RestaurantOS

A SaaS ordering system for restaurants. Restaurant admins create owner accounts, owners publish menus with images and availability, and customers order from a live Instagram-style interface. Replaces physical menus and phone orders with a self-serve digital experience. Built for scalability across many restaurants simultaneously.

Build StackReact, TypeScript, Node.js, Express, MongoDB, Tailwind CSS, Multi-tenant routing

Challenges

  • Isolating restaurant data in a shared database without one restaurant seeing another's menus or orders

  • Supporting real-time menu updates (availability, prices) visible to customers instantly

  • Building a branded ordering experience that feels native to each restaurant

  • Handling high-frequency concurrent orders during peak hours without slowdowns

Solutions

  • Database schema with restaurant_id foreign key on all tables; API middleware validates tenant context

  • Optimistic UI updates for menu changes; WebSocket subscriptions for live availability

  • Dynamic branding per restaurant (logo, colors, fonts) loaded from database

  • Indexed queries on (restaurant_id, created_at) for fast order retrieval; Redis caching for menus