Running a restaurant is hard work — especially when labor takes the biggest bite out of your budget. If you’re searching “how to reduce labor costs in a restaurant,” you’re not alone. Whether you’re running a food truck, small café, or just opened your first quick-service spot, cutting restaurant labor expenses without hurting service is the goal.
Let’s walk through smart, real-world strategies that actually work — and how Applova’s restaurant tech can help reduce overhead without overwhelming your team.
Why Are Restaurant Labor Costs So High?
Before jumping into solutions, it helps to ask: What’s driving your labor costs up?
Staff scheduled during slow hours with little customer flow
Too much time spent taking orders or processing payments manually
Constant retraining due to high staff turnover
Juggling multiple apps for delivery, loyalty, and ordering
No clear insight into when your busy hours actually are
Sound familiar? These all add up to one thing: you’re spending more time and money than needed.
1. How Can Kiosks Reduce Restaurant Labor Costs?
Installing a self-ordering kiosk is one of the most effective ways to lower staffing needs.
Here’s how kiosks help:
Customers place and pay for their orders themselves
Staff focus on food prep instead of manning the register
No more taking the same order 50 times during rush
Built-in upselling suggestions help increase ticket size
With Applova’s kiosks, setup is quick, costs are clear, and your team can breathe a little easier.
2. What Tech Can Replace Manual Work?
Still using pen and paper? Or bouncing between 3 apps for orders, loyalty, and delivery? That’s time your staff could spend elsewhere.
Here’s how Applova tech helps:
Branded Mobile App → Customers order ahead and skip the line
Commission-Free Web Ordering → Orders go straight to your POS
Loyalty Built-In → No manual stamp cards or third-party apps
With everything under one roof, there’s no need to juggle multiple vendors.
3. How to Staff Smarter — Not Heavier?
Restaurant labor cost reduction doesn’t mean fewer people — it means better planning.
Use your data to:
Schedule lighter during slower hours
Cross-train staff to fill multiple roles
Let kiosks or mobile ordering handle routine tasks
Applova’s POS reporting shows when orders spike, so you can adjust your labor plan in real-time.
4. Can You Reduce Costs Without Cutting Quality?
Yes — and you should.
Imagine this: you run a food truck with two people. One’s working the window, the other’s on the grill. Adding a third team member isn’t realistic. But with a self-order kiosk or branded app, customers place their orders ahead — and your team just fulfills them.
It’s not about replacing people. It’s about supporting them with the right tools.
5. Can I Start Small and Add On Later?
Absolutely. A big problem restaurant owners face is tech overload. Too many systems. Too many fees. Too little time.
That’s why Applova is different:
Start with a kiosk or mobile app — whatever fits your flow
Transparent pricing with no surprise add-ons
Our team walks you through setup — not a chatbot
📲 Book a free demo to try a kiosk or app on your own terms.
6. Restaurant Labor Cost Reduction Checklist
Looking for a cheat sheet? Here’s your go-to list of restaurant cost-saving tips:
✅ Use kiosks or mobile apps for order-taking
✅ Replace manual tasks with all-in-one tech
✅ Plan schedules based on real order volume
✅ Cross-train staff for flexibility
✅ Avoid juggling multiple vendors or platforms
✅ Make it easier for customers to help themselves
Final Thoughts: Reduce Restaurant Labor Costs with Smart Tech
Managing restaurant labor costs doesn’t mean squeezing your team — it means setting them up for success.
With Applova’s easy-to-use solutions — including self-serve kiosks, branded apps, web ordering, and loyalty tools — you can reduce staffing pressure, serve more customers, and boost your bottom line.
Curious how it all works?