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Wix Restaurants: Preparing Your Menus for Online Ordering

7 min read
In this article
  • Adding item modifiers
  • Setting items as in stock or out of stock
  • Allowing customers to add special requests for items
  • Managing items tax
  • Limiting menu availability
  • FAQs
Important:
Make your restaurant's menus suitable for online ordering to allow customers to place orders and customize their selection. You can add variables and modifiers, mark items as "out of stock", allow customers to add special requests for items, and manage items' tax.  
A screenshot of an online ordering menu

Adding item modifiers

Add a modifier groups to customizable items, such as a "Toppings" group for pizza or a "Fillings" group for sandwiches. You can set options as complimentary or for an extra charge. Once created, you can apply a modifier group to any menu item without needing to recreate it.

To add item modifiers:

  1. Go to Menus (New) in your site's dashboard.
  2. Create a new menu or click Manage next to the relevant existing menu.
  3. Hover over the relevant existing menu item and click Edit
  4. Click the Modifiers tab.
  5. Click + New Modifier Group.
  6. Choose an existing modifier group or create a new one.
A screenshot of adding modifiers.

Setting items as in stock or out of stock

Mark items as in or out of stock so customers can see which items are active and which are unavailable. 
Note:
Out-of-stock items appear grayed out and cannot be ordered, though they remain visible to customers.

To set an item as in stock or out of stock:

  1. Go to Menus (New) in your site's dashboard.
  2. Create a new menu or click Manage next to the relevant existing menu.
  3. Click the Ordering tab.
  4. Click the In stock toggle to enable or disable an item.
    Note: Out-of-stock items remain visible to customers but cannot be ordered.
A screenshot of an out of stock item in a site's dashboard.

Allowing customers to add special requests for items

You can decide which menu items come with a "Special Request" field, where customers let you know what changes they would like. Allow customers to add a special request for this item during checkout.

To enable or disable the special request field:

  1. Go to Menus (New) in your site's dashboard.
  2. Create a new menu or click Manage next to the relevant existing menu.
  3. Click the Ordering tab.
  4. Select or deselect the checkbox next to Accept special requests.
A screenshot of the special request checkbox.

Managing items tax

When you set up tax collection for your business, you can set the same rate for all your items, or create groups for items taxed at different rates. Then, you can select which tax group a specific restaurant item belongs to.
For example, if the sales tax in your location is 10%, but alcohol is taxed at 15%, set up a tax group for alcohol and assign a 15% tax rate override.
Before you begin:

To assign a restaurant item to a tax group:

  1. Go to Menus (New) in your site's dashboard.
  2. Create a new menu or click Manage next to the relevant existing menu.
  3. Click the Ordering tab.
  4. Click the Items tax group drop-down and select the relevant group.
A screenshot of selecting a tax group.

Limiting menu availability

Your menu is available by default based on your Pickup & Delivery settings, so customers can only receive orders when pickup or delivery is available.
You can limit menu availability by choosing either weekdays and times or specific dates. For example, you can offer a breakfast menu only in the morning or take holiday orders for December 20–24.
A screenshot of a menu that has limited availability and displays a status.
Tip:
The menu’s availability times refer to when orders are received, not when they're placed. For instance, customers can order a Sunday brunch menu on Tuesday if they schedule pickup/delivery for Sunday morning.

To limit the availability of a menu:

  1. Go to Menus (New) in your site's dashboard.
  2. Click Edit Menu Details next to the relevant menu. 
  3. Click the Enable online ordering toggle to show or hide the menu on your online ordering page. 
    • Enabled: The menu is available for online ordering. 
    • Disabled: The menu will not show up as an option on your ordering page.
  4. Click the Menu Availability drop-down.
  5. Select the relevant option:
Note:
Menus that you set as draft do not appear on your live site.

FAQs

Click a question below to learn more about preparing your menus for online ordering.
What's next?
Add automatic discounts and coupons to your site to entice customers to place an order. 
A screenshot of an online ordering menu
A screenshot of adding modifiers.
A screenshot of an out of stock item in a site's dashboard.
A screenshot of the special request checkbox.
A screenshot of selecting a tax group.
A screenshot of a menu that has limited availability and displays a status.