Adding Menu Items

Overview

Whether you’re building a menu from scratch or want to add a new item to your existing menu— you can add a menu item from the Menus App, within the Otter Dashboard.

Adding a Menu Item

Follow the steps below to add a new menu item:

Step 1

From the Otter Dashboard, select Apps > Menus.
Step 2

Select the menu you’d like to edit.

Click the [+ Add item] button.
Step 3

Fill out fields with item details.

Learn about each menu item fields below.
Step 4

Click [Save].
Step 5

Click [Publish] to publish menu updates.

Select all locations and delivery channels you'd like to apply changes, then click [Publish menu].

Menu Item Detail Fields

The menu item detail fields allow you to provide information about your menu item and customization options to eaters.

Expand the boxes below to learn more about each item detail section.

This section allows you to add the basic information for your menu item:
- Enter item name
- Enter iItem description
- Upload item image to display on menu
- Select Non-acholic or alcohol type
In the Pricing section, you will set the pricing for your menu item. You will also see the option for Advanced Pricing options, like setting the price for an item per:
- Fulfillment option
- Delivery partners
- Otter channel
- Fulfillment per channel
Learn more on Menu Item Pricing here.
Entering the Cost of Goods for menu items allows you to track how much it costs to prepare or purchase ingredients. This is a foundational step toward giving you full visibility into your profitability.

The reporting on Cost of Goods Sold isn’t available just yet— coming soon! But entering this field now gives you a start on capturing your data.

When typing the price for the Cost of Goods Sold, you can set a default price or specify different amounts for each location, then filter the list to quickly identify locations missing Cost of Goods Sold values.
In the Taxes section, you can manage different tax settings for your menu items. Within the settings, you have the option to:
- Turn on or off Otter sending tax rates to selected channels
- Set tax rate per location(s)
- Set tax rate on specific items
- Set tax rate on specific items per fulfillment mode
Learn more about Menu Tax Management here.
In the Appears In section, you will select what menu Category the item belongs to and will appear under.

You will also be able to select a Modifier Group to add that menu item to (if applicable). Modifier groups are options that allow another menu item to be customizable.
Example:

The item being added to the menu is Curly Fries. The categories I have to choose from are:
- Drinks
- Fries
- Burgers
- Salads
- Dessert
I would select Fries as the Category for Curly Fries to appear under on my menu.

I want to also add Curly Fries to a modifier group. The modifier groups I have to choose from are:
- Drinks
- Toppings
- Sides
- Sizes
I would select Sides as the Modifier Group for Curly Fries to be added to.
Learn more about Modifier Groups here.
In this section, you can select a modifier group to appear as a customizable option for the menu item you’re creating.
Example:

I am adding the menu item Bacon Cheeseburger to my menu. I want eaters to be able to customize their burger when ordering.

Under the Customize Item section, I will select the following modifier groups to appear as options for eaters to choose from for the Bacon Cheeseburger menu item:
- Extras
Extra meat, Extra cheese
- Remove Toppings
No lettuce, No tomatoes, No onion, No pickles
Learn more about Modifier Groups here.

In this section, you can select:
- Locations you’d like to add this menu item to
- Kitchen Station assignment for this item to get routed to per location
- Enter the item name for how this item will appear on the ticket for that station
Default Location Assignment
After setting the Default Location assignment, when going to add a new menu item, you should see the default locations appear under the Assigned locations section.

You can edit this section if you wish to change the location assignment. Learn more on that here.

Learn more about Station Management here. Learn more about Multi-Location Menu Linking here.

In this section, you can add the following dietary information for the menu item:
- Allergen information
- Dietary restrictions
- Calorie information
Learn more about Menu Allergen and Calorie Settings here.
Here, you can choose which platforms you’d like to offer the menu item on by toggling the option ON or OFF for each platform listed. Otter will only publish the menu item to platforms toggled ON.

In this section, you can select whether this menu item needs to be printed on a sticker label printer or not by toggling the Print on a label option off or on.

Learn more about Label Printers here.

FAQs

To delete a menu item, click the 3 dots next to the item and click Delete.

Confirm by clicking [Delete permanently].
Yes— to make edits to a menu item, just click on that menu item and the item details window with the detail fields (shown above) will pop up. From there, you can edit details and save changes.

NOTE: Be sure to republish your menu when you make any edits.
Yes—either by deleting the value or using the "Reset to Default" button