Black Friday menu templates for restaurants (plus Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday)
Updated October 20, 2026
Black Friday is on Friday, November 27, 2026, the day after Thanksgiving, and Small Business Saturday follows on November 28. Copy a menu below, add your prices and open pre-orders in early November. For a restaurant these are three different selling days. Black Friday brings hungry shoppers who want lunch fast, plus families who are done cooking after Thanksgiving. Small Business Saturday brings people out to support local places. Cyber Monday, November 30, is the day to sell a deal that fills your slow December weekdays.
Retailers own Black Friday, so don't try to out-discount them. A restaurant wins by being quick at lunch and by taking dinner off the table for tired families. For the meal before it, see our Thanksgiving menu templates and Thanksgiving pre-orders guide.
Pick your Black Friday template
| Template | Day | Best for | What it sells |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopper's lunch menu | Fri, Nov 27 | Cafes, delis, fast casual near shops | 4–6 quick dishes, order ahead, pickup in 10–15 minutes |
| Family meal for 4 (pre-order) | Fri, Nov 27 | Any kitchen that does to-go | One dinner bundle, picked up 4–7 pm |
| Small Business Saturday table card | Sat, Nov 28 | Dine-in and counter service | A thank-you note, your ordering QR code, a loyalty card |
| Cyber Monday December code | Mon, Nov 30 | Everyone | A date-limited code for Monday–Thursday orders in December |
How to use them: paste the dishes into the printable menu maker (one per line, price at the end) for a US Letter PDF, or copy the wording into Word or Google Docs. For a window or social post, pick Black Friday in the festival poster maker.
1. Shopper's lunch menu
Keep it short. Shoppers decide in the line, so every dish should be ready in minutes and easy to eat on the go.
Black Friday Shopper's Lunch · [Your restaurant name] Friday, November 27 · Order ahead on our menu, skip the line · Ready in about ____ minutes
Turkey & cranberry sandwich on ____ · $____ Soup of the day (12 oz) with bread · $____ ____ bowl (rice or greens, ____, ____) · $____ Kids' grilled cheese with fruit · $____ Coffee or hot cider · $____
Scan the QR code on the window to order. Prices before sales tax.
2. Family meal for 4 (pre-order for Friday)
Lead with "you don't have to cook tonight" and a clear pickup window.
Black Friday Family Meal · Feeds 4 · [Your restaurant name] Pre-order by Wednesday, November 25. Pickup Friday, November 27, from 4 to 7 pm.
Main: ____________ (about 2 lb) Two sides: ____________ · ____________ Bread: 8 ____ rolls with butter Dessert: 4 ____ cookies Price: $____ · Add a second main $____
Packed hot. Eat within 2 hours or refrigerate, and reheat leftovers to 165°F.
3. Small Business Saturday table card
A table tent or counter card for Saturday, November 28. It thanks people for coming and gives them a reason to order from you directly next time.
Thanks for shopping small today. We're a local, independent kitchen, and every order you place with us directly stays in the neighborhood. Order next time: scan the code to see our menu and order for pickup or delivery. [ QR code ] Ask for a loyalty card: your ____ visit is on us.
Print a stamp card with the free loyalty card maker and put your ordering QR code on it.
4. Cyber Monday December code
Cyber Monday is an online shopping day, so give your email list a code to use in December, not on Monday itself. Point it at the days you most want to fill.
Subject: Cyber Monday: 15% off your December weeknight orders Our Cyber Monday deal is for the nights you'd rather not cook. Use code DEC15 for 15% off pickup or delivery orders of $40 or more, Monday to Thursday, December 1–17. One use per customer. Order here: [your Menuthere link]
Set it up as one discount code: 15% off, minimum order $40, maximum discount $10, Days Monday to Thursday, start December 1 and end December 17, Per customer 1, Total uses 200. See limits, days and validity.
About gift cards: gift-card deals are the classic restaurant Black Friday offer. Menuthere doesn't sell gift cards, so if you sell them through your POS or bank, keep doing that. The templates on this page use a discount code instead.
Promo copy you can paste
Email to your own list (send from your email tool):
Subject: No cooking Friday: family meals for 4, pickup 4–7 pm Done with the dishes after Thanksgiving? Pre-order a family meal for 4 by Wednesday, November 25, and pick it up hot on Black Friday between 4 and 7 pm. Order here: [your Menuthere link]
Pop-up banner on your menu: "Black Friday family meals for 4: order by Wed 11/25, pickup Friday 4–7 pm." Announcement bar (under 100 characters): "Black Friday: order lunch ahead and skip the line. Family meals for 4 by Wed 11/25" Social caption: "Shopping on Friday? Order lunch ahead and grab it in 15 minutes. Feeding the family? Our meal for 4 is ready 4–7 pm. Link in bio."
Under CAN-SPAM, a promo email needs an honest subject line, your valid postal address and a clear way to opt out, and you must honor opt-outs within 10 business days (FTC). If your customers order on WhatsApp, keep it for order updates: Meta does not deliver marketing template messages to US (+1) phone numbers, so in the US WhatsApp sends order updates (utility messages, about US$0.0034 each), not promotions. Use email for offers. More in WhatsApp ordering for US restaurants.
Worked example: 40 family meals and a capped Cyber Monday code
These are example figures only. Use your own supplier prices.
| Cost of one family meal for 4 | Example cost |
|---|---|
| Main, about 2 lb cooked | $11.50 |
| Two sides | $5.20 |
| 8 rolls and butter | $1.60 |
| 4 cookies | $2.40 |
| Containers, lids, bag | $3.30 |
| Total cost | $24.00 |
At a 33% target cost, $24.00 ÷ 0.33 = $72.73, so a menu price of $72 puts cost at 33.3%. Forty meals bring in $2,880 against $960 of food and packaging. Card payments through Stripe cost about 2.9% + 30¢ per order in the US, about $2.39 on a $72 order. Spread the 40 meals over three hourly pickup windows (13–14 per hour) and pack them in that order.
The Cyber Monday code has a built-in ceiling. With a $10 maximum discount and 200 total uses, the most it can ever cost you is 200 × $10 = $2,000, however busy December gets. On a typical $48 order the discount is 15% = $7.20, so the customer pays $40.80. Run the numbers for your own menu with the menu price calculator.
When to get your Black Friday menu out
| When (2026) | Job |
|---|---|
| Mon, Oct 26 | Cost the family meal and pick 4–6 lunch dishes that are ready in minutes |
| Mon, Nov 2 | Menus online; family-meal pre-orders open for Friday, Nov 27; schedule the pop-up banner |
| Mon, Nov 16 | First email to your list; poster in the window |
| Tue, Nov 24 | Last-call email; confirm supplier orders against pre-orders |
| Wed, Nov 25 | Example cut-off for family meals |
| Thu, Nov 26 | Thanksgiving. If you're closed, customers can still pre-order for Friday and Saturday |
| Fri, Nov 27 | Black Friday: lunch rush, then family-meal pickups 4–7 pm |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Small Business Saturday: table cards and loyalty cards out |
| Mon, Nov 30 | Cyber Monday email with the December code |
| Tue, Dec 1 – Thu, Dec 17 | Code live Monday to Thursday |
More dates are in November food holidays, December food holidays and the full restaurant marketing calendar.
US rules to check before you advertise a deal
- "Was $X, now $Y" must be true. The FTC's Guides Against Deceptive Pricing (16 CFR 233.1) say a former price is only a fair comparison if it is the price you actually and openly offered for a reasonably substantial period. Don't raise a price in November to "discount" it on Black Friday.
- Small Business Saturday is American Express's program. American Express created Small Business Saturday in 2010 and holds it on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Its Shop Small Map shows only businesses that accept American Express cards. You don't need to join anything to welcome Saturday shoppers.
- Take-out food safety. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service says hot take-out food should be held at 140°F or above, and perishable food left at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F) should be thrown away. Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and should be reheated to 165°F. Print that on the family-meal label.
How to do it in Menuthere
- Put the lunch menu and the family meal online (Free). Add the dishes, or upload a photo or PDF of your printed menu; AI reads the dishes and prices for you to check. Print the free QR code for your window and table cards. All plans have 0% commission.
- Take family-meal pre-orders (Lite, US$17 a month). Turn on Prebooking, choose Specific items and tick the family meal, set the Earliest booking time to 2 days and Only made on to Friday. Use fixed pickup windows. If you close on Thanksgiving, customers can still pre-order while you're closed for a time when you're open.
- Take payment up front (Lite). Customers pay the full amount online by card through Stripe, into your own account. Sales tax shows as "Sales tax" at checkout.
- Create the Cyber Monday code (Lite). A percentage or flat amount off, with a minimum order, a maximum discount, weekdays, start and end dates, total uses and uses per customer. Codes can't be limited to a time of day.
- Announce it (Lite). Schedule a pop-up banner from November 2 to 25 and an announcement bar line.
- Deliver with your own drivers (Pro, US$39 a month). The rider app runs on iOS and Android, and customers get a live tracking link. You assign each order with one tap. See the rider app.
There's no cap on orders per pickup window, so when you've sold the 40 meals your kitchen can make, mark the family meal out of stock (every plan). With a Branded App you can also send app users a push notification on Black Friday morning. See pricing, pre-orders and table booking and our online ordering system for US restaurants.
Pre-orders and discount codes start on Lite, with a 7-day free trial (a card is needed to start; nothing is charged until the trial ends).
FAQs
When is Black Friday in 2026?
Black Friday is on Friday, November 27, 2026, the day after Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 26). Small Business Saturday is November 28 and Cyber Monday is November 30. In 2027, Black Friday is November 26.
What is a good Black Friday deal for a restaurant?
One that solves a problem for that day: a fast pre-ordered lunch for shoppers, or a family meal so nobody cooks on Friday night. Save the discount for Cyber Monday and aim it at your slow December weekdays.
Do restaurants take part in Small Business Saturday?
Yes. American Express created Small Business Saturday in 2010 to get people spending at small businesses, and it falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving: November 28, 2026. Its Shop Small Map lists only businesses that accept American Express cards.
Can I sell restaurant gift cards on Black Friday with Menuthere?
No. Menuthere doesn't sell gift cards. If you sell them through your POS, keep doing that; in Menuthere you can run a date-limited discount code instead.
Can I advertise "was $20, now $15"?
Only if $20 is a price you really charged, openly, for a reasonably substantial period. The FTC's pricing guides treat an inflated "former price" as a deceptive bargain.
Can I send a Black Friday offer on WhatsApp to US customers?
No. Meta does not deliver WhatsApp marketing template messages to US (+1) phone numbers. WhatsApp can still send order updates, so use email to your own list for the offer.
Sources (10)
- US Office of Personnel Management, Federal holidays (Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, 2026; Thursday, November 25, 2027). Accessed 20 Oct 2026. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/
- American Express, Shop Small (Small Business Saturday on Nov 28; "Amex created Small Business Saturday in 2010"; Saturday after Thanksgiving; Shop Small Map lists only qualifying Card-accepting merchants). Accessed 20 Oct 2026. https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/benefits/shop-small/
- National Day Calendar, National Days for November (Black Friday Nov 27, Small Business Saturday Nov 28, Cyber Monday Nov 30, 2026). Accessed 20 Oct 2026. https://nationaldaycalendar.com/november/days
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 16 CFR 233.1 Former price comparisons (point in time 2026-10-01). Accessed 20 Oct 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-233/section-233.1
- USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Safe Handling of Take-Out Foods. Accessed 20 Oct 2026. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/safe-handling-take-out-foods
- USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety (3 to 4 days; reheat to 165°F). Accessed 20 Oct 2026. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/leftovers-and-food-safety
- Federal Trade Commission, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business. Accessed 20 Oct 2026. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business
- Stripe, Stripe fees in the US (2.9% + 30¢ for domestic cards). Accessed 20 Oct 2026. https://support.stripe.com/questions/understanding-fees-for-stripe-payments-in-the-us
- Meta for Developers, Marketing template per-user limits (marketing templates not delivered to US phone numbers). Accessed 20 Oct 2026. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/templates/marketing-templates/per-user-limits
- Meta for Developers, Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform (North America utility rate). Accessed 20 Oct 2026. https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing