# Digital Menu Board Software for Restaurants & QSR > Digital menu boards with prices, dietary tags, dayparts and one-tap sold out. Run them from the editor, a Google Sheet or your till, on screens you already own. Source: https://screentinker.com/solutions/digital-menu-boards ## 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](https://screentinker.com/templates), 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 - 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](https://screentinker.com/download/). - 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. - Pick a look, an accent colour and your currency, and set time windows for sections such as breakfast. - Add the widget to a playlist and assign it to the screens behind the counter. - Want a ready-made design instead? The menu templates, and how a template binds to live data, are in the [templates guide](https://github.com/screentinker/screentinker/blob/main/docs/templates.md). ### 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. ### Related - [All solutions](https://screentinker.com/solutions/) - [Template library](https://screentinker.com/templates) - [Canva designs on digital signage](https://screentinker.com/integrations/canva-digital-signage.html) - [Google Slides, Docs and Sheets](https://screentinker.com/integrations/google-slides-digital-signage.html) - [Weather on digital signage](https://screentinker.com/integrations/weather-digital-signage.html) - [Certified hardware](https://screentinker.com/certified-hardware) ### Put your menu on screen today Start a 14-day Pro trial on hosted ScreenTinker: up to 15 screens, every feature, no credit card. Start from the café example and change the prices. [Start your free trial](https://screentinker.com/app#/login) Or host it yourself, free and open source: [self-hosting guide](https://screentinker.com/guides/self-hosted-digital-signage.html) · [GitHub](https://github.com/screentinker/screentinker)