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Managing Menu Categories

Kevin U
  • Updated

About Menu Categories

Menu categories (e.g., entrée, bread, beverage, appetizer) are available to assign menu items to for menus in your account (i.e., a "my menu" menu).

Menu categories that are created from your parent account hierarchy are available for use in your account to apply to menus. For example, if your parent account (or a grandparent account), creates a menu category of Chocolate Desserts, then that category of Chocolate Desserts is available in your account for use. If you require a new menu category, then you have the ability to create that menu category for your account. 

When working with menu categories, you have the following options:

Changing the Menu Category of a Menu Item

If you are working in a menu and would like to change the menu categories of a menu item, see the following article: Changing Menu Category of a Menu Item.

Opening the Menu Categories Screen

The Menu Categories screen allows you to manage the menu categories in your account. To open the menu categories screen, select Tools & Setup > Menu Settings from the left navigation sidebar. The Menu Categories screen appears. 

menu_categories.png

Opening an Existing Menu Category

To open an existing menu category owned by your account or a parent account, complete the following steps:

  1. From the left navigation sidebar, select Tools & Setup > Menu Settings. The Menu Categories screen appears.
  2. If the menu category is already assigned to a meal period (via Standard tab) or snack time (via Snacks tab), then click the menu category link. The Edit Category pop-up window appears.

    edit_category_soup.png

    or
     
  3. If the menu category is not assigned to a meal period or snack time, then select it from the Create Menu Category drop-down (first screenshot below). The Edit Category pop-up window appears. 

    select_menu_category.png

    Note: If the menu category is assigned to all meal periods and snack times, then it won’t be available for selection from the Create Menu Category drop-down.

Assigning Existing Menu Category to a Meal Period/Snack Time

If an existing menu category is not assigned to all meal periods (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and all snack times (snack AM, snack PM, snack HS), then you can assigned it to the missing meal periods/snack times as follows:

  1. Open the menu category. The Edit Category pop-up window appears.

    edit_category_dairy.png
     
  2. In the Assign Category to Active Meals section, select the meal periods and snack times to assign the menu category to.
  3. Click Save to apply your changes.

Creating a New Menu Category

To create a new menu category, complete the following steps:

  1. From the left navigation sidebar, select Tools & Setup > Menu Settings. The Menu Categories screen appears.
  2. From the Create Menu Category drop-down, select Add Category (first screenshot below). The Add Category pop-up window appears (second screenshot below)

    add_category.png

    add_category_modal.png
     
  3. Enter or select the following:
    • Menu Category Name - enter the name of the menu category.
    • Display Name - enter the user-friendly “display name” for the menu category.
    • Recipe Category - select the recipe category that the menu category is associated with.
    • Assign Category to Active Meals - select the meal periods and snack times to assign the menu category to.
  4. Click the Save button. The newly-added category is listed in the selected meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and snack (snack AM, snack PM, snack HS) via the Standard and Snacks tabs.

Parent Account and Child Account Relationship with Menu Categories

If you are a parent account, then any new menu categories you create will be available to your child accounts (flows downward). 

However, the menu categories will not automatically be assigned to the meal periods/snack times for that child account. The child account will be required to assign the menu categories to the desired meal periods/snack times as per the above instructions: Assigning Existing Menu Category to a Meal Period/Snack Time.

Note that if you are child account, then any new menu categories you create will not be available to your parent account (does not flow upward). 

Assigning New Menu Categories to Existing Meal Plans (for POS)

If your account uses the POS system, then when a new menu category is created and there are existing meal plans in the POS, then that category is not automatically assigned to the meal plan (i.e., the meal plan will not cover the new category). If you want an existing meal plan to cover the new category, then you have to access the meal plan in the Touch Admin software and make the assignment. To do so complete the following steps:

  1. In Touch Admin, select People Management > Meal Plans. The Meal Plans screen appears
  2. For the meal plan you want to edit, click its Edit button. The Edit a Meal Plan screen appears.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the screen where the categories and meal periods (breakfast, lunch, dinner) are listed.
  4. Expand the meal periods for which the category was associated with and select the check box of the category to assign it to the meal plan.

    new_categories.png
     
  5. At the bottom of the screen click the Update Policy button to apply your changes.

Assign New Menu Categories to the Menu Week-at-a-Glance (WaaG) View

When you create a new menu category, then on the menu week-at-a-glance view, you will need to manually select the new menu category (via the Display Options) in order for the menu category to display on the WaaG view with any of its assigned recipes.

menu_waag_display_options_categories.png

Assign New Menu Categories to the Personal Menu View

When you create a new menu category, then on the personal menu view, you will need to manually select the new menu category (via the Display Options) in order for the menu category to display on the personal menu view with any of its assigned recipes.

personal_menu_display_options_categories.png 

Changing Sort Order of Menu Categories

You can change the sort order in which menu categories are displayed in the Core system and reports, and front-end ordering apps (Touch, POS, Portal). To sort menu categories, complete the following steps:

  1. From the left navigation sidebar, select Tools & Setup > Menu Settings. The Menu Categories screen appears.

    menu_categories.png
     
  2. Select the Standard or Snacks tab, depending on the categories you want to sort.
  3. Sort the categories as desired by clicking and holding the = icon of a category and dragging and dropping it to the desired order in the list. The sort order is automatically applied.

    sort_menu_categories.png

Removing a Menu Category from a Meal Period/Snack Time

If there are no menu items assigned to a menu category in any of your account’s active menus, then a menu category can be removed from a meal period/snack time. To remove a menu category from a meal period or snack time: 

  1. From the left navigation sidebar, select Tools & Setup > Menu Settings. The Menu Categories screen appears with the Standard tab open. If wanting to remove a menu category from a snack time, then select the Snacks tab.
  2. For the menu category to be removed, click its remove icon (remove_category_icon.png).
  3. If menu items are assigned to the menu category, then a prompt appears asking you to first select another category to reassign the existing items to before removing the category. Select the category to reassign the items and then click the Move Items and Remove Category button.

    assign_category.png

Deleting a Menu Category (only if your Account Created the Menu Category)

If your account created the menu category, then that menu category can be deleted. If items are assigned to that menu category, then you will be prompted to select a different menu category for those items. To delete a menu category:

  1. Open the menu category. The Edit Category pop-up window appears.

    edit_category_delete.png
     
  2. Click the Delete Category button.
  3. If no menu items are assigned to the menu category in your account or a child account, then a confirmation message appears. Click Delete. The menu category is deleted.

    delete_menu_category.png
     
  4. If menu items are assigned to the menu category in your account or a child account, then a prompt appears asking you to first select another category to reassign the existing items to. Select the category to reassign the items and then click the Move Items and Remove Category button.

    assign_category.png

Changing Display Name of a Menu Category not Owned by your Account

For a menu category not owned by your account (i.e., the menu category is owned by a parent account), you can change its display name that appears on your menu. To change the display of a menu category:

  1. Open the menu category. The Edit Category pop-up window appears.

    edit_category_soup.png
     
  2. In the Display Name field, enter the display name.
  3. Click Save to apply your changes.
  4. If wanting to revert the display name to the original name assigned by the parent account, open the menu category again, and click the revert icon. 

    edit_category_menu_category_parent2.png