WeeklyEats

Restaurant menu maker: make yours free

Make your restaurant menu: type each dish and its price under starters, mains, sides, desserts and drinks. Pick a look, and the menu draws itself as you type. Save it to post or print.

Also free: your specials on Weekly Eats.

Step 1 of 4

For example: Corner Cafe

See how it works

What you type stays on your phone. We only see it if you press "Send these to us on WhatsApp" or "Send them by email form" further down. It is kept on this phone, so it is here when you come back.

  • Stripes look, square, the first nine dishes
  • Stripes look in blue, A4 to print
  • Braai look in plum, tall shape
  • Sunday lunch card with a teal frame, square
  • Dark and serif look in gold, square
  • Braai look in navy, A4 to print

Made-up places. Prices are examples, not a guide to charge.

How it works

  1. Type your restaurant and your dishes.

    Example. A phone showing the step "What do you sell?" for The Corner Table: a line and its price being typed, and the menu beside them with the lines typed so far.

  2. Pick how it looks.

    Example. A phone showing the step "Pick how it looks": the menu for The Corner Table on the left and the same words in other looks on the right, one of them chosen.

  3. Change the colours, if you like.

    Example. A phone showing the same step with "More colours" open and one colour chosen: the menu for The Corner Table is in that colour.

  4. Share it on WhatsApp, or print it.

    Example. The finished menu for The Corner Table filling a phone screen, and the same picture printed on a page stuck to a wall.

The pictures show examples with made-up places and prices.

Run a weekly deal? Put it on a free page people can open.

A Weekly Eats page shows your specials by day, in your own words, with the price where there is one.

Listing is free. Nothing goes on the page until you have checked it and published it.

How listing works

Or type your place name and an item above. Then you can send them to us from here.

How do we check it is your place?

To make sure it is really your place, we set it up with the email address your place shows publicly, on its website, Google or Facebook. If it shows no email, we phone the number it lists and ask you to confirm by email. A phone call alone is not enough. So we can only set up a page when we can check the place is yours from something it already shows publicly. If your place has nothing online yet, we cannot set one up from here, and the poster maker stays free to use. If you message us on WhatsApp, message from the number your place shows publicly.

See an example page

You get a picture to post, and a bigger one to print on a normal printer page (A4) or half a page (A5), not a Word file. Free, no account, and nothing is uploaded: the picture is made on your device.

What goes on a restaurant menu

1Sections in the order people eat
Starters, mains, sides, desserts and soft drinks is the order most diners read a menu in. Type each section in that order, and the picture keeps the order you typed.
2Short names, with the detail in brackets
A dish is easier to choose when its name is short. Put what comes with it in brackets, such as "(with chips and salad)", and keep each line short enough to sit on one line of the picture.
3Prices in their own boxes
Each price goes in its own box, and the picture draws it on the right so the column lines up. Type the amount only, without a sign in front of it.
4Two sizes, like a small and large
A side or a drink may come in two sizes. Under All options, tick "Two prices on each line, like Small and Large" for that section, then name the two sizes. Each line then has two price boxes.
5Drinks at the foot
Soft drinks, iced tea and water go in a section at the end. List only what you serve today, because a drink you have run out of is the one a diner asks for.
6The note for the times
Use the note under the menu for when you are open and how to book. It takes 60 letters. Tick "This number is on WhatsApp" if people can message the number under it.

Restaurant menu design ideas

Six ways one restaurant menu can look, from the pictures above: a stripes card in orange and in blue, a braai card in plum and in navy, a cream card with a teal frame and a dark card with gold. Tap one to start from it, then type your dishes over the example.

Stripes look, square, the first nine dishes
Stripes is slanted bands in one colour, with white tabs for the section names and the prices down the right. A square suits a short list, so this picture shows its first nine dishes.
Stripes look in blue, A4 to print
The same look in ocean blue, for a printed menu. A4 holds the whole list, so every section is on the page.
Braai look in plum, tall shape
The Braai look in plum has a checker edge and yellow section labels. It is tall, so it posts well on WhatsApp Status.
Sunday lunch card with a teal frame, square
Sunday lunch is a cream card with a frame, serif dish names and dotted lines to the prices. In teal it suits a restaurant that wants a calm front.
Dark and serif look in gold, square
Near-black with gold lettering and a thin frame, a formal look for a restaurant that wants its menu to feel like a card.
Braai look in navy, A4 to print
The Braai look in navy, set for an A4 print that goes on the door.

A restaurant menu, step by step

The first picture comes from five sections typed into the form: Starters with three dishes, Mains with four, Sides with three, Desserts with two and Soft drinks with three. Under All options, type the section name, then press next on your keyboard to go from the name to its first dish, and on to the price. Fifteen lines fill the square; the tall and A4 pictures hold more.

Tips

  1. Keep the dishes you serve today, and take the rest out.
  2. Put the dish you most want to sell first in its section.
  3. Type the price in its box only, the same way on every line.
  4. Print the A4 picture for the door, and post the tall one on Status.
  5. When a price changes, change the line and save a new picture.

Sizes and printing

Tall, for WhatsApp Status
Tall like a phone screen. Best for WhatsApp Status and for Stories.
Square, for a post
Square. Best for a post on Facebook or Instagram.
Printer page (A4)
A4 is the size of a normal printer page. Print it at home or at a print shop. A home printer leaves a thin white edge.
Half page (A5)
A5 is half of a normal printer page. Good for a counter. A home printer leaves a thin white edge.

Questions

Can my menu run to more than one printed page?
Yes. A long menu is saved over two or more printer pages, each marked with its number, and nothing is left out. Print it rather than posting it when the list runs long, since a phone screen shows the picture small.
Do I need to type the rand sign?
No. Type the amount only, such as 85. The picture draws the prices in one column, so each one lines up.

What you type is kept in this browser on this device until you clear your browser data, so you can come back, change a price and save a new picture. A photo and a logo are optional and are not kept for the next visit.

  • Grill house menu as a black menu board with an orange double line round the edge: the name in white capitals in the middle with a small flame under it, four sections with orange section names over a rule, quarter and half prices in orangeGrill house menu

    A grill house with a sit-down room sets its starters, mains and desserts in one list, with a board for the grill.

  • Curry and bunny chow menu in the Curry house look: a dark maroon ground with a scalloped gold edge at the top and foot, the name in cream slab capitals, section names in cream on red painted strokes, quarter and half prices for the bunnies and all prices in goldCurry house menu

    A curry house keeps its starters, mains and sides in the same sections, with a look of its own.

  • Daily specials menu in the Big headline look in orange, tall: a large heading and five specials, one for each weekday, with their pricesDaily specials menu

    The dish that changes each weekday goes on a daily specials menu, not on the standing list.

  • Menu board in the Dark and serif look in very dark red on A5: a gold frame, three sections and the prices in gold on the rightMenu board

    For the wall or the counter, the same sections fit on a board drawn in A4 or A5.

More templates

All 36 templates, by kind of place