Delivery Zones Are Costing You Orders (And You Don’t Even Know It)

A Silent Problem Most Restaurants Don’t Catch

Here’s a hard truth no one talks about:

If your Toast delivery settings aren’t dialed in, you’re losing orders without warning.

That means no bounce. No error. Just… no sale.

At Menu Coach Pro, we’ve worked with restaurant owners who thought online orders were “slowing down” or “seasonal,” when really—their delivery zones were kicking out guests before they ever reached checkout.

What’s Actually Happening

Toast lets you set up delivery areas based on:

Zip codes
Radius (distance from your store)
Delivery time ranges
Prep time windows

If any of those are too strict or mismatched, guests get blocked—quietly.
No alert. No fallback option. No order.

They just leave… and probably go somewhere else.

Real Example: The Invisible Wall

At Rice Bowl Chinese Restaurant, we once had a loyal customer 6.1 miles away who thought we stopped delivering.

Why?

Our Toast delivery radius was set to 6 miles flat—by default.
We didn’t even know. No error ever showed on our end.

Once we fixed it, we saw a sudden spike in online orders coming from neighborhoods we didn’t realize were being blocked.

How to Fix This in Toast

If you’re a Toast user, here’s what you need to check today:

Go to “Delivery Settings”
- See if you’re using zip codes or a radius
- If radius: make it slightly more generous than you think
Double-check your delivery hours
- Are they active during peak times?
- Are prep time settings cutting off access too early?
Try placing a fake order from 6+ zip codes
- See where you get blocked
- Test from desktop and mobile

Bonus Pro Tip: Set Buffer Prep Times

If your restaurant’s slammed at 6:00 PM, you don’t have to shut off delivery—just add a buffer.

Ex: Set prep time to 45 mins from 6:00 to 7:30 PM.
Guests still order, but expectations are managed.

How Much Are You Really Losing?

Let’s do quick math:

If your average online order is $28, and 3 guests per day get blocked by your zone… that’s $84/day, or $2,500/month lost.

Multiply that by 12?

You could be missing $30K a year—from invisible settings.

Don’t Let Your POS Say “No” Without You Knowing

This is the kind of issue we fix at Menu Coach Pro every day.

Your system should be an asset, not a silent barrier between you and your customers.

👉 Get a Free Toast Delivery Audit
We’ll test your setup, find the holes, and show you exactly how to fix it.

You’ve already paid for Toast. Now let’s make it work like it’s supposed to.

– Tommy Nguyen
Founder, Menu Coach Pro

👉 Request a Free Toast Audit
Let’s get your online sales working as hard as your kitchen.