As a food truck owner, choosing a point of sale (POS) system is arguably one of the most important decisions you’ll make. It’s the foundation of your day-to-day operations, from accepting orders and handling sales tax to creating menus and communicating with your kitchen (a crucial step!).
In this short series on finding the best food truck POS, we’ll walk you through everything the Table Needs POS can do to make your food truck run more smoothly. First up: menu design and management
Read the rest of this series:
- Finding the Best Food Truck POS: Mobile App
- Finding the Best Food Truck POS: Order and Payment Processing
Manage multiple menus with your food truck POS
Before we jump into managing menus in your food truck POS, let’s talk about why you need more than one menu in the first place. The short version is that different menus have different benefits based on your location, the time of day, and even the season.
For you and your staff, having separate menus makes it easier for you and your kitchen to keep track of what’s being offered when, which helps limit mistakes and streamlines kitchen operations.
For your customers, offering multiple menus makes it easier to know what’s available and clearly understand all the options.
Here are five situations to consider creating separate food truck menus:
1. Food truck menu vs. brick and mortar restaurant menu:
If you run a brick-and-mortar restaurant as well as a food truck, creating separate menus for each is essential. You likely won’t offer as many options on the food truck as you do in the restaurant, or at the very least you’ll need to change some menu items to make them easier to produce in a smaller space.
2. Time of day or meal-specific menus
Depending on your service schedule, you may want different food truck menus based on the time of day. For example, offering a breakfast menu from 7-10 and then shifting to lunch options.
3. Dietary needs menus
Someone with a food allergy wants to be extra sure that the item they’re ordering won’t give them a reaction. By creating dedicated menus for different dietary restrictions and preferences—like a gluten-free menu, dairy-free menu, or vegetarian/vegan menu—you’ll give your customers peace of mind.
4. Special items and secret menus
Multiple menus also give you room to have fun and play with your menu more. You can offer limited-time dishes (and promote them on social media to create a buzz), or offer special seasonal menu items that are only available a few weeks out of the year.
You can also create secret menus for something fun and different. Secret menus are big on social media, and give you a chance to experiment and try out new dishes without necessarily having to keep them on your regular menu. This is also a great way to engage with your community and get them involved in trying new items at your restaurant. Everyone loves being in on a secret!
5. Festival or event menus
Operating your food truck at a food truck festival or community event is a totally different experience than the daily lunch rush. Ideally, you want to create a limited menu specific for festivals and only include items that you can confidently crank out of your kitchen fast!
Integrate your menus into your food truck POS system
If keeping track of multiple menus while also running your business sounds overwhelming, don’t worry—you don’t have to do everything alone. By using a food truck POS that includes menu management you can digitally create and update all your different menus in one place AND seamlessly integrate them into your order workflows.
Make menu changes from your food truck POS platform
Ran out of a dish? Swapped a side? Created a lunch special? All of these things can be added and removed quickly from the food truck POS system without having to pause service.
Instead of toggling between a menu designer and your POS, do it all from the Table Needs POS for food trucks. Design (and redesign) your menu, add photos of your dishes, and make any live changes instantly from the road.
Route orders from digital menus to food truck POS to kitchen display system
A well-designed, easily managed digital menu is just the start. Increase efficiency, speed up service with a digital menu that’s seamlessly integrated with the food truck POS and kitchen display system.
Here’s how it works:
- The customer views and places their order directly from the digital menu.
- The order is processed by the POS and then automatically routed to the kitchen display system (KDS).
- Once the order is ready, your customer receives a text notification that it’s ready for pick up.
One of the keys to a smooth, quick service is making sure your kitchen stays organized and on top of orders, so your food truck POS linking up to your KDS is critical.
Ready to see the Table Needs food truck POS in action?
Table Needs POS for food trucks has everything you need to easily manage your food truck business. Keep it simple by using it to host multiple menus and process credit card transactions or take it up a level with a built-in KDS, commission-free online ordering, automated sales tax, and a whole lot more. Get in touch today to see how Table Needs can help!
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