Digital Menu Boards for Restaurants, Cafés and Takeaways

Choosing the screens

Menu boards are on for most of the day, often next to hot kitchens, so commercial displays built for long running hours are a better choice than domestic televisions. Screens are usually run in landscape for a wide counter or portrait for a narrow wall, and two, three or four screens side by side give room to split the menu into sections. Window-facing screens need a much brighter panel so the menu stays readable in daylight from the street.

Updating the content

Content is managed through software that sends the menu to each screen. Once the templates are set up, changing a price or a dish is a matter of editing text and pressing publish, either on site or remotely. Schedules let one set of screens show different menus at different times of day, and still images can be mixed with short videos of dishes or drinks to draw attention to higher-margin items.

A good menu still has to be easy to read. We keep the number of items on each screen sensible, use large prices and leave enough contrast between text and background for customers reading from the back of a queue.

Mounting above counters and in windows

• Wall brackets fixed above the back counter, with cables run neatly to a hidden media player.
• Ceiling-hung screens where there is no solid wall behind the counter.
• Window displays facing the street to show the menu to passers-by.
• Matching surrounds or panels so the screens sit within your shop design.

Digital or printed?

Digital menu boards suit businesses that change prices, run daily specials or serve different menus through the day. If your menu rarely changes, or you need a weatherproof menu outside a restaurant or pub, a printed or illuminated menu case may be simpler. Many sites use both: a menu case at the door and screens at the counter. For screens used for advertising, information or reception displays rather than menus, see our wider digital displays service.

Planning the counter wall

Before choosing screens, we look at the whole counter: where customers queue, how far they stand from the wall, where the till and coffee machine sit, and how lighting falls across the area. Screens should be readable from the back of the queue without customers craning their necks, and they should not be hidden behind equipment or reflect bright lights. We mark out the screen positions on a photo-realistic mock-up so you can see how the menu, any static signs and your branding will look together before anything is fixed. Power and data points are planned at the same time so the finished wall stays tidy.

Digital menu boards we have installed

Digital Menu Boards: Questions and Answers

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