Square handles menu scheduling through menus and menu groups that you build in Square Dashboard, each with its own hours. You can give a menu several time periods in a day (breakfast and dinner, for example), and give a menu group, like "Lunch specials", narrower hours inside that. For time-based pricing such as happy hour, Square's automatic discounts can apply on a schedule.
This guide covers time-based menus and specials. For building the items themselves, see customizing your restaurant's menu on Square.
How time-based menus work in Square
A few rules from Square's help center are worth knowing before you build anything:
- Menus are made of menu groups and items. You create menus in Square Dashboard under the items area, in Menus.
- Menus can have multiple time periods per day. You set hours from the menu's settings.
- Menu groups can have their own hours. Group hours override the menu's hours and must fall within them.
- Menus are assigned to channels and locations. Channels include the point of sale (in restaurant modes), Square websites, kiosks, ordering profiles and delivery apps.
- Behavior outside hours differs by channel. Online, a time-based menu stays visible but can only be ordered during its hours. On the POS, a menu outside its hours shows when it will be available, and staff need permission or an override passcode to open it.
- Third-party delivery apps set their own menu hours, so check those separately.
Step by step: set up a breakfast and lunch schedule
- Plan your dayparts. Write down each menu and its hours, per location. Example: Breakfast 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., Lunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., All day drinks.
- Create the menu. In Square Dashboard, open Menus and create a menu, or edit the one you have.
- Add menu groups. Create groups such as Breakfast, Lunch, Drinks and Pastries, and add items to each.
- Set hours. Give the Breakfast and Lunch groups their hours. Leave Drinks open for the whole menu's hours.
- Assign channels and locations. Choose where the menu appears: POS, website, kiosk, ordering profile.
- Test on each channel. Check the POS and your online menu before and after each changeover time.
Running specials
Daily or weekly specials
Create a Specials menu group with its own hours. Add the specials as regular items so they show up in sales reports by name.
- Rotating specials: keep all specials as items in your library, and move the current ones into the Specials group each week.
- Day of week specials: use a separate group per day (Taco Tuesday, Friday Fish) with hours set for that day.
- Limited quantity specials: turn on stock tracking or mark the item sold out when it runs out, with a reset time so it is ready the next day.
Happy hour and time-based pricing
Square supports automatic discounts that apply at checkout when a sale meets conditions you set, including a schedule. That makes it a good fit for happy hour: for example, a discount on draft beer and select appetizers on weekdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Because the discount applies automatically, staff do not have to remember to add it. For more on discount setup, see setting up discounts and promotions in Square.
Seasonal menus
For seasonal drinks or holiday items, build the items ahead of time and keep them off your channels until launch day, then assign them. When the season ends, remove them from the menu instead of deleting them, so you keep their sales history for next year.
Example: a cafe's weekday schedule
| Menu group | Hours | Channels |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast sandwiches | 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. | POS, website, kiosk |
| Lunch bowls | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | POS, website, kiosk |
| Afternoon special | 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. | POS, website |
| Coffee and tea | All day | All channels |
Promote your specials
A special only works if people know about it.
- Place the Specials group near the top of your online menu during its hours.
- Give each special a photo and a one-line description.
- Tell staff the "why" so they can recommend it at the counter.
- Use specials to move ingredients before they spoil. Our guide to reducing food waste with Square explains how.
Measure what works
After a few weeks, compare each special's item sales with the same time slot before it launched. Did it bring new sales or just replace sales of a regular item? Our guide to menu management with Square sales data covers how to read those numbers.
Common mistakes
- Setting group hours outside the menu's hours, so the group never shows.
- Forgetting that delivery apps keep their own hours.
- Creating a new item each week for the same special, which splits your sales history.
- Running happy hour by hand, so the discount gets missed or applied after it ends.
- Not testing at changeover times, when most problems appear.
Bring scheduled menus to your own app
Orda builds your branded iOS and Android app and ordering website from your Square menu. In the Orda dashboard you can reorder categories and set availability schedules per category, so breakfast shows in the morning and specials appear only when you serve them. Then use push notifications to tell customers about today's special right when it starts. Orders flow into Square POS. More than 10,000 Square businesses have used Orda.