Our Food/Wine/Cocktail tool is so customizable, we want to offer some tips on how to take best advantage of it! To learn how to create the menus themselves, check out this article.
Now, when creating custom menus for a bar, there are two basic types of custom menus: wine and cocktail/specialty drink. We’ve compiled some tips here for the best practices for setting up these menus. Many bars also have a selection of food; if your bar serves food, and you’d like more information/tips on creating a custom food menu, please see our page on creating custom menus for restaurants.
Note: We highly recommend creating separate menus for wine, cocktails, food, etc. Even if you don’t want a separate page for each section, multiple UTFB menus can be combined into a single Digital board, print, or embedded menu, and keeping them as separate menus will actually give you more customization options.
WINE MENUS
When creating your custom wine menu, you have the option to divide it by sections. The menu above was separated into two sections, Red and White. If your venue only has a small number of wines available, you’ll probably want to just keep them all in the same section. If you have a larger number of wines available, you might want to separate your menu by red, white, sparkling, or even varietal. The menu will have one section already created by default.
Note: If your menu is only going to have one section there’s no need to name the section unless you’d like it to have a smaller subtitle that’s different from the Menu Name.
After you’ve added an item, you can give it a name and description. You can optionally add calorie information (calorie information can also be added to a specific “container” size; more on this below) and an image to appear with the item here as well. You can even add a container size and price as well as a photo. All of these fields are completely optional.
Note: For menus that have common serving sizes for items, you may not want to add container names for aesthetic purposes (i.e. many wine lists have prices listed for glass pours and bottles, but not everyone chooses to directly label the numbers since it can be assumed by the customer). Also note that prices in general are completely optional; you can save a menu with items that have prices without containers, containers without prices, or without either.
Once you’ve added any prices and/or containers, click the button at the bottom that says “Done Editing Custom Item.” Now that you’ve created your first item, you can add as many items as you like in a similar fashion! If you need to rearrange items within a menu (or prices/containers within a single item), you can do so by selecting the arrow icon to the right of any item:
Note: Because new items automatically generate at the top of your menu, you can save time rearranging items by starting at the bottom of your menu and adding items from the bottom up.
With this in mind, you should now be able to populate your custom wine list!
COCKTAIL & SPIRIT MENUS
Cocktail and spirit menus can be built in the exact same fashion as wine menus with just a few things to keep in mind.
Creating an item is done the same way as with the wine list, however you’ll want to select “Cocktail” (or “Liquor” if you’re just adding a spirit/liquor/cordial list).
After creating, naming, and (optionally) adding a description to an item, you can add a price to it as well.
Note: Since most menus aren’t going to have multiple sizes available for cocktails, it isn’t necessary to give the price’s “custom container” a name; the price will display on your menu without a “container.” Alternatively, you can use the “container names” to list upsell options or variations:
Add as many additional items and sections as you like using the same method. You can also add liquor or spirits to your menu. Many bars may not choose to do this if they carry a fairly standard assortment of liquor choices; however, suppose you offer flights or carry a large selection of rare whiskeys and want to display these on your menu. Liquor items can be added in exactly the same way as wine and cocktails, except you’re going to want to select the “Liquor” option when selecting the item type.
Now you should be able to populate the rest of your custom cocktail or spirits menu by following the same procedure.
Here is an example!
FOOD MENUS
Many bars also carry food options as well. You can use UTFB to display these in a similar fashion as your wine and cocktail menus!
For more information on the best methods to set a food menu up, please check out this article.