Pizzeria menu: sizes, toppings and extras

Usual sections

1. Starters or antipasti: garlic bread, dough balls, burrata, arancini.
2. Salads.
3. Pizzas: if you have a lot, split them into classics, house specials and white pizzas (no tomato).
4. Pasta and, if you make them, risottos.
5. Desserts: tiramisu, panna cotta, cannoli.
6. Drinks.

Pizzas are the centrepiece: give them most of the space, on a page or a column of their own if you can.

Two sizes, two columns

Use price columns with the label written once at the top of the section:

Example prices in pounds. The diameter is better than “medium” and “large”: it’s objective and avoids arguments. Inches are the norm in the UK and the US; use centimetres if that’s what your customers know. If a pizza only comes in one size, put a dash in the other column.

Toppings as the description

In a pizzeria, the description is the list of toppings. Always put them in the same order:

1. Base: tomato or white (with cream or just mozzarella).
2. Cheese.
3. Main toppings.
4. What’s added after the oven: rocket, prosciutto, basil oil.

Keep the Italian names (Diavola, Capricciosa, Quattro stagioni) and let the toppings explain them: “Tomato, mozzarella and spicy salami”. In the US, that salami is pepperoni; on an Italian menu, “peperoni” means peppers, so the description saves a few surprises.

Extras and changes

A note under the pizza section answers most questions:

Extra topping +1.50 · Wholemeal base +1 · Gluten-free base +2

About gluten-free bases: in a kitchen where wheat flour is used, cross-contamination is hard to avoid. To call a product “gluten-free”, it can’t contain more than 20 mg/kg of gluten, in the UK, the EU and the US alike. If you can’t guarantee that, say so clearly: “Base made without gluten; may contain traces”.

Pizza of the month and specials

A special pizza that changes every month gives people a reason to come back, but it’s not worth reprinting the whole menu. Two options: a “Pizza of the month” section that you update when you export again, or a separate board. If you announce it on social media, MenuDesign produces the same menu as a post or story without redoing anything.

Lunch deal

If you offer a weekday lunch deal (pizza or pasta, a drink and a dessert at a fixed price), put it in a featured section at the start or on a separate A5 sheet, with its price, what’s included and the times it’s served.

Takeaway and delivery

If you do takeaway orders, the same menu works as a tri-fold: folded, put in the bag and taken home. Put the phone number and ordering hours in large type on the front.

Common allergens

• Gluten: bases, pasta, focaccia, garlic bread.
• Milk: mozzarella and other cheeses, cream, tiramisu.
• Fish: anchovies, tuna.
• Tree nuts: pistachio, and pesto made with walnuts, almonds or cashews. Classic pesto uses pine nuts, which aren’t on the UK list of 14, and cheese, which is: milk.
• Eggs: fresh pasta, carbonara, tiramisu.

Mark them dish by dish, checking your recipes and the labels of what you buy in. The guide to allergens on menus explains how to show them.

Make it in MenuDesign

Open the pizza menu template, or take a photo of your current menu. Adjust the size columns, mark allergens and tags (vegetarian, spicy…) and download the PDF as an A4, a tri-fold or an image for social media. Free, with no sign-up.