UK: the price on the menu is the price they pay
In Great Britain, the Price Marking (Food and Drink Services) Order 2003 sets out how restaurants, cafés, pubs and takeaways show prices (Northern Ireland has its own 2004 order along the same lines). The essentials:
- Prices include VAT. Restaurant food is standard-rated (HMRC, VAT Notice 709/1), and the 20% must already be inside every price, never added at the end. A footer note such as “All prices include VAT” avoids any doubt.
- Prices on display before people sit down. For a dining area, at or near the entrance, so customers can read them before going in; for counter service and takeaways, where people choose their food.
- Clear and unambiguous: easy to identify, legible and in sterling.
- How many items. With 30 items or fewer, all of them; with more, a selection of at least 30 (including five soft drinks), plus five wines if you serve wine with food. Each fixed-price menu needs its price.
On top of that, since 6 April 2025 the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans drip pricing: any compulsory charge must be included in the total price shown from the start, and the Competition and Markets Authority can fine businesses directly.
Service charge, cover charge and extras
- As prominent as the prices. Under the Price Marking Order, any extra charge (service, cover) or minimum charge must be shown, as an amount or a percentage, at least as prominently as the food prices it relates to.
- Compulsory or optional. A compulsory charge belongs inside the price. A discretionary one must be genuinely optional and say so: “A discretionary 12.5% service charge will be added to your bill.”
- Tips go to staff. Under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, in force since 1 October 2024, employers must pass on all tips, gratuities and service charges to workers in full and have a written policy on how they’re shared.
- No surprises. Don’t charge for bread, olives or anything else the customer didn’t order or see priced. If you bring something to the table that costs money, put it on the menu with its price and let people say no.
- Free tap water. In England and Wales, licensed premises must provide free drinking water on request where it’s reasonably available.
Drinks: measures on the menu
In England and Wales, alcohol sold by the glass follows set measures (Business Companion has the detail):
- Draught beer and cider: a third, a half or two-thirds of a pint, or multiples of a half.
- Gin, rum, vodka and whisky: 25 ml or 35 ml (or multiples), the same across the premises, with a notice saying which.
- Wine by the glass: 125 ml or 175 ml (or multiples), with the measure shown on the menu, the price list or a notice.
The mandatory licensing conditions also require the small measures (half a pint of beer or cider, 25 or 35 ml of spirits, 125 ml of wine) to be available and shown on printed menus or price lists. MenuDesign’s glass and bottle, or half and pint, columns make this easy.
Market price and food sold by weight
“MP” with no figure is a classic source of complaints, and it sits badly with a rule that asks for clear prices. Where food is sold by weight, the Order asks for the price per quantity. A formula that works anywhere: “Lobster · £8 per 100 g · usually around 600 g”, and tell the customer the weight of their piece before you cook it.
Allergens
UK. The 14 allergens from Regulation (EU) 1169/2011, kept in UK law, apply to food served unpackaged too. According to the FSA’s allergen guidance:
- You must supply allergen information for every item that contains any of the 14.
- It can be written (menu, chalkboard, information pack) or verbal. If it’s verbal, a written notice in a visible place must explain how customers can get it.
- The FSA’s best practice guidance, published in March 2025 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, recommends written information supported by a conversation with staff.
- For online orders and delivery, the information has to be available before the order is completed and again on delivery.
- Food prepacked for direct sale (sandwiches or salads made and packed on site before anyone orders) needs a label with the name and a full ingredients list, with allergens emphasised: this is Natasha’s Law, in force since 1 October 2021.
EU. The same regulation (Article 44) makes allergen information compulsory for non-prepacked food and lets each country decide how it’s given, so the details vary from one member state to another.
US. The federal list has nine major allergens (milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame, see the FDA), and federal labelling rules apply to packaged food. For unpackaged restaurant food there is no federal labelling duty, but where a state or city has adopted the 2022 FDA Food Code, customers must be told in writing which major allergens a dish contains (on the menu, a table card, a placard or similar). Some states add their own rules: Massachusetts, for example, requires printed menus and menu boards to carry a notice asking customers to tell their server about any food allergy.
Putting allergens on the menu is the clearest option everywhere: the customer doesn’t have to ask and staff don’t have to remember. We explain how in allergens on menus, and you can see the 14 allergens one by one.
Calories
England. Since 6 April 2022, the Calorie Labelling (Out of Home Sector) (England) Regulations 2021 apply to businesses with 250 or more employees:
- Energy in kcal per portion, next to the dish’s description or price, plus the portion size.
- The statement “adults need around 2000 kcal a day” on every menu page (not needed on menus only for children), and on websites and apps where people order.
- Exemptions include drinks over 1.2% alcohol, dishes on the menu for fewer than 30 consecutive days and 30 days in total in a year, and condiments customers add themselves.
The rules apply in England only.
US. The FDA menu labeling rule covers chains with 20 or more locations trading under the same name and selling substantially the same items. They must show calories next to each standard item’s name or price on menus and menu boards, carry the statement “2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice, but calorie needs vary”, and have further written nutrition information available on request, with a note saying so. Daily specials and temporary items are exempt.
Elsewhere in the EU
How prices are displayed is decided country by country. In France, for instance, restaurants must display their menu outside during service, with prices including taxes and service (“prix service compris”). If you trade in another EU country, check its consumer and food rules.
Languages
In the UK and the US, adding other languages is your choice. Some places do have rules: in Quebec, for example, other languages may appear on a menu but must not outweigh French. If you need several versions, see how to translate a restaurant menu.
Quick check before you print
- Final prices, VAT included in the UK and EU; pre-tax prices with a sales tax note in the US.
- Service or cover charges shown as clearly as the prices; compulsory charges built into the price.
- Nothing charged that wasn’t ordered or priced.
- No “market price” without a figure: price per 100 g or per kilo, and the weight of the piece.
- Wine by the glass with its measure; small measures on the list.
- Allergens on the menu or, at the very least, a visible notice and the information in writing.
- Calories if you’re a large business in England or a US chain of 20 or more.
How MenuDesign helps
In the editor you can set several price columns (glass and bottle, half and pint), prices per 100 g or per kilo, the 14 allergens with their key and the VAT note at the foot. The menu can be translated into six languages, and redoing it takes two minutes.
Disclaimer
This guide is general information, reviewed in October 2026, and is not legal advice. Rules change and have details that don’t fit here. Before you decide, check the official guidance on gov.uk (or Food Standards Scotland), your local trading standards or environmental health team, your national authority in the EU, or the FDA and your state or city health department in the US.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to put 'VAT included' on the menu?
In the UK, the prices you show must already include VAT, so the note itself isn't compulsory, but it saves questions and costs nothing. In the US, menus normally show prices before sales tax, which is added to the check.
Can I add a service charge?
Yes, if you show it clearly. In Great Britain any extra charge must be displayed at least as prominently as your food prices. Since April 2025 a compulsory charge has to be built into the price shown up front, while a discretionary one must be genuinely optional. And since 1 October 2024, all tips and service charges must go to staff in full.
Do I have to put allergens on the menu?
In the UK and the EU you must give information on the 14 allergens for every dish that contains any of them. You can do it verbally, but then a written notice must tell customers how to ask, and the FSA recommends written information backed by a conversation. In the US it depends on the state: where the 2022 FDA Food Code has been adopted, major allergens must be disclosed in writing.
Do I have to show calories?
Only if you're big enough. In England, businesses with 250 or more employees must show kcal on menus. In the US, chains with 20 or more locations must show calories. Everyone else can do it voluntarily.