How to make a food menu for restaurants

Boost your average order value by selling your food online

Nowadays, your food menu is more than a list of dishes you display at your restaurant. It’s a marketing tool you can use to sell food both offline and online.

If dine-in customers can enjoy your dishes on location, why not extend the same courtesy to people who want to enjoy them in the comfort of their own homes?

How? By taking your food menu online to your website and Facebook page and offering customers the chance to place an order for pickup or delivery in just a few clicks.

This won’t just open a second revenue stream for you, but it might actually increase the average order value. 34% of customers say they spend at least $50 when ordering food online (compared to $16-30 in a restaurant).

Offer fast delivery and you’ll make even more money. 33% of customers are willing to pay more for faster delivery service.

Not taking advantage of this opportunity is like throwing money out the window! So, show off the competition and set up an online ordering menu today!

With our online ordering system, you can accept unlimited free orders forever! No ads, fees, or strings attached – we’re here to help.

Without further ado, let’s see how you can make a food menu that sells.

How to make a food menu that customers won’t be able to resist

1. Create your restaurant profile

After you sign up for a free account, you need to set up your restaurant profile by adding some basic information like location, operating hours, etc. Don’t worry, this only takes a few minutes!

2. Add categories and items to the menu

Use our intuitive drag & drop menu editor to create your dream menu. Check out this detailed tutorial for step-by-step instructions on setting it up.

3. Personalize dishes with choices and add-ons

Next, allow customers to customize their dishes by adding portion sizes, toppings, crust types, sides, and other add-ons. The possibilities are endless!

Learn more about personalizing your online menu in the video below.

4. Add mouthwatering food images to your menu to make customers crave your foods

Everyone knows we eat with our eyes first. So, before customers get to taste your magnificent dishes, they’ll get a sneak peek of what to expect from your mouthwatering food photos.

Use “never go shopping on an empty stomach” to your advantage. When users browse your menu wanting to order, they’re probably already hungry. Seeing those irresistible food images will make them order even more food.

Add your own pictures to every menu item and category or choose from our free database of stock images.

5. Pepper your menu with irresistible food promotions and special offers

Is your restaurant located near an office building? Do you want to attract more office workers to your restaurant at lunch? Add an exclusive lunch menu promo to your menu.

Use our restaurant promotion templates to customize your own promos and create offers that will attract more customers to your restaurant.

From first-time deals to loyalty discounts, coupon codes, meal bundles, or free delivery, the promotions will be displayed at the top of your online menu, capturing the customers’ attention immediately.

6. Add the menu and order button to your restaurant website

Once your menu is good and ready, adding it to your website is a piece of cake. Just copy-paste the HTML code we provide in your restaurant dashboard onto a highly-visible section of your website.

This will add a “See MENU & Order” button that, when clicked, will open your online restaurant menu in all its delicious glory, no matter the device.

Customers can browse it and place an order without ever leaving the page. Sure beats downloading a PDF to see what’s cooking, doesn’t it?

7. Add a smart link to Facebook’s Star Order button to enable Facebook ordering

But that’s not all! You can also accept food orders on Facebook by copying the smart link we provide in your restaurant dashboard onto Facebook’s Start Order button.

That way, anyone who visits your Facebook page can click the button to be redirected to your online menu and place an order.

How to start taking your first online orders by tonight

Now that you learned how to make a food menu in just a few easy steps, it’s time to start accepting those incoming orders.

How? By downloading our free order taking app for Android and iOS on your smartphone or tablet.

This will enable you to review and confirm orders instantly, eliminating order errors or long confirmation calls.

The app will alert you every time you receive a new order. All you need to do is accept it, enter the fulfillment time, and start cooking.