How to build a takeaway and delivery menu that sells

The crispy calamari that gets compliments at the table arrives 35 minutes later as a soft, steamed pile in a foil box. The customer doesn't blame the box. They blame your kitchen, leave a one-star rating and don't order again. Most bad delivery experiences start with a menu decision, not a cooking mistake.

A takeaway and delivery menu is not your dine-in menu with a delivery fee added. It is a shorter menu, priced for packaging, written for someone who can't ask a waiter, and set up differently for pickup and for delivery. Here is how to build one.

1Run every dish through a travel test

Before deciding anything, test. Cook each candidate dish, pack it exactly as you would for a customer, leave it in a closed bag for the length of your typical delivery (sit it in a car if you can), then open and eat it. Score it on four things:

1. Temperature: still hot, or cold enough to be a complaint?
2. Texture: did anything crisp go soft, or anything creamy split?
3. Appearance: does it look like the photo, or like it was shaken?
4. Leaks: did any sauce or soup escape?

Here is how common dish types usually behave. Your own test is the final word.

Dish type	Travels	How to fix it
Grilled meats, kofta, shish tawook	Well	Pack rice and salad separately so the salad doesn't wilt on hot meat
Rice dishes, koshari, fatta	Well	Sauce and crispy onions in separate containers, added by the customer
Fried food: fries, calamari, falafel	Poorly	Vented boxes, no lids sealed while hot, or remove from the delivery menu
Soups, molokhia, stews	Well if sealed	Screw-top or heat-sealed containers, bread packed separately
Pasta with cream sauce	Mixed	Slightly undercook, extra sauce on the side
Pizza, feteer	Well	Vented box, cut before packing
Plated desserts, soufflé	Poorly	Replace with desserts that travel: basbousa, konafa, cheesecake slices
Hot drinks	Poorly over distance	Offer for pickup only, or near-radius delivery

2Cut the menu down on purpose

A long delivery menu slows the kitchen at the worst time, confuses the customer scrolling on a phone and spreads your stock thinly. Keep an item if it passes three tests:

• It passed the travel test above
• It already sells reasonably well on dine-in, or it is a dish you are known for
• The kitchen can make it quickly at the pass during a rush, without a station that is already overloaded

Everything else stays on the dine-in menu. A focused off-premise menu of your strongest dishes, arranged in a few clear categories, is easier to order from and easier to execute. Add two or three combos (main, side and drink at one price) because they speed up the decision and lift the average basket without asking the guest to build a meal from scratch.

3Price for the box, not just the food

Packaging is a real cost per item and it has risen with everything else. Price it in:

Off-premise price = dine-in price + packaging cost per item + a share of channel costs

Illustration: a main course with a EGP 12 container, a EGP 3 sauce pot and a EGP 2 share of the bag and cutlery carries about EGP 17 of packaging. If you sell it at the dine-in price, that comes straight off your margin. Channel costs depend on where the order comes from: commission on delivery apps, your rider cost on your own deliveries, almost nothing on pickup.

Two good habits:

• Make cutlery and napkins opt-in. Many customers eat at home and don't need them.
• Charge for extra sauces and sides as add-ons rather than including them by default.

If you list on delivery apps too, you'll likely price differently there. Our guide to direct ordering vs Talabat explains how to calculate what each app order really costs.

4Write it for someone who can't ask a waiter

At the table, the waiter explains that the "mixed grill for two" is 600 grams of meat and comes with rice. On a phone, the menu has to do that job:

• Portion size in grams or pieces for grills, wings and platters
• How many people it feeds for family meals and trays
• What is included in each combo, clearly listed
• Options as choices, not free text: spice level, sauce on the side, bread type, no onions
• A real photo of the dish as it arrives in the box, not as it looks on a plate
• Arabic and English names if you serve both audiences

Structured choices matter more than any other point here. "Extra spicy, sauce on the side, no pickles" typed into a notes box gets missed on a busy night. The same request as three selected options prints clearly on the ticket. See how to write menu descriptions that sell for the wording.

5Set up pickup and delivery differently

They look similar but need different settings.

Setting	Pickup	Delivery
Area	Anyone who can reach you	A defined zone your riders can cover while food is still good
Minimum order	Usually none	High enough that the delivery covers its cost
Fee	None	Flat or by distance, shown before checkout
Time promise	"Ready in X minutes" from prep time	Prep time + travel time, padded at peak
Menu	Can include items that travel poorly over distance (hot drinks, fries)	Only items that pass the travel test

For the delivery zone, draw it on a map around what your riders can reach in about 20 to 25 minutes at peak traffic, not at 11 a.m. In Cairo that zone can be much smaller than the distance suggests. Set the minimum order by working out the cost of one delivery (rider time, fuel, packaging) and making sure the typical basket above the minimum covers it.

6Take orders without depending on an app

If all your delivery orders come through an aggregator, you pay commission on every one. A direct ordering link lets regulars order from you. Put it where your existing customers already are: a QR code on the table and on the counter, the receipt, the bags from walk-in orders, your Instagram bio and your WhatsApp Business profile. Our QR placement guide covers where codes get scanned and where they get ignored.

In Menyo, the guest picks dine-in, takeaway or delivery at checkout. Delivery orders are checked against your zone and minimum order, a delivery fee is added, and the order lands in your dashboard or kitchen display with its options, with status updates for the customer as it moves from preparing to ready. Takeaway and delivery ordering are on the Professional plan ($99 a month). A plain menu without ordering starts on Starter at $19.

7Frequently asked questions

How many items should a delivery menu have?

There is no fixed number, but it should be noticeably shorter than dine-in. Keep the dishes that pass the travel test, sell well and are quick to make at peak, plus a few combos.

Should delivery prices be higher than dine-in?

Many restaurants add the packaging cost to off-premise prices, and price higher on apps to cover commission. Work out packaging per item and channel costs, then decide. Be consistent so customers don't feel misled.

How do I stop fried food going soggy?

Use vented packaging, don't seal the lid while the food is steaming, and pack sauces separately. If it still fails your travel test, take it off the delivery menu and keep it for pickup or dine-in.

Should I start with pickup or delivery?

Pickup is simpler: no riders, no zones, fewer complaints. Many venues start with pickup, learn which items customers order, then add delivery once volume justifies a rider.

8Build it once, then test it again

Travel-test the dishes, cut the list, price the packaging, write for the phone, and set pickup and delivery up as two different services. Then repeat the travel test every few months, because recipes, packaging and traffic all change.

When your off-premise menu is ready, put it online with Menyo and give your regulars a direct way to order.