Toast is the most widely used restaurant POS in the country, and it’s also the one system ChowNow connects to with a true direct, native integration, so no third-party middleware layer sits between your ChowNow orders and your Toast system. If you’re running Toast and evaluating online ordering options, here’s exactly how the connection works.

How orders flow

Once connected, every order placed through ChowNow, your direct website, your branded app, and any third-party delivery apps you’ve aggregated through ChowNow’s order aggregation, routes straight into your Toast POS and kitchen printers. There’s no manual re-entry. Orders auto-accept and print exactly like an order taken at the counter.

How menu setup works

This is the one place Toast’s integration works differently than most of the others on this list: your menu has to be published from the Toast side, not imported by ChowNow. That means your Toast menu is the source of truth, and updates need to be pushed from Toast for ChowNow to pick them up. A few pricing structures don’t carry over cleanly, size-based modifier pricing, time-based menu pricing, and negative-priced modifiers can behave unpredictably, so it’s worth flagging those to your onboarding specialist up front if your menu uses them.

What it costs

The ChowNow side of the integration itself isn’t an added line item, but it does require an active Toast Partner Connect subscription through Toast’s Restaurant Management Suite. Confirm current pricing with your Toast rep, since Toast sets and can change that fee independently of ChowNow.

Setup and support

A dedicated ChowNow onboarding expert manages the connection setup with you, and you get 24/7 support from ChowNow’s team if anything needs troubleshooting after you’re live, separate from whatever support tier you have with Toast.

Why this matters if you’re comparing options

A lot of online ordering platforms claim POS integration but route through a third-party sync layer, which adds a step (and a potential failure point) between your order and your kitchen. With Toast specifically, ChowNow skips that, it’s the cleanest, most direct connection we offer, and it’s a big part of why Toast + ChowNow is one of our most common setups. If you’re still deciding between platforms, our comparison of online ordering platforms that integrate with your POS walks through how Toast stacks up against other systems for this exact use case.

Ready to see it live? Book a demo and we’ll walk through your Toast setup specifically, or visit the Toast integration page for the full feature rundown.

FAQ

Does ChowNow integrate directly with Toast?

Yes, Toast is a ChowNow’s integration POS with a direct, native integration (no third-party middleware). Orders route from ChowNow straight to your Toast POS and printers automatically.

Do I need anything from Toast besides my existing POS?

Yes, an active Toast Partner Connect subscription is required to connect ChowNow to your Toast account. Check with your Toast rep for current pricing.

Will my full menu, including modifiers, import correctly?

Most menus import cleanly, but a few modifier types don’t carry over reliably: size-based modifier pricing, time-based menu pricing, and negative-priced modifiers. Flag these to your onboarding specialist if they apply to your menu.

Who sets up the integration?

A dedicated ChowNow onboarding expert handles setup with you, and ChowNow support is available 24/7 afterward for troubleshooting.