Catering ordering
Catering ordering system for restaurants
Take catering and party orders on your own page: customers pick dishes, choose a date and time, and the order lands in your dashboard with 0% commission. For custom orders you send a quote and an invoice. Pre-orders and scheduled orders start on Lite at $17 a month.
Pre-orders with a date and time start on Lite, $17 a month, with a 14-day free trial.
A card starts the trial; nothing is charged until the 14 days end. Pre-orders and scheduled orders with a date and time are on Lite and above. The free WhatsApp order page and the catering tools below cost nothing.
What it is
Catering orders, taken your way
A catering ordering system handles orders placed ahead for a date, often larger and sometimes custom. Menuthere covers the three common cases: a set menu for pre-order, a custom order by quote, and a free page to collect enquiries.
Pre-order for a date
Customers pick dishes, choose a date and time, and pay or confirm. The order lands in your dashboard and partner app. Pre-orders and scheduled orders are on Lite.
Custom orders by quote
For a bespoke order, use the free WhatsApp order page: the customer answers your questions, and the order opens in WhatsApp, already added up, for you to quote.
0% commission
Orders come from your own page. Menuthere takes 0% on every order and no cut of your catering sales.
Read this first
What Menuthere does, and what it doesn't
Be clear on scope. Menuthere is not a full catering platform. It does not run event management, banquet event orders (BEOs), equipment rentals, staffing, floor plans, or milestone deposits that bill a percentage now and the rest later.
What it does do for caterers is take orders ahead of time. On Lite, a customer can place a scheduled order or pre-order with a date and time, so you can take party trays, platters and set menus for a future day. For a one-off custom order, the free WhatsApp order page collects the brief and the order opens in WhatsApp for you to quote.
The numbers side is covered by free tools. The catering quote maker, price calculator and invoice template below cost nothing and need no sign-up, so you can quote and invoice a custom job even while the ordering runs on Menuthere.
- Pre-orders and scheduled orders with a date and time (Lite)
- Free WhatsApp order page for custom / quote orders
- Free catering quote, price and invoice tools
- 0% commission on every order
- No event management, BEOs, rentals or staffing
- No milestone deposits or partial billing
How it works
Take a catering order in four steps
For a set menu you take ahead of time. The dashboard labels below are the real ones in Menuthere.
- 1
Build your catering menu
Add your platters, party trays and set menus with sizes and add-ons. Import from a photo or PDF, then check it.
- 2
Turn on pre-orders
On Lite, switch on scheduled orders and pre-orders so customers choose a date and time at checkout. Set how far ahead they must order.
- 3
Share your link and QR code
Share your ordering link, WhatsApp button and QR code. Customers pick dishes, choose their date, and place the order.
- 4
Confirm and prepare
The order lands in your dashboard and the partner app for the chosen date. For a custom brief, send a quote and an invoice with the free tools.
Three ways
Pre-order, free page or custom quote?
Which route fits depends on whether the order is a set menu or a one-off. The last column is Menuthere's paid pre-order; the others are free.
| Free WhatsApp order page | Free catering tools | Pre-order on Lite | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | A custom order you need to quote | Pricing and invoicing a quoted job | A set menu ordered ahead for a date |
| What the customer does | Answers your questions; order opens in WhatsApp | Nothing — these are your tools | Picks dishes and a date, places the order |
| A date and time | You agree it in chat | On the quote / invoice | Chosen at checkout |
| Order saved for you | In your WhatsApp chat | In the tool / your file | In your dashboard and partner app |
| Cost | Free, 0% commission | Free, no sign-up | On Lite, $17 a month, 0% commission |
Use the catering quote maker, catering price calculator and catering invoice template for the numbers, and the free WhatsApp order page to collect a custom brief. For set menus ordered ahead, use pre-orders on Lite.
Honest fit
Who this is for, and who it isn't
A good fit
A restaurant, café, bakery, cloud kitchen or home caterer that takes party trays, platters and set menus ahead of a date, and quotes the occasional custom order, while keeping 0% commission on direct orders.
Not the best fit
A dedicated events caterer needing banquet event orders, equipment and staff scheduling, floor plans or milestone deposit billing. A full catering or event-management platform will suit that better.
Questions owners ask
Answered, plainly.
Take your catering orders online
Pre-orders with a date for set menus, the free WhatsApp page for custom jobs, and free quote and invoice tools. Pre-orders start on Lite at $17 a month, with 0% commission and a 14-day free trial.
