Digital menu board software for restaurants, cafés and bars

A menu board earns its keep when it is right every minute of service: the breakfast menu goes at 11:30, the fish is crossed off when it runs out, and a price change reaches every store at once. ScreenTinker’s Menu Board widget does that from a simple editor, a Google Sheet or your till, on TVs and players you can buy anywhere.

How it works

• Sections and items, each with a description, a photo and one or more prices (Small / Large, Glass / Bottle).
• Dietary tags as short codes with a key on screen: V, VG, GF, DF, nuts, halal, spicy, new and popular.
• Dayparts. A section can show only at certain times, such as breakfast until 11:30 or happy hour, by each screen’s own clock.
• Four looks (dark, light, chalkboard, bold), an accent colour and any currency.
• It fits the screen. The columns fit landscape or portrait, and a long menu turns pages instead of being cut off at the bottom.
• Start from an example: a café, a burger bar or a bar.

Sold out in one tap

Mark an item sold out in the editor and it shows on screens at once, even when your workspace requires content approval. A till, a kitchen display or a phone shortcut can do the same through the API:

PATCH /api/widgets/:id/menu-items/:itemId
{ "sold_out": true }

Choose per menu whether a sold-out item stays on the board marked “Sold out” or disappears. Only workspace editors and admins can change it.

Keep the menu in a spreadsheet

If your prices already live in a Google Sheet or a CSV file, point the menu board at it as a data source, with columns such as section, item and price. Edits to the sheet reach the screens on the next sync, so head office can change a price once for every store. The same live data can go on any slide with a tag like {{ds:menu.latte_price}}.

More than the menu

• Weather and location. Give each screen a location, and play an item only when it is raining, snowing or above a temperature where that screen is. One playlist shows the hot soup offer only where it is cold.
• Designs from Canva. Import a Canva design as images or a video. When the design changes in Canva, the screens update within 30 minutes.
• Templates. Ready-made menu and promotion templates in the template library, which you fill in or bind to a sheet.
• Head office control. Head office playlists that stores can’t change, with local slots for each store’s own content.
• Scheduling and power. Day and time schedules per screen or group, and panels that switch off after closing.
• Offline playback. Screens keep playing cached content when the internet drops.

Set it up

1. Pair a screen: install the player on an Android TV or Fire TV box, a Raspberry Pi or a Windows PC, or use a Samsung, LG or BrightSign display. Players come from your server’s downloads page.
2. Go to Widgets → Menu Board, start from an example, and add your sections, items and prices. Or choose a Google Sheet or CSV data source.
3. Pick a look, an accent colour and your currency, and set time windows for sections such as breakfast.
4. Add the widget to a playlist and assign it to the screens behind the counter.
5. Want a ready-made design instead? The menu templates, and how a template binds to live data, are in the templates guide.

Limits

• A menu kept in a sheet is changed in the sheet. The one-tap sold-out call works on menus kept in the editor; a sheet-driven menu marks sold out in a column instead.
• Sheet edits arrive on the next sync, not instantly.
• No point-of-sale integration is built in. Your till or kitchen system needs to call the API itself, with an API token.
• Streaming sticks can’t drive LED walls or odd resolutions. Use a Raspberry Pi or a small PC for those.

FAQ

Can I update menu prices from a Google Sheet?

Yes. Use a Google Sheet or CSV file as the menu board’s data source, with columns like section, item and price. Edits reach the screens on the next sync.

How do I mark an item sold out?

Mark it in the editor, or call PATCH /api/widgets/:id/menu-items/:itemId from a till or phone. It shows on screens at once, even when approval is required.

Can breakfast and lunch menus switch automatically?

Yes. Give a section a time window and it shows only then, by each screen’s own clock. Playlist schedules can also switch whole menus by day and time.

Do menu boards work in portrait?

Yes. The columns fit landscape or portrait screens, and a long menu turns pages instead of being cut off.

What hardware do I need?

Any supported player: an Android TV or Fire TV box, a Raspberry Pi, a Windows PC, or a Samsung Tizen, LG webOS or BrightSign display. See the certified hardware list for tested models.