KeystoneJS

Openfront Restaurant leverages KeystoneJS for robust restaurant data management:

• Automatic GraphQL API for restaurant operations
• Built-in authentication for admins and staff
• Flexible modeling for menus, orders, payments, and kitchen workflows
• Admin interface foundation for complete restaurant management

What You Get

1. Complete restaurant platform with storefront and admin dashboard
2. Integrated POS and KDS workflows for front-of-house and back-of-house teams
3. Restaurant-specific tooling for menus, tables, waitlists, and service operations
4. Mobile-optimized experience for guests, cashiers, servers, and managers
5. Full source code ownership with unlimited customization rights
6. Production-ready deployment path for teams building a Toast alternative

Perfect for restaurants ready to own their software infrastructure instead of renting rigid systems, with the flexibility to customize every aspect of the guest and staff experience.