Editing Menu (section)

==Types==
===Paper===
[[File: City Hotel, New Orleans restaurant menu (December 8, 1857).jpg|thumb|City Hotel, New Orleans restaurant menu (December 8, 1857)]]
[[File:Savoy Hotels meny från år 1900 - Hallwylska museet - 100667.tif|thumb|Savoy Hotel in Cairo, menu from 1900.]]
Menus vary in length and detail depending on the type of restaurant. The simplest hand-held menus are printed on a single sheet of paper, though menus with multiple pages or "views" are common. In some cafeteria-style restaurants and chain restaurants, a single-page menu may double as a disposable placemat. To protect a menu from spills and wear, it may be protected by heat-sealed vinyl page protectors, [[laminate|lamination]] or menu covers. Restaurants consider their positioning in the marketplace (e.g. fine dining, fast food, informal) in deciding which style of menu to use.

Some restaurants use a single menu as the sole source of information about the food for customers, but in other cases, the main menu is supplemented by ancillary menus, such as:
* An appetizer menu (nachos, chips and salsa, vegetables and dip, etc.)
* A wine list
* A liquor and mixed drinks menu
* A beer list
* A dessert menu (which may also include a list of tea and coffee options)

Some restaurants use only text in their menus. In other cases, restaurants include illustrations and photos, either of the dishes or of an element of the culture which is associated with the restaurant. For instance a Lebanese kebab restaurant might decorate its menu with photos of Lebanese mountains and beaches. Particularly with the ancillary menu types, the menu may be provided in alternative formats, because these menus (other than wine lists) tend to be much shorter than food menus. For example, an appetizer menu or a dessert menu may be displayed on a folded paper table tent, a hard plastic table stand, a flipchart style wooden "table stand", or even, in the case of a pizza restaurant with a limited wine selection, a wine list glued to an empty bottle.

[[Take-out]] restaurants often leave paper menus in the lobbies and doorsteps of nearby homes as advertisements. The first to do so may have been New York City's Empire Szechuan chain, founded in 1976.<ref name="clines19940116">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/16/nyregion/new-yorkers-co-building-the-szechuan-empire.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | title=Building the Szechuan Empire | work=The New York Times | date=1994-01-16 | access-date=September 17, 2011 | author=Clines, Frances X. | archive-date=2013-03-08 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308120436/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/16/nyregion/new-yorkers-co-building-the-szechuan-empire.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | url-status=live }}</ref> The chain and other restaurants' aggressive menu distribution on the [[Upper West Side]] of Manhattan caused the "Menu Wars" of the 1990s, including invasions of Empire Szechuan by the "Menu Vigilantes", the revoking of its cafe license, several lawsuits, and physical attacks on menu distributors.<ref name="erikson20100628">{{cite news | url=http://www.westsidespirit.com/the-chinese-menu-wars/ | title=The Chinese Menu Wars | work=The West Side Spirit | date=2010-06-28 | access-date=September 17, 2011 | author=Erikson, Chris | archive-date=2016-03-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309052724/http://www.westsidespirit.com/the-chinese-menu-wars/ | url-status=live }}</ref>{{r|clines19940116}}<ref name="bernstein19940102">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/02/nyregion/neighborhood-report-upper-west-side-update-the-menu-wars-continued.html | title=The Menu Wars, Continued | work=The New York Times | date=1994-01-02 | access-date=September 17, 2011 | author=Bernstein, Emily M. | archive-date=2013-03-08 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308120445/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/02/nyregion/neighborhood-report-upper-west-side-update-the-menu-wars-continued.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="lii19960728">{{cite news | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07EEDF1439F93BA15754C0A960958260&pagewanted=all | title=The Chinese Menu Guys | work=The New York Times | date=1996-07-28 | access-date=September 17, 2011 | author=Lii, Jane H. | archive-date=2012-03-05 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305004847/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07EEDF1439F93BA15754C0A960958260&pagewanted=all | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Menu board===
[[File:Belle's Diner, French Market Place, New Orleans, 24 May 2016 - Menu board.jpg|thumb|left|A menu board in a [[New Orleans]] diner]]
Some restaurants – typically fast-food restaurants and cafeteria-style establishments – provide their menu in a large poster or display board format up high on the wall or above the service counter. This way, all of the patrons can see all of the choices, and the restaurant does not have to provide printed menus. This large format menu may also be set up outside (see the next section). The simplest large format menu boards have the menu printed or painted on a large flat board. More expensive large format menu boards include boards that have a metal housing, a translucent surface, and a backlight (which facilitates the reading of the menu in low light) and boards that have removable numbers for the prices. This enables the restaurant to change prices without having to have the board reprinted or repainted.

Some restaurants such as cafes and small eateries use a large chalkboard to display the entire menu. The advantage of using a chalkboard is that the menu items and prices can be changed; the downside is that the chalk may be hard to read in lower light or glare, and the restaurant has to have a staff member who has attractive, clear handwriting.

A high-tech successor to the chalkboard menu is the [[LED writing board|"write-on wipe-off" illuminated sign]], using LED technology. The text appears in a vibrant color against a black background.

===Outdoor===
[[File:Demo Day 2016 - Design Center (20).jpg|thumb|Menu cards at Apacuka, Budapest]]
Some restaurants provide a copy of their menu outside the restaurant. Fast-food restaurants that have a drive-through or walk-up window will often put the entire menu on a board, lit-up sign, or poster outside so that patrons can select their meal choices. High-end restaurants may also provide a copy of their menu outside the restaurant, with the pages of the menu placed in a lit-up glass display case; this way, prospective patrons can see if the menu choices are to their liking. Also, some mid-level and high-end restaurants may provide a partial indication of their menu listings–the "specials"–on a chalkboard displayed outside the restaurant. The chalkboard will typically provide a list of seasonal items or dishes that are the specialty of the chef which is only available for a few days.

==== Digital Outdoor ====
{{Main article|Digital Outdoor Menu Board}}

Digital Outdoor Menu Boards are used to show menus outside in high-resolution. They are built to withstand diverse [[weather conditions]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=David |first=Michael |date=2024-07-16 |title=The Rise of Outdoor Digital Menu Boards: Revolutionizing the Dining Experience |url=https://nento.com/the-rise-of-outdoor-digital-menu-boards-revolutionizing-the-dining-experience/?source=SEO&keyword=the_rise_of_outdoor_digital_menu_boards_revolutionizing_the_dining_experience |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=NENTO |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Digital displays===
With the invention of LCD and Plasma displays, some menus have moved from a static printed model to one which can change dynamically. By using a flat LCD screen and a computer server, menus can be digitally displayed allowing moving images, animated effects and the ability to edit details and prices.

For fast food restaurants, a benefit is the ability to update prices and menu items as frequently as needed, across an entire chain. Digital menu boards also allow restaurant owners to control the day parting of their menus, converting from a breakfast menu in the late morning. Some platforms support the ability allow local operators to control their own pricing while the design aesthetic is controlled by the corporate entity. Various software tools and hardware developments have been created for the specific purpose of managing a digital menu board system. Digital menu screens can also alternate between displaying the full menu and showing video commercials to promote specific dishes or menu items.

===Online menu===
Websites featuring online restaurant menus have been on the Internet for nearly a decade. In recent years, however, more and more restaurants outside of large metropolitan areas have been able to feature their menus online as a result of this trend.

Several restaurant-owned and startup [[online food ordering]] websites already included menus on their websites, yet due to the limitations of which restaurants could handle online orders, many restaurants were left invisible to the Internet aside from an address listing. Multiple companies came up with the idea of posting menus online simultaneously, and it is difficult to ascertain who was first. Menus and online food ordering have been available online since at least 1997. Since 1997, hundreds of online restaurant menu web sites have appeared on the Internet. Some sites are city-specific, some list by region, state or province.
===Digital menu===
The idea of the digital menu is very new and differs from an online menu. An online menu is a website presenting a food menu on an e-commerce platform but has no interface with meal production except sometimes receiving the order. A digital menu is a fully integrated food menu where the front-end is presented online as a web application, but as well as facilitating orders it is also linked to the kitchen or other production facility. A digital menu can generate a variety of reports and is connected with the finance/point of sale system. It may also be integrated with inventory and accounting software.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

===Secret menu===
Another phenomenon is the so-called [[Menu hack|secret menu]] where some fast food restaurants are known for having unofficial and unadvertised selections that customers learn by [[word of mouth]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodale |first=Gloria |title=At fast-food joints, try the secret menu |journal=Christian Science Monitor (Boston) |publisher=Christian Science Monitor |date=October 19, 2007 |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1019/p13s01-lifo.html |location=Boston |issn=0882-7729 |access-date=May 29, 2009 |archive-date=February 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216142713/http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1019/p13s01-lifo.html |url-status=live }}</ref> or by looking them up online. [[Fast food restaurant]]s will often prepare variations on items already available, but to have them all on the menu would create clutter. This can also occur in high-end restaurants, which may be willing to prepare certain items which are not listed on the menu (e.g., dishes that have long been favorites of regular clientele). Sometimes restaurants may name foods often ordered by regular clientele after them, for either convenience or prestige.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} At some fast food restaurants, "secret menu" items exist which were once part of the regular menu but are no longer advertised. These items may still be rung up as a regular menu item, and are assembled from ingredients that are still in use in other menu items.