Manage Your Menu

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Here you'll find a step-by-step outline for managing your Menu in PAR Ordering, from initial setup through publishing to your stores. Follow these steps in order to build a menu from scratch, or jump to the stage that's relevant to you.

Before You Start

You'll need Management Center access with menu-edit permissions for your brand/venue. If your POS is the system of record for menu data, read Stage 1 below carefully before creating anything in the Management Center: which path you choose there determines how the rest of this guide applies to you.

1. Choose How to Create Your Menu

Menus can originate from two places. Pick the path that matches your setup: you generally only need one of these, not all three.

• Starting fresh in the Management Center? Creating a New Menu in the Management Center: Step-by-Step Guide
  Build your menu directly in PAR Ordering
• Your POS already has the menu built? How to Build Your Menu from the POS
  Bring an existing POS menu into PAR Ordering
• Need to connect menu items to POS buttons/PLUs? How to Map Your Menu to Your POS: Step-by-Step Guide
  Required so items sync correctly regardless of which path above you took

2. Build Your Menu Structure

Organize your menu into categories and add the products customers will order.

• Creating a Category: Step-by-Step Guide
  Add a top-level menu section (e.g. "Appetizers")
• Adding Categories to Menus via Category Helper: Step-by-Step Guide
  Bulk-assign existing categories to a menu
• Creating a Product: Step-by-Step Guide
  Add a sellable item
• Adding Products to Categories via Product Helper : Step-by-Step Guide
  Bulk-assign existing products to a category
• How to Use Virtual Categories (Container)
  Group products across categories without duplicating them

3. Set Up Product Groups & Modifiers

Configure how customers customize an item: sizes, combos, and add-ons.

• Creating a Product Group: Step-by-Step Guide
  Define a reusable set of options (e.g. sizes, combo choices)
• Adding Product Group to Products via Product Group Helper: Step-by-Step Guide
  Bulk-assign a product group to multiple items
• How to Manage Assigned Modifier Groups for Item?
  View/edit which modifier groups apply to a specific item
• How to Configure Product Specific Modifiers
  Set modifiers unique to one product rather than a shared group
• How to Preselect Products in Size, Combo & Modifier Product Group: Step-by-Step Guide
  Set a default option customers see pre-selected
• How to Set Global Quantity Rules on Modifier Product Groups: Step-by-Step Guide
  Enforce min/max selection counts across a group

4. Manage Visibility & Availability

Control when and where an item can be ordered.

• How to Hide an Item, but Still Use It for Special Cases
  Keep an item orderable internally without showing it to customers
• How to Set up Secret Menu Items
  Make an item orderable only via a direct/special path

5. Merchandising & Pricing

Drive additional sales and set what customers pay.

Cross-Sell & Upsell

• How to Set Up and Manage Upsell
  Configure brand-level upsell display settings and connect add-on items to products

Pricing

• How to Set up Dynamic Pricing for Menu V2: Step-by-Step Guide
  Vary pricing by conditions (e.g. time of day, channel)

6. Preview & Verify

Before publishing, check the menu renders and prices as expected in each channel it's assigned to.

• Menu Preview
  View and manage a published menu's categories, products, and containers at the brand or store level
• Menu Previews - Brand Level
  Preview how a menu appears and behaves across a brand's channels
• Menu Previews - Store Level
  Preview menus, categories, and products at an individual store

7. Sync, Distribute & Publish Your Menu

Push the finished menu live to your stores.

• How to Use Automatic POS Sync During Menu Distribution and Publish
  Keep POS and PAR Ordering menus in sync automatically
• How to Distribute Menus to Stores: Step-by-Step Guide
  Assign a menu to one or more store locations
• How to Publish a Menu to Stores: Step-by-Step Guide
  Make a distributed menu live for customers
• How to Unpublish a Menu to Stores: Step-by-Step Guide
  Take a published menu offline

Troubleshooting & FAQ

• Do Disabled Items Show for Customers
  Clarifies customer-facing behavior for disabled items