Menu Maker
Type your dishes, descriptions and prices straight onto the menu, pick one of six designs, and print it or save a PDF for your website.
- What you type stays on your device. Nothing is uploaded.
- Free, no sign-up, no daily limit.
- Works with Wi-Fi off once the page has loaded. Check it yourself
Updated by Khokhar Sab
How do I make a menu?
Type your restaurant name, then add sections such as Starters, Mains and Desserts. Under each, type the dish name, a short description and the price, plus tags like V for vegetarian. Pick a design, a color and the number of columns, put your address and hours at the bottom, and download the PDF to print or post online.
- Type the restaurant name and a tagline.
- Add sections and the dishes in each.
- Type prices, descriptions and diet tags.
- Pick a design, then the color, columns and price style.
- Download the PDF or Word file.
Do menus have to show calories?
Only for some restaurants. The FDA's menu labeling rules cover restaurants and similar food businesses that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations. Covered menus list calories for standard items and the statement that 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice, but calorie needs vary. Tick Calories to add both.
That federal rule does not cover independent restaurants with fewer locations. Check your state and city rules too.
How should a menu be laid out?
Group dishes in the order people eat them, such as starters, mains and desserts, and keep descriptions to a line or two. Put each price at the end of its line. Wikipedia notes that menus may be à la carte, with each dish priced, or table d'hôte, a set sequence of courses at one price.
For a set menu, the Tasting design lists one course under another and prints one price for the meal, with a wine pairing line under each dish.
Should menu prices have a dollar sign?
It is a style choice. In a Cornell study at a cafe run by the Culinary Institute of America, guests spent about 8 percent more on average when menu prices had no dollar sign. That was a single cafe, so results elsewhere may differ. Brasserie, Tasting and Cellar print plain numbers; Counter and Diner print the dollar sign.
Change it under Prices: numbers only (28), dollar sign ($28) or dollars and cents ($28.00). A cafe that types 3.5 gets $3.50. Prices such as From $45 or Market price print as you type them.
Limits
- Small dish photos only, on two designs. Counter and Diner print one small 4:3 photo beside a dish; there is no full-page photo background.
- Not a menu board or ordering system. It makes printable menus; a QR code can point to your own online menu or ordering page.
- Long menus run onto more pages, and the last two pages share the sections so neither is left nearly empty. Text is never shrunk to fit, so use more columns to fit more on one page.
- Wedding cards come two to a sheet, 4 x 9 inches on Letter or DL size on A4, with the same menu on both cards.
Frequently asked questions
Can I add food photos?
Yes, on the Counter and Diner designs. Point at a dish and press + Photo. The picture is cropped to 4:3 and shrunk in your browser, then printed beside the dish; nothing is uploaded.
Can I add a QR code?
Yes, on Brasserie, Counter, Diner and Cellar. Type a full link in QR code link beside the menu, such as your online menu or ordering page. The code prints in the footer with a line such as Scan for our online menu, which you can change on the page.
Can I get it as a spreadsheet?
Yes. Excel (.xlsx) and CSV downloads hold the dishes and prices, and both open in Google Sheets.
Is it free?
Yes, including the Word file, with no sign-up and no watermark.
Can I make a drinks menu?
Yes. The Cellar design is made for wine lists, with bin numbers, vintages and Glass and Bottle price columns. Name the sections Sparkling, White and Red, or Beer and Cocktails.
Can I make a wedding menu?
Yes. The Wedding Card design has your names, the date, the courses with or between dish choices, and the venue, under an olive or lavender engraving or your initials. The PDF holds two cards per sheet with marks to cut along.
Can I print it on both sides?
Long menus run onto a second page; print double-sided from the PDF.
Where is my menu kept?
In this browser only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related document makers
How this tool was built and tested
- FDA: Menu Labeling Requirements: chains with 20 or more locations
- 21 CFR 101.11 (eCFR): the exact calorie statement
- Wikipedia: Menu: à la carte and table d’hôte
- Cornell Chronicle: Diners spend more when menus don’t use dollar signs: one cafe at the Culinary Institute of America