Local Eats & Essentials Restaurant FAQs

What do I need to register?

Registration is a simple 2 – 3 step process!

Most of the beginning registration process is information about your business, or yourself as the main contact, that you are very familiar with. You should locate a file/picture of your logo and decide on a nice banner photo for your main page on the Local Eats & Essentials website. 

You will need to choose approximately 10 items from your menu to get you started for orders. Photos should be uploaded for each item with a brief description of the item. Selections can be made to modify the item as well. 

Establish an email account specifically for receiving your orders. The orders from the website will be automatically generated and sent to your specified email account. 

Receive the money from each order directly to your business account. We link your account via Stripe or PayPal only. Your Local Eats & Essentials representative will guide you through entering your account information.

It is essential that your new email address is ready to link for orders and your account (Stripe or PayPal) is linked to your page on Local Eats & Essentials. Your Local Eats rep can walk you through setting up your account directly on your restaurant page featured at localeatsandessentials.com. 

When do I need to set up my payment information?

As soon as the registration process begins, it is advised to set up your payment account and your email address for orders to come in. Registration is a 3-part process, and each part is essential for you to benefit from your Local Eats & Essentials page. 

How will I get my orders?

The orders from the Local Eats & Essentials website will be emailed to you directly from the paid online order. It is important that the person responsible for To Go orders can access this email inbox. We recommend creating an email address specifically dedicated to these orders. 

In many cases, you can receive the emails directly to the hardware you currently use in house, computers or tablets. 

Will my staff be able to manage email orders?

How is your staff currently managing To Go orders? Who takes the order? Do you feel that having this staff take the order in a different way will compromise their integrity? 

“Coming from a bartender who is responsible for taking the To Go orders, I would honestly prefer to have a nicely typed email order, rather than trying to hear someone on the phone and play 20 questions with them.” – Chelsea Smith, Local Eats & Essentials representative

Wherever you have your To Go orders taken, that is where we advise you keep your tablet. Have a specific notification ding for the email account. Log in with only your Local Eats & Essentials order receiving mailbox. Have the tablet in a holder close to the register/POS most commonly used by the TO GO order taker (consider theft possibilities – do not have the tablet exposed to passersby). 

What if I have only one counter for my employees and the public?

Mount the tablet to the countertop or wall, in the most secure place away from public, but accessible and visible to the order taker for new emailed orders.

What if I don’t want to get orders by email?

We have researched services to allow your email message to be converted to a voice call, text, or fax. We made a list of the most affordable services for your conversion. Ask your Local Eats & Essentials rep for details.

How will this work when my restaurant is busy?

We understand you may be concerned about receiving orders in a new manner, especially when your restaurant is already working at capacity. Talk with your rep about limiting your hours of operation on the website. In addition to limiting your available hours, you will have the ability to temporarily disable online orders at any time. 

We want this process to be successful for your restaurant. A benefit to using Local Eats & Essentials is to give your restaurant an online presence, which has the potential to relieve your phone lines, and the staff responsible for answering calls. You will also profit from those orders that may have gone elsewhere if your phone line was busy or the customer was placed on hold for too long.

Can I post and limit my hours?

When we upload your restaurant information to the Local Eats & Essentials page and specify your restaurants information, we will list your hours of operation. You can change this at any time as needed.

Can this be integrated with my current POS (point of sale) system?

While we cannot cater to each individual POS system of our listed restaurants, we want this transition to be smooth. If you have a staff-member taking orders by phone, they have to enter that order into your own POS system. The same is true if you have a FOH (Front of House) team member taking the email order. The only difference is that the order by email will be far easier to repeat into the POS than the customer phone call. 

If you have the email directly received by the cooks / BOH (Back of House), you will have an emailed receipt that can then be entered if you wish. Refer to How will I keep track of my inventory? 

Remember, you have menu items available through the Local Eats & Essentials website that will work toward your success. You are able to revise this menu at any time and replace items as you see fit. 

How will I keep track of my inventory?

We have integrated with the POS Toast™ in order to track your inventory from purchases made on the website. This will track your inventory by ordering a separate $0.00 item for each item purchased on the website. 

How will I keep track of my taxes? Sales, food, etc…

The state tax will be applied to the online order and paid directly to you with the payment. In order to track the taxes received, note your local tax % which has been paid to you with the order. You will have an email receipt for each order for your records. 

How often will my deposits be made to my business account? Is there a minimum dollar amount before I can be paid? Is there a schedule to when payments are made?

The payments will be made directly to your account via Stripe or PayPal. These payment systems are registered with your business so that you are able to directly receive your payment. This is your e-commerce available to your webpage on the Local Eats & Essentials website.