Configure Menus for Diners
Last updated: Dec 10, 2025, 10:13 AM
Diners typically have a large menu with many different ways to modify each menu item. The tips below will help you to organize your diner’s menu and modifiers within Toast.
Modifier Functionality for Diner Menus
Pre-Modifiers for Diner Menus
Pre-modifiers give you the ability to add text either before (prefix) or after (suffix) a modifier. Pre-modifiers are a standard feature of the Toast POS system. When you create a modifier group, you can create a set of pre-modifiers such as NO, SUB, ADD, EXTRA, or ON SIDE to easily notify the kitchen of specifications to an item that has many ingredients, such as a burger or an omelet.
Pre-modifiers are not compatible with reporting, Toast Online Ordering, kiosk, third-party integrations, Toast Mobile Order and Pay™, or Local by Toast.
Although there are limitations with pre-modifiers, diners often find that utilizing this modifier functionality allows for more of a conversational ordering flow as if the server is handwriting orders on the POS for the kitchen to see. To achieve the same effect with digital ordering, we suggest either making item-specific modifiers (e.g. No tomato, No lettuce, etc.), or allowing guests to use the special request field.
Visit this Toast Central article to learn how to set up pre-modifiers on your diner menu: .
Nested Modifiers for Diners
Nested modifiers, or adding a modifier to a modifier, can help if you have options in your menu that may require a follow-up choice to place an order. These "if this, then that"-style modifier builds can help guide your guests through the ordering process smoothly whether their order is being placed in person or online.
Nested modifiers can be useful for diners as it allows certain choices to work conversationally across certain items. Meaning, as a guest makes a selection, the server will be able to record additional modifiers that apply to the item that was selected. In this scenario, if a guest chooses the Side Salad as their side choice, we also need to know what type of dressing they'd like. Because this dressing selection is not relevant if the guest chooses French Fries, Coleslaw, or Macaroni & Cheese, we want to apply it only to the Side Salad modifier option. We are "nesting" the Dressing Choice within the modifier choice of Side Salad.
Organize Your Modifiers for Diners
In order to help diners organize their menu and modifiers, we suggest creating an alphabetical list of your modifiers. This should include all the modifiers that your team could possibly use on a day-to-day basis. If this is an extensive list, you can separate these groups into smaller alphabetical categories (A-D, E-I, J-M, etc) or content categories (Meat, Cheese, Veggies, etc). Ultimately you want to organize your modifiers in a way that makes your Toast POS quick and easy to use for your servers. Visit this Toast Central article to learn how to set up modifier groups on your diner menu: .
Name, POS Name, and Kitchen Name for Diners
Within Toast you have the ability to have an item or modifier name appear different in your reporting, your Toast POS, and your kitchen. This can be useful for diners to help improve clarity and efficiency for your staff and kitchen.
- Name - The "official" name of the menu component that will be used throughout your Toast back-end reporting.
- POS Name - A shortened/abbreviated name that will appear when using a front-of-house POS device and can act as a visual aid to increase speed when placing orders.
- Kitchen Name - The name as it will appear to kitchen staff on printed kitchen tickets and/or kitchen display screens. Similar to POS Name, this field can be used to abbreviate or change the way the name appears to your kitchen staff for improved clarity/efficiency.
These names can be updated in bulk on the Advanced properties page. Visit this to learn how to set up POS names and kitchen names using advanced properties: .