How to make a kids' menu for your restaurant

What’s included and who it’s for

The first things a kids’ menu has to make clear:

• The price, large and single.
• What’s included: main, pudding and drink, or whichever combination you offer.
• Up to what age: “Under 12s”.
• Whether smaller portions from the adult menu are available instead.

In MenuDesign the kids’ menu is a set-price menu: the dishes have no prices, and the price, with what’s included, appears once at the bottom. You can add a supplement to a dish, but on a kids’ menu it’s better not to: the point is that there are no surprises.

Sections and number of dishes

1. To start (optional): garlic bread, soup, veggie sticks with dip.
2. Mains: chicken, a small burger, fish, pasta.
3. Puddings: ice cream, a brownie, yoghurt, fruit.
4. Drinks: water, milk, juice or a soft drink.

Three options per section are enough. Any more and the family takes ages to choose, and the kitchen has to prep too many things for too few plates.

Always include an option with vegetables and fruit among the puddings. Many families look for them; those who don’t will simply skip them.

Portions and presentation

A child’s portion isn’t an adult’s portion on a smaller plate. Match the amount to the age you state and think about how it will be eaten:

• Everything cut up or easy to cut: chicken strips, a small burger, boneless fish.
• Sauces on the side, especially if they’re spicy or contain mustard.
• Sides children recognise: chips, mash, rice, simple vegetables.

If a dish from the adult menu adapts easily (a pasta, a pie, a roast), offer it as a smaller portion rather than inventing new dishes. It keeps the kitchen and the ordering simple.

Names children understand

Parents read the menu, but children choose:

• Simple names: “Pasta with tomato sauce”, “Mini burger and chips”.
• No chef’s vocabulary: “emulsion”, “reduction” or “crumb” don’t help here.
• What comes with each dish, if it isn’t obvious: “with chips”, “with peas”.

You can have fun with the section titles, but the dishes have to be understood first time.

Allergens: the most sensitive part

Allergies to milk and eggs are common in young children, and families with an allergic child always ask. Go through every dish:

• Gluten: pasta, breaded chicken, fish fingers, burger buns.
• Eggs: batters and coatings, mayonnaise, custard and some ice creams.
• Milk: cheese sauce, mac and cheese, ice cream and milkshakes.
• Fish: fish fingers, goujons, fishcakes.
• Sesame: the seeds on many burger buns. It has been one of the US’s major allergens since 2023, as well as one of the UK’s 14.
• Tree nuts and peanuts: puddings, chocolate spreads, cookies and ice cream toppings.

Add a footnote inviting families to ask: “Please ask us about allergen-free options”. And decide in advance what you can adapt (gluten-free pasta, plain grilled chicken, fruit instead of ice cream), so you’re not improvising with a full kitchen.

Watch out for cross-contact in the fryer too: if the kids’ chips share oil with battered or breaded food, they aren’t safe for a child with coeliac disease.

Writing tips

• Large type and few lines. Many children can read and like to choose for themselves.
• No prices per dish. There’s one price, at the bottom.
• Water or milk as the default drink. If a fizzy drink costs extra, say so. In some US states and cities, including California, Hawaii and Delaware, a healthier drink such as water or milk must be the default in a kids’ meal.
• Conditions in full view: maximum age and whether it’s served at dinner or only at lunch.

Format

• A5 on a separate sheet: the handiest format for a kids’ menu. Hand it out with the adult menu or straight to the child.
• A4, if you want it in the same holder as your other menus.
• Post or story, to promote it on social media at the weekend.

Style

The template uses the Notebook style, like handwriting in a lined exercise book: friendly and easy to read. Memphis, with pop colours and shapes, is another option for a family crowd, and Playtime is made for children’s menus. There are more in the menu templates, and the guide to the set lunch menu covers the rest: it works the same way.

Make it in MenuDesign

Open the kids’ menu template, change the dishes, the price and what’s included, mark the allergens and download the PDF on A5 or A4. Free, no sign-up and saved in your browser.