Menus in Tabern have three levels: the menu itself (Dinner, Brunch, Drinks), the categories inside it (Starters, Mains), and the items inside those. The Menu Manager calls the middle level a category; on your public menu each category shows as a section heading. You can run more than one menu, and guests switch between them on your site.
Create a menu
Open Menu Manager from the dashboard sidebar.
Click Add Menu.
Enter a Menu name, such as Dinner, Brunch, or Drinks, and click Add Menu.
The new menu opens in the menu selector at the start of the toolbar, ready for categories.
Each menu needs its own name.
Switch, reorder, and delete menus
- Switch: pick a menu in the menu selector. The table shows only that menu’s items.
- Reorder: with two or more menus, open the menu selector and drag a menu by its grip handle. Guests see your menus in this order.
- Delete: a menu can only be deleted once it has no items. Delete its items first, then click Delete in the toolbar with nothing selected and confirm with Delete Menu. This permanently removes the menu and its categories.
Menus and categories can’t be renamed in the Menu Manager, so pick names you’ll keep. (The menu scanner lets you rename menus before you import them.)
Categories
Select the menu you want to edit.
Open the category filter in the toolbar (it reads All Categories) and choose Add Category.
Enter a Category name, such as Starters, Mains, or Desserts, and click Add Category.
Categories appear in the order you add them. A category with no active items is hidden from guests.
Items
Click Add Item.
Enter the Item name and pick its Category. Both are required.
Add a Description, an Item Image, a Portion (like 12 oz), and a Price.
Leave the Active toggle on to show the item when you publish, or switch it to Draft to keep it hidden.
Click Add Item to save.
If the menu has no categories yet, the form shows a No categories yet — add one first shortcut. To change an item later, click its row in the table: the Edit menu item panel has the same fields, and Save Changes stores your edits. Changing the Category moves the item to another category in the same menu.
Photos
Upload a photo in the Item Image field (JPG, PNG, or WebP). The photo shows on the item’s own page and in link previews when someone shares that page. Items without photos still work fine; a photo is a boost, not a requirement.
Portions and prices
Enter the Price as a plain number; your site shows it in dollars. The Portion field labels the serving: 12 oz, Half, Glass. Leave Portion blank and guests see just the price.
Dietary tags
Dietary tags (vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, dairy free, spicy, seafood, meat, nut free) show as small icons on your public menu, with the name on hover or tap, and as labeled badges on the item’s own page. Tags come from the menu scanner when your printed menu marks them. The item editor has no tag field; editing an item keeps the tags it already has.
Active, Draft, and Failed
The Status column shows one of three states:
- Active: shows on your site after you publish.
- Draft: hidden from guests. Use it to stage seasonal items or work in progress without touching the live menu.
- Failed: the item is missing a price or a name. This happens most often after a scan, and also when you save an item with the Price left blank. Failed items sort to the top of the table. A Failed item that’s switched on still publishes, so fill in the missing details first.
Finding and organizing
- Search: find items in the current menu by name, category, portion, price, or dietary tag.
- Category filter: narrow the table to one category.
- Columns: choose which columns the table shows.
- Delete: tick several items and click Delete to remove them together.
Items stay in the order you add them. Menus are the only thing you can drag to reorder.
Items used in rewards
If an item is a reward in your rewards program, Tabern won’t delete it, or the category or menu that holds it. The message names the item and the visit it’s rewarded on. Remove it from that reward on the Rewards page, then delete it. See Rewards programs.
Publish and item pages
Menu edits save as soon as you submit each form (Save draft just confirms that), but guests see them only after you publish. Click Publish in the Menu Manager, which publishes your whole website, or Publish now on the banner that appears when you have unpublished changes. See Publishing.
Every active item on your published site gets its own page with its photo, prices, and dietary tags, linked from your full menu. The page address comes from the item name; if you rename the item, the old address forwards to the new one.
Tips
- Already have a printed or PDF menu? On a Paid plan, scan it instead of typing.
- Seasonal swap: switch outgoing items to Draft and incoming ones to Active, then publish once.
- Check for Failed rows after a scan, before you publish.
- Shoot menu photos in natural light, straight on, before plating gets fancy.
- Write descriptions that sell the dish. They also become the summary search engines show for the item’s page.