Cafe menu: coffee, breakfast and brunch

Usual sections

1. Coffee and tea
2. Breakfast (the set breakfasts)
3. Toast and eggs
4. Pastries and cakes
5. Juices, smoothies and shakes
6. Brunch and lunch: sandwiches, eggs, bowls
7. Other drinks

Order matters: what sells most (coffee and breakfast) goes at the top.

Breakfast deals

They’re the star of many cafes, and the item that raises the most questions. Each one needs:

• A clear name (“Full English”, “Veggie breakfast”, “Continental”).
• A single price.
• What’s included, with no ambiguity: “Coffee or tea, fresh orange juice and sourdough toast with butter and jam”.
• What can be swapped, and for how much.

If you only serve them in the morning, say so in the section title: “Breakfast (until 11:30)”.

Toast: one slice or two

Use two price columns, “1 slice” and “2 slices”, with the label once at the top of the section. Say what the bread is too: sourdough, wholemeal, seeded, gluten-free.

If you offer gluten-free bread, watch cross-contamination: toasting it in the same toaster as ordinary bread cancels it out. If you can’t guarantee it, say so.

Coffee: sizes and extras

• Columns by size (“Regular” and “Large”, or “Small”, “Medium” and “Large”) if you charge differently. In the US, sizes in ounces (8, 12, 16 oz) avoid any doubt.
• Extras in a note under the section: decaf, plant milks, syrups, an extra shot.
• Plant milks: soya and almond are allergens (soybeans and tree nuts). Oats are a cereal that can contain gluten unless certified gluten-free.

Serving times

In a cafe, the times are part of the menu: breakfast until a certain hour, brunch at weekends only, kitchen closes at another. Put them in each section title or at the foot.

Counter menu and table menu

In many cafes people order at the counter. There, the menu has to be read standing up from a couple of metres away: few sections, large type and prices easy to see. An A3 poster behind the counter or a 16:9 screen works better than a menu in the hand. On the tables, you can give more detail: brunch descriptions, bread options, extras. Both come from the same content, so when you change a price you change it once.

If your business has 250 or more employees in England, calorie labelling applies to your menu; in the US, chains with 20 or more locations must show calories. The guide to menu labelling rules has the details.

Design

• Brunch, the template’s style, is warm and friendly.
• Nordic looks clean and calm, ideal for speciality coffee shops or bakeries.
• Screenprint, with two inks, gives a more modern feel.

Common allergens

Pastries and cakes concentrate gluten, eggs, milk and often tree nuts; if you buy them in, check the supplier’s spec sheet. Milky coffees contain milk; with plant milk, the allergen of that milk. Mark every item, and add tags (vegan, lactose-free) where they help. The guide to allergens on menus explains how to show them.

Make it in MenuDesign

Open the cafe menu template, or take a photo of your current menu or the board above the counter. Adjust prices and columns, mark allergens and tags, and download the PDF. Free, no sign-up.