Upload a photo for each dish
Open the dish, press Upload a photo and pick any picture. The photo is made square and smaller for you.
Menu, then Edit on the dish
Dish details
The questions nobody answers lose the order
GetMenu is an online menu ordering system that answers your customers' questions on the menu itself. Each dish can show its photo, a description of what is in it, its spice level, its allergens and its choices. A dish that has run out shows Sold out. Then the customer orders on the same page.
The problem
Why customers' questions about your dishes go unanswered
Before they order, many customers want to know about a dish. How big is the large size? Does the sauce have milk in it? What comes with the burger? When the menu does not say, they send a WhatsApp message or call.
At a busy time, the person who answers the phone is also taking orders and talking to riders. The reply comes late, or it never comes. A customer who waits too long for an answer often orders from another restaurant.
For a customer with a food allergy, a guess is not good enough. If nobody can tell them what is in a dish, they skip that dish, and sometimes they skip the whole order. Every question your team answers by hand also takes time away from the next order.
Photos
Add photos to your online menu without editing them first
In GetMenu, every dish can have a photo. Open the dish on the Menu page, press Upload a photo and pick any picture from your phone or computer.
You do not need to edit the picture first. GetMenu makes the photo square and smaller on your own phone or computer before it saves it. So a digital menu full of photos still opens fast on a phone.
Photos show in nine of the 12 layouts. If you have no good photos yet, pick one of the three text layouts: Bistro List, Menu Board or Poster Hero. On the Theme gallery page, you can also choose how photos look: in the layout's own style, in full colour, or in black and white. To remove a photo, clear it and save the dish.
Descriptions and spice
Menu item descriptions and spice levels that answer the usual questions
Each dish has a description and a spice level, and together they answer the questions your team hears most. In the description, write what is in the dish, the portion size, what comes with it and how it is cooked.
The spice level tells the customer how hot the dish is before they ask. You set it on the dish, and customers see it on the menu and on the dish popup.
Depending on the layout, the description shows under the dish name. Some layouts show all of it. Others show only the first lines. When the customer taps the dish, the dish popup opens with the whole description, so a longer answer still fits.
Three layouts (Photo Hero, Tabs and Anunzio One) also have a Search the menu box. It finds dishes by any word in the name or the description, so a customer who types "chicken" sees every dish that mentions it.
If your menu is long, fill in the Description column of the Excel template and upload the whole menu at once.
Allergens
Allergen information on your online menu, dish by dish
GetMenu lets you declare which of the 14 common allergens each dish contains. The customer sees the list on the dish popup, before they add the dish to the cart.
The 14 are gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, peanuts, soy, milk, tree nuts, celery, mustard, sesame, sulphites, lupin and molluscs. You select what a dish contains and press Declare. If you checked a dish and it has none of the 14, press Declare with nothing selected. The customer then sees that the dish is free of all 14.
A dish that nobody has checked shows no allergen line at all. GetMenu never prints "contains nothing" for a dish that has not been checked, because missing information is not the same as no allergens.
The list is your restaurant's own statement about its food, so the person responsible for food safety in your kitchen should check it. Declarations are made on the Mystery item page under Marketing, and they are not part of the Starter plan.
What the customer reads on the dish popup
Declared, with allergensContains: Gluten (wheat, barley, rye), Milk & dairy.
Declared, nothing tickedThe restaurant declares this free of the fourteen listed allergens.
Not declared yetNo allergen line is shown
Choices
Online menu options: sizes and extras the customer picks
Questions about the size or the extras are answered with choices on the dish itself. In GetMenu, you add choice groups to any dish, and customers see each choice, with any extra price, when they open the dish.
Open the dish's form, go to Choices and extras and press Add a group. Name it, for example Sauce, and add Garlic and Chilli with no price, because neither costs more. Select Must pick if the customer has to choose. The group then shows a star, and the Add button stays off until they choose. Max picks limits how many extras can be chosen, and the dish popup shows it, for example "up to 3".
A choice that has run out is crossed out and marked Sold out, while the dish keeps selling with its other choices. GetMenu checks every choice again when the order is placed. The choices reach your managers' WhatsApp group with the order. With the POS add-on, every choice also prints in bold on the kitchen ticket and shows on the kitchen screen.
In stock
Show what is sold out on your online menu, and how many are left
Customers often ask whether a dish is available today. GetMenu answers that on the menu: a dish with no stock left shows Sold out where the Add button was, and nobody can order it.
If you count the portions of a dish, every order takes the count down. When only a few are left, the dish shows a small note such as "Only 3 left". The quantity buttons on the dish popup stop at the number that remains. A dish you do not count has a switch on the Menu page that you set to Available or Sold out yourself.
After an online order, the next customer to open the menu sees the new count. When a dish sells out at the counter, your online menu shows it as Sold out right away. The checkout also checks the live count when each order is placed. The last portion cannot be sold twice, so nobody has to call a customer to cancel.
The order
An online menu ordering system for restaurants that also takes the order
Once customers have their answers, they add the dish to the cart on the same page. GetMenu takes the order from there, so nobody on your team has to type it into a chat.
At checkout, the customer gives their name and WhatsApp number and chooses delivery or collection. For delivery, they pick their building from your list, type their unit number and can share their location. They pay in cash or by card machine when the order arrives or when they collect it. Guests at a table who scan its QR code order from the same menu, with no address step.
GetMenu checks every price and choice again, so the order always matches your menu. The moment the order is placed, your managers' group gets it on WhatsApp. A delivery order goes to your riders' group too. The customer's confirmation comes from your own WhatsApp number. With the POS add-on, the order also shows on the POS screen beside your counter sales.
Setting it up
What you set up for dish details
Write the descriptions
Write what is in each dish and answer the questions customers ask most, or fill in the Description column of the Excel template.
Menu, or Menu then Bulk import (Excel)
Set the spice level
Choose how spicy each dish is.
Menu, then Edit on the dish
Add choices
Add a group such as Size or Extras. Select Must pick when the customer has to answer, and set Max picks for extras.
Menu, then the dish's form, under Choices and extras
Declare allergens
Select what each dish contains and press Declare. If you checked a dish and it has none of the 14, press Declare with nothing selected.
Marketing, then Mystery item, under Allergen declarations
Pick a layout and a photo style
Choose one of the 12 layouts, then choose whether photos follow the layout, show in full colour or show in black and white.
Theme gallery
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What does my menu show for a dish I have not checked for allergens?
Nothing. Until you declare a dish, its page shows no allergen line at all. So a customer is never told a dish is free of nuts just because nobody filled in the list. You can see which dishes still need checking: the list of dishes under Allergen declarations marks each one that is not declared yet.
How do I show how spicy a dish is on my online menu?
Set the spice level when you edit the dish on the Menu page. Customers see it before they order. If some customers want it hotter, add a choice such as Extra spicy to the dish. Their pick reaches the kitchen with the order. With the POS add-on, it also prints in bold on the kitchen ticket, so the cook does not miss it.
Can customers filter the menu to hide dishes with nuts or gluten?
No. Customers see the allergens of each dish on its page, but the menu cannot be filtered by allergen, and there are no vegan or calorie labels. A customer who needs to avoid something can open each dish and read its list. They can also write the allergy in the notes at checkout, so your team sees it on the order.
Can a customer tell the kitchen about an allergy that is not on the list?
Yes. The checkout has a box called Notes for the restaurant. What the customer writes there goes to your managers' group on the WhatsApp order ticket. With the POS add-on, the note prints on the kitchen ticket, and a note that mentions an allergy prints in bold red above the dishes. It also shows in a red box on the kitchen screen. The cook sees it first.
Which GetMenu plans include allergen information?
Photos, descriptions, choices and the Sold out marks come with every plan. Allergen declarations are not part of the Starter plan. The pricing page lists what each plan includes, in your own currency. If you are on Starter, you can still write the main allergens in a dish's description. The declared list is clearer, because every dish uses the same words.
Will dish photos make my online menu slow to load?
No. Each photo is made small before it is saved, so a menu with many photos still opens fast on a phone. This works the same for a large picture from a good camera and a small one from an old phone. You never need to edit a picture yourself before you upload it. If a photo looks wrong after saving, upload a better one and save the dish again.
What should I write in a dish description?
Write the answers your team gives most often: what is in the dish, the portion size, what comes with it and how it is cooked. The spice level has its own setting, so it needs no sentence. Keep the sentences short, because some layouts show only the start of the description on the menu. The full text appears when the customer opens the dish.
Can I change a photo or description in the middle of service?
Yes. Edit the dish on the Menu page and save it. The change shows on your ordering page right away for every customer who opens it after that. A customer who already has the menu open sees the change when they reload the page. If you replace your whole menu with an Excel import, check your allergen declarations afterwards, because a full replace does not keep them.
Keep reading
Online orderingYour own ordering page: the menu, dish choices, live stock and a checkout for delivery and collection.Digital menu: what it is and why one edit changes every screenOur longer read on building a digital menu customers can order from.The menu and photos guideStep-by-step help on photos, choice groups, the Excel import and allergen declarations.See the plans and pricesWhat each plan includes, in your own currency.
Put the answers on your menu, not in your WhatsApp chats
Try GetMenu free for 15 days, with no card needed. Add photos, descriptions, spice levels and choices to your dishes, and see your ordering page the way your customers will.