How to Build a Restaurant Ordering App
Do you need to build the app yourself?
No. For the vast majority of restaurants, the answer is to use a platform that builds and hosts the app for you. Custom development — hiring developers or an agency to build an app from scratch — is expensive, slow and difficult to maintain. It makes sense only for very large restaurant groups with requirements that no off-the-shelf platform can meet.
Services like Flipdish create a fully branded iOS and Android app for your restaurant without requiring any coding knowledge or technical team on your side.
Option 1: Use a restaurant app platform
This is the right choice for most restaurants. Platforms like Flipdish build, publish and maintain a branded mobile app on your behalf. You provide your branding and menu; the platform handles everything technical.
What you get:
- A fully branded app in the App Store and Google Play under your restaurant’s name
- Integrated ordering, payments and loyalty
- Push notifications to reach customers directly on their phone
- Real-time menu management via a back-office dashboard
- Integration with your POS and kitchen display system
- Automated marketing and customer re-engagement tools
What you pay:
- A monthly platform fee, typically including the app as part of a wider online ordering platform
- No per-order commission to the app platform (payment processing fees apply separately)
Flipdish’s branded mobile app service is used by restaurant groups across the UK and Ireland. The app appears in the App Store under your restaurant’s brand, not Flipdish’s. Customers see your name, your logo and your colours.
This is the best option for most restaurants because:
- Time to launch is measured in weeks, not months
- No technical knowledge required from you
- The platform handles updates, security patches and maintenance
- The app integrates with your ordering and POS system from day one
Option 2: Build a custom app
Custom development means hiring a development team to build iOS and Android apps specifically for your restaurant.
Approximate costs:
- Development: £30,000–£150,000+ depending on complexity and developer rates
- Ongoing maintenance and updates: £500–£2,000+ per month
- App Store fees: £79/year (Apple Developer), £20 one-off (Google Play)
- Backend infrastructure hosting: variable
Typical timeline: 6–18 months from brief to App Store approval
Custom development makes sense only when:
- You run a very large group with complex requirements no platform can meet
- You need deep integration with proprietary internal systems
- You have an in-house engineering team to own the product long-term
For most restaurants, the cost and timeline cannot be justified when platforms like Flipdish deliver comparable customer-facing results at a fraction of the price and in a fraction of the time.
Option 3: Use a marketplace app
Joining Just Eat, Uber Eats or Deliveroo gives your restaurant a presence inside a third-party app. Your restaurant appears as a listing in the marketplace, not in a standalone app under your own name.
This is not building your own ordering app. The marketplace owns the customer relationship, sets the rules and charges per-order commission. It is useful for discovery and reaching new customers but is not a substitute for your own direct channel.
What your restaurant ordering app needs
Whichever approach you choose, a good ordering app should include:
| Feature | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Full menu with modifiers | Customers build the order they want |
| Apple Pay, Google Pay, card | Removes friction at checkout |
| Order tracking | Sets accurate expectations |
| Push notifications | Direct marketing to your customers |
| Loyalty and rewards | Drives repeat orders |
| Scheduled ordering | Lets customers order ahead |
| Upsell prompts | Increases average order value |
Why push notifications matter more than anything else
A branded restaurant app’s biggest advantage over a website or marketplace listing is the ability to send push notifications directly to customers who have downloaded your app.
A well-timed notification — “Your favourite pizza is ready to order. 15% off tonight only” — costs nothing to send and can drive a meaningful spike in orders. Marketplaces cannot offer this because they own the customer relationship, not you.
Flipdish’s AI marketing platform uses customer behaviour data to automate these campaigns. It identifies customers likely to lapse and sends relevant offers automatically, without any manual work from your team.
How long does building a restaurant ordering app take?
Using a platform like Flipdish, your branded app can typically be submitted to the App Store and Google Play within a few weeks of completing your onboarding. Apple and Google review processes add one to two weeks on top.
Custom development: six months to eighteen months, not including internal review and iteration.
How much does a restaurant ordering app cost?
| Approach | Upfront cost | Monthly cost | Time to launch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform (e.g. Flipdish) | Low | Monthly subscription | Weeks |
| Custom development | £30,000–£150,000+ | £500–£2,000+ | 6–18 months |
| Marketplace listing | Zero | Per-order commission | Days |
For most restaurants, the platform approach delivers the best outcome. The monthly cost is predictable, the launch is fast and the technical burden is zero.
Getting started with Flipdish
Flipdish builds and manages branded restaurant apps as part of its wider online ordering platform. Your app integrates with your Flipdish website, POS system and kitchen so all orders — app, web, kiosk and phone — flow through the same platform.
You can explore the full Flipdish products overview to understand how the app fits into the wider system, or visit restauranttech.co.uk for independent comparisons of restaurant technology platforms.