Choosing the Best LMS for Restaurants: Your 2025 Guide to Features & Pricing

Here at Access, we work closely with hospitality businesses to streamline training, standardise learning across locations and track staff progress through our hospitality LMS platform, all while keeping teams engaged. However, with such a wide range of tools, features and functions, it can be difficult to work out what exactly makes the best LMS system for you.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through:  

• The must-have features of the best LMS software for restaurants.  
• Key considerations like pricing, integrations, and support.  
• Top LMS providers for restaurants, including pros and cons.  

Let’s dive in to help you make the right choice for your team and business goals. 

Top LMS features for restaurants: What you need to know 

Once you start to consider an LMS, a new perspective on delivering staff training opens up. Training can become a fun experience for employees while reporting and analytics give managers more tools to understand how their employees are performing.  

Some key features to look for in an LMS include: 

Onboarding new employees 

An LMS can be used to onboard new staff and ensure they are trained on all the necessary skills and procedures for their job roles. This can include training on food safety, customer service, close-down procedures and menu knowledge. Some LMS platforms integrate with HR software to seamlessly marry up hiring procedures, application tracking and onboarding.

Pre-built training content for restaurant teams 

A good restaurant LMS should come with pre-built training modules on essential topics such as:  

Food safety: Learn the latest regulations to maintain compliance.  

Menu training: Detailed resources for specialist items like wine lists.  

Service standards: Step-by-step guides for handling customer complaints and upselling.  

Having access to these resources can help employees provide more accurate and helpful information to customers and boost their confidence. 

Consistent training within teams 

An LMS can help ensure that all employees receive consistent training on the best practices for excellent customer service. This can include training on how to greet customers, handle complaints and provide personalised guest experiences. Consistent training can help ensure that customers receive a high level of service, no matter which employee is serving them. 

Standardising training across locations 

If a restaurant has multiple locations, an LMS can be used to standardise training across all locations. This ensures that all employees undertake the same training and customers can be assured that they will receive the best service. 

Ongoing training and development 

An LMS provides ongoing training to employees to help them improve their skills and knowledge on the best customer service practices.. This includes training on new menu items, new procedures and new technologies. This enables employees to stay up to date on the latest trends and techniques to provide a better experience for customers, as well as allowing employees to progress their careers and potentially move into management roles. 

Compliance training 

An LMS can be used to ensure that employees are trained on important compliance issues, such as health and safety regulations, licensing legislation and employment laws. Compliance training is critical for all staff and  should be part of the standard LMS library. 

Performance tracking 

Employee performance tracking and identifying areas where additional training may be needed is another important feature of an LMS. This can help managers to identify high-performing employees and those who may need additional support.  

The right LMS for you will help your restaurant business to improve the quality of its training and ensure that your employees are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to provide excellent customer service and perform their jobs effectively. 

Choosing the right LMS for your restaurant: Key factors to consider

There are several factors you should consider when choosing LMS software for your restaurant or hospitality business. Let’s take a look at the main ones:  

1.  Cost 

When contemplating an LMS for your hospitality business, the first consideration will be the price. The cost of a restaurant LMS can vary depending on its features, integrations and support such as: 

• Number of users  

Some systems charge per user, while others offer flat fees. 

• Features  

The more features an LMS has, the higher the cost is likely to be. Expect higher prices for systems with advanced features like gamification or multi-location training.  

• Customisation  

Custom-built modules for your restaurant’s unique processes may add to the cost. Tailored solutions come at a higher price than pre-built software. 

• Integrations  

Connecting to your EPoS, payroll or scheduling software may come with additional fees.  

• Support  

The level of customer support required by the restaurant can affect the cost of the LMS. If the restaurant requires 24/7 support or a dedicated account manager, the cost may be higher than a more basic support package. 

When budgeting, consider how much you’re currently spending on in-person training, travel, and admin. An LMS can often lead to long-term savings.

2.  Features 

• Content library  

Every hospitality focused LMS should provide a library of off-the-shelf content which your teams can refer to as needed. Important training topics such as health and safety regulations should be updated regularly to reflect the latest guidelines and make sure your business is compliant. 

• Customisable content  

While some content is universal, every business is different, so staff training should reflect your business’s way of doing things. Your LMS should allow for the creation of custom content that is specific to your business needs, such as training modules on menu items, special offers, customer service and safety procedures. A fine dining restaurant may want to deepen content on wine and ingredient sourcing, while a barista might be looking to learn more about coffee. 

• Mobile optimisation  

The LMS should be optimised for mobile devices, so that employees can access training modules and resources from anywhere, at any time. The CPL Learning LMS app can be downloaded on any device and used on the go by staff members so all staff can complete their learning anywhere at any time.  

• Gamification  

Gamification features, such as competitive leaderboards and digital “badges” can help motivate employees to complete training modules, improve their performance and make the content stick. The Access LMS for hospitality offers fun badges that mark the users progress through learning content and provide specific milestones in their journey. 

• Social learning  

Social learning can be a component of an LMS by allowing your staff to interact with one another as they learn. This can be as simple as allowing comments on webinars so that staff can help each other with insights and tips. Social learning is also useful in encouraging staff to complete learning modules within a specific timeframe as they can see what modules their peers have completed 

• Integration with existing systems  

It is important for any LMS you choose to be able to integrate with your existing systems, such as your restaurant's EPoS system, inventory management system and scheduling software (for more on integration see below). 

• Multilingual support  

The LMS should support multiple languages so that employees can access training materials in their native language. 

• Reporting and analytics  

The LMS should provide reporting and analytics features that allow managers to track employee progress and identify areas where additional training may be needed. 

• Compliance tracking  

The LMS should be able to track employee compliance with regulatory requirements, such as food safety regulations, licensing legislation and employment laws. 

• Automated reminders  

The LMS should be able to send automated reminders to employees when training modules are due or when they need to renew any certificates. 

3. Integrations 

An LMS is part of your restaurant’s technical ecosystem and as such, it is crucial that it can ‘talk’ to the other elements of your business to help streamline operations and improve efficiency. Here are some integrations you may need to consider: 

• Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS)  

Integration with the EPoS system means that your staff can access the LMS directly from the terminal ensuring that training materials and guides are readily accessible. The POS system can also keep track of how fast orders are taken and highlight areas of service where additional training could be beneficial.  

• Time and Attendance Integration  

Integrating your LMS with your time and attendance system allows managers to track staff attendance and ensures they are completing the necessary training during their shifts.  

• HR Integration 

Integration into your HR system helps managers track employee performance, manage staff schedules and ensure all team members hold the relevant training needed for their role. It also means you can track development over time and assign specific training or development pathways, such as onboarding for new employees.  

• Third-Party Integrations  

As well as integrating with the other tech solutions within your operation, integrating with third-party applications and providers can also be very important and support the LMS by providing additional training content, improving internal communications and delivering more engagement.

• Some common integrations to consider are compatibility with third-party e-learning courses and communication tools that help managers and staff communicate in non-desk-based roles. 

What is the best LMS software for your restaurant? 

The best LMS software for your restaurant or hospitality business will depend on your specific needs and requirements.  

Businesses have many different needs when they come to us to build an LMS platform. Here are some of the reasons why our customers want an LMS platform and the features that can help them.  

Ready to get learning?

Choosing the right LMS for your restaurant is about more than cost, it's about supporting your team, improving service, and ensuring compliance. Whether you’re a small independent venue or part of a multi-site operation, there’s an LMS solution that fits your goals.

In this article, we have explored how important LMS software is in creating a more streamlined restaurant operation to get the most out of your employees. By investing and delivering training to your team members, you will see a huge increase in motivation and productivity to deliver excellent service to your customers. 

If you're interested in learning more about how a hospitality LMS system can benefit your business, we encourage you to speak with one of our representatives and schedule a demo. Alternatively, watch our short demo video.

Let’s help your team deliver exceptional customer service every step of the way.