Restaurant glossary: 40 terms for running a restaurant online
Updated October 20, 2026
This glossary explains 40 terms a restaurant runs into when it takes orders online: kitchen words like 86 and KOT, money terms like price parity and chargebacks, the delivery models behind DoorDash and Uber Direct, customer metrics like average order value and RFM, and the WhatsApp rules that decide what a message costs. Every page gives a plain definition, a worked example with real formulas or published rates, and a short note on how Menuthere handles it, including what it doesn't do.
In short
- 40 terms in six groups, from the kitchen to WhatsApp.
- Every page has a worked example and a dated list of sources (Meta, Stripe, the FDA, the IRS, the apps' own pricing pages).
- US English, US dollars, with notes where a rule is country-specific.
- WhatsApp in the US: Meta doesn't deliver marketing templates to +1 numbers, so WhatsApp sends order updates, not promotions; use email for offers.
Menu and kitchen
| Term | In one line |
|---|---|
| 86 (eighty-six) | A dish that's sold out for now, or a guest who's refused service. |
| Menu modifiers | Sizes, add-ons and choices on a dish, and the rules for each group. |
| Dayparting | Breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night menus on a schedule. |
| Pre-order | An order placed now for a later date and time. |
| Major food allergens | The FDA's nine major allergens and what a menu should show. |
| Upselling | Suggesting a bigger size or a side, and the math behind it. |
| Kitchen order ticket (KOT) | The ticket that tells the kitchen what to cook, with no prices. |
| Tableside ordering | Taking orders at the table on a handheld, or by guest QR. |
Prices, fees and payments
| Term | In one line |
|---|---|
| Price parity | One price on every channel, and the delivery-app markup formula. |
| Average order value (AOV) | Revenue divided by orders, and five ways to raise it. |
| Service charge | A charge the restaurant sets vs a tip the guest chooses. |
| Packaging fee | Charging for takeout containers per order or per item. |
| Tax-inclusive pricing | When the tax is already inside the menu price. |
| Payment processing fee | What each card payment costs, and why small orders cost more. |
| Chargeback | A card payment reversed after a dispute, with its fee and timeline. |
| Cash on delivery (COD) | Paying at the door: what it saves and what it risks. |
Delivery
| Term | In one line |
|---|---|
| Third-party delivery | DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub: the four delivery models and their rates. |
| White-label delivery | Courier networks delivering orders you took yourself, for a flat fee. |
| Delivery zone | The area you deliver to, set as a radius or drawn zones. |
| Delivery dispatch | Assigning a ready order to a driver and sending it out. |
| Free delivery threshold | The order value that unlocks free delivery, and its margin math. |
Customers and growth
| Term | In one line |
|---|---|
| First-party data | The customer information you collect on your own channels. |
| RFM segmentation | Grouping customers by recency, frequency and spend. |
| Customer lifetime value (CLV) | What a customer spends with you over the whole relationship. |
| Repeat customer rate | The share of customers who order more than once. |
| Conversion rate (online ordering) | The share of menu visits that become orders, step by step. |
| Loyalty points | Credit earned on each order, and what a points rate really costs. |
| BOGO (buy one, get one) | Buy one, get one: variations and when it pays. |
| Win-back campaign | A message to customers who stopped ordering. |
Online ordering technology
| Term | In one line |
|---|---|
| POS integration | Getting online orders into your POS without re-typing. |
| Restaurant schema markup | Structured data that describes your restaurant and menu to search engines. |
WhatsApp for restaurants
| Term | In one line |
|---|---|
| WhatsApp utility template | An approved message about a customer's own order, and what it costs. |
| WhatsApp marketing template | An approved promotional message, and why it can't reach US numbers. |
| WhatsApp 24-hour customer service window | When you can reply freely and when you need a template. |
| WhatsApp free entry point window | The up-to-7-day free window after a click-to-WhatsApp ad. |
| WhatsApp opt-in | The permission you need before messaging a customer. |
| WhatsApp messaging limit | How many customers a number can message in 24 hours. |
| WhatsApp broadcast | One message to many customers: app lists vs API broadcasts. |
| Click-to-WhatsApp ad | Facebook and Instagram ads that open a WhatsApp chat. |
| Abandoned cart reminder | A message to a customer who left a cart, and its category. |
More explainers
| Topic | Page |
|---|---|
| QR menus: the three kinds and what they cost | What is a QR menu? |
| Food cost percentage, with the formula | Food cost percentage |
| Restaurant profit margins | Restaurant profit margin |
| What delivery apps charge in the US | US delivery app commission |
| Quick service restaurant (UK guide) | QSR meaning |
| Common menu terms (UK guide) | Menu terms |
| Words used inside the Menuthere dashboard | Glossary of Menuthere terms |
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FAQs
What is in the Menuthere restaurant glossary?
Forty terms a restaurant runs into when it sells online: menu and kitchen terms such as 86 and KOT, prices and payments such as price parity and chargebacks, delivery models, customer metrics such as average order value and RFM, and WhatsApp messaging rules. Each term has a definition, a worked example and how Menuthere handles it.
Are the figures on these pages up to date?
Each page lists its sources with the date they were read, such as Meta's WhatsApp rate card, Stripe's fees or the FDA's allergen list. Prices and rules change, so check the source before relying on a figure.
Is this glossary only for Menuthere users?
No. The definitions, formulas and examples apply to any restaurant. Each page also has a short section on how Menuthere handles the term, including what it doesn't do.
Sources (2)
- Each term page lists its own dated sources. Hub groupings and one-line summaries are written from those pages (wave2/pages/en-glossary-*.md, 20 Oct 2026).
- US WhatsApp line: Meta for Developers, Marketing Messages API: Get started (marketing messages to US WhatsApp users not delivered from 1 April 2025): https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/marketing-messages/get-started (accessed 20 Oct 2026)