How to set up menu sizes and extras without confusing orders

The item is what someone buys. A size, milk or extra shot changes that item. Keep a genuinely different product separate; use choices for variations your team already handles as part of the same order.

For an iced latte, use a Size group, a Milk group and an Extras group. For a sandwich, that might be Bread and Add-ons. Use the same names at the counter and in the kitchen, so ‘large’ never means one thing online and another on the ticket.

Require a choice when the team cannot prepare the order without it. A drink needs a size. An optional extra shot does not need a yes-or-no question if leaving it unselected already means no extra shot.

A simple latte setup could be:

• Size: regular or large; choose exactly one.
• Milk: dairy or oat; choose exactly one.
• Extras: extra shot; optional.

Avoid selecting an answer on the customer's behalf when it changes what they receive. In Simplrr, required menu choices must be selected before the customer can add the item. Check the minimum and maximum choices when you build each group.

Here is an illustrative menu, not a recommended price list: a regular latte costs $3, large adds $1, oat milk adds $0.50 and an extra shot adds $0.75. A large oat latte with an extra shot totals $5.25. Two cost $10.50.

Make the base price and each additional charge easy to read before the customer adds the item. Test a plain drink too: its total should stay at $3. A useful check is whether a new staff member can explain the total without asking you.

For menus showing both dollars and lira, check the extras in both currencies using the same rate. Our USD and LBP menu pricing guide gives you a separate counter checklist.

An available latte with unavailable oat milk is different from a sold-out latte. Decide who updates the menu when an ingredient runs out, and who checks it before the next service.

In Simplrr's customer menu, unavailable options cannot be selected. If a required group has no available options, the item cannot be added. Check that at least one valid choice remains whenever you change availability.

Do not assume an ingredient delivery or a recipe change will update every choice for you. Open the customer menu and inspect it after changing availability. A quick customer-view check is cheaper than calling someone to replace an order.

Order a large oat latte with an extra shot and a regular dairy latte without extras. Check that they stay distinguishable in the basket and that the right choices reach the staff order view. Then change a quantity and confirm the total again.

• Can a customer tell which choices are required?
• Can they continue without choosing an optional extra?
• Does a paid extra change the total by the advertised amount?
• Does an unavailable option stay unselectable?
• Can the team distinguish two versions of the same item?

Use an ordinary preference such as ‘no sugar’ to check notes. For allergies, keep a direct conversation and your kitchen's safety procedure; a menu note alone is not a safety guarantee.

Watch one person order without coaching them. If they stop at a question, simplify its wording. If staff keep calling customers about the same missing detail, make that choice explicit. Remove choices that the kitchen never actually uses.

Start with five busy items rather than rebuilding everything at once. If you are also moving orders out of chat, use our WhatsApp-to-menu-link guide to plan the handoff. Try the Simplrr demo to explore the order screen, then start free to test your own menu.

Square's modifier documentation explains required selections and option prices. Its sold-out guide also illustrates why availability deserves a separate pre-service check. These are general workflow references; the Simplrr behavior described above was checked against its customer menu.