Menus and sections
Your menu is split into menus, such as Food, Drinks or Brunch. Each menu has sections, such as Starters or Coffee, and each section has its items. On your site, each menu gets its own tab.
- In HQ, open Menu. A new menu can start with “Create Food and Drinks menus”, or name your own.
- Use “+ New menu” to add another menu, and “Edit menu” to rename it or add when it’s served, such as “Served 8am–11:30am”.
- Use “+ Add a section” under a menu to add a section, and the ↑ and ↓ buttons to put sections and items in order. The ← and → buttons move a whole menu.
- “Hide menu” takes a whole menu off your site without deleting anything.
Tip: A menu or section can only be deleted once it’s empty. Move its items to another section, or delete them, first.
Adding and editing items
- Select “Add item”, or “+ Item” on a section.
- On Details, give it a name, choose its section and add a description if you like.
- Choose “One price”, or “Several sizes” for things like Regular and Large, or 125ml, 175ml and 250ml. “Quick fill” fills in common sizes for you.
- Add a photo if you have one (PNG, JPEG or WebP, up to 2 MB).
- Save. The item shows on your site straight away.
- Hide: takes an item off your site for now. Show brings it back.
- Sold out today: shows “Sold out today” on your site until midnight, then clears itself. Use “Mark sold out today…” under a section to tick several at once.
- Duplicate (in the item’s editor): makes a hidden copy straight after it, ready to change.
- Delete: removes it for good. If you might sell it again, hide it instead.
Allergens
The Food Standards Agency recommends showing allergen information in writing, without customers having to ask. Your site shows it on every item, and on a printable allergen chart.
On an item’s “Allergens & dietary” tab, choose “I’ve checked this item’s allergens”, then mark each of the 14 allergens as “Doesn’t contain”, “Contains” or “May contain”. For cereals containing gluten and for tree nuts, mark the specific one: wheat, rye, barley or oats; almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and so on.
- Contains: it’s an ingredient. The site says, for example, “Contains: milk, eggs, wheat (gluten).”
- May contain: only for cross-contamination you can’t avoid, such as a shared fryer. The site says “May contain: …”.
- Not checked yet: the site says “Allergens: please ask us.” A blank is never shown as safe.
When you save allergen information, HQ asks you to confirm it’s correct. Your business is responsible for the allergen information on its menu.
Tip: Your site started with a sample menu that already has allergens filled in. Check each item and confirm it, or change it, and the “Check your allergen information” step on your checklist ticks itself off.
Dietary labels
Tick any that apply: vegetarian (V), vegan (VG), gluten-free (GF), dairy-free (DF) and halal (H). The site shows the short labels with a key, and customers can filter by them.
- Vegan can’t be ticked on an item that contains milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans or molluscs.
- Vegetarian can’t be ticked on an item that contains fish, crustaceans or molluscs.
- Gluten-free can’t be ticked on an item that contains, or may contain, wheat, rye or barley. Oats are allowed, as gluten-free oats exist.
- Dairy-free can’t be ticked on an item that contains, or may contain, milk.
- Gluten-free and dairy-free need the allergens to be checked first.
Drinks
On the Drinks tab, tick “Contains alcohol” and add the ABV, such as 4.5. Use “Several sizes” on the Details tab for measures.
- Draught beer and cider are sold in ⅓, ½, ⅔ or whole pints, and a half pint must be available.
- Wine by the glass comes in 125ml or 175ml (or multiples), and the 125ml glass must be offered.
- Gin, rum, vodka and whisky come in 25ml or 35ml measures. Choose yours in Menu settings and the site says which.
Tip: If you add a 175ml glass without a 125ml one, or a pint without a half, HQ reminds you.
Calories, spice and ingredients
- Calories: optional. Only businesses with 250 or more staff have to show them. Once any item shows calories, your menu adds “Adults need around 2000 kcal a day”.
- Spice level: mild, medium or hot, shown with chillies.
- Ingredients: optional. Customers can open the list on your site. Food you pack before it’s ordered, such as sandwiches in a fridge, also needs a label with the full ingredients and allergens in bold (Natasha’s Law).
Menu settings
- Allergy notice: shown at the top of your menu. It reads “Please talk to us if you have a food allergy, intolerance or coeliac disease before you order.” You can change the wording.
- Service charge: none, optional (the site says it’s added to the bill and can be removed), or compulsory. A compulsory service or cover charge must be included in the prices you show.
- Spirits measure: 25ml or 35ml.
What customers see
- A tab for each menu, with your sections and items in your order.
- On every item: its dietary labels, its allergens (or “please ask us”), its sizes and prices, and any calories, ABV, spice level or photo.
- “Filter by diet or allergy”: customers can show only vegan dishes, for example, or hide dishes containing peanuts. Dishes that may contain what they picked, or whose allergens aren’t checked, are hidden too.
- An allergen chart at your-site/menu/allergens, which you can print for behind the counter.