Set Menu Availability

Before You Begin
Availability vs. Visibility vs. Hours
Set Menu Availability in Menu Manager
Set Menu Availability in Menu Builder
Best Practices for Menu Scheduling
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Articles

Before You Begin

Applies to: Toast Web (Menu manager and Menu builder)

Permissions needed:

Menu management permissions for your Toast Web user account

What you'll accomplish: Configure a menu to appear on your POS, Toast Online Ordering, and third-party ordering partners (DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber Eats) only on specific days and times.

Availability vs. Visibility vs. Hours

Menu availability controls when a menu appears (days and times). It is set at the menu level only — not for individual items, menu groups, or modifiers. Use this table to find the right destination for your scenario.

What you want to do	Where to go
Set the days or times a whole menu appears	This article
Set which channels a menu appears on (POS, online ordering, partners)	Manage Your Menu Visibility Settings
Have a single item appear at certain times of day for online ordering	Toast Online Ordering Pro: Menu Page Configuration *requires Online Ordering Pro OR Digital Storefront Pro subscription
Stop displaying menus or items that have disappeared unexpectedly	Get Help With Disappearing Menus or Menu Items

Note: To restrict an individual item or menu group to a specific time, create a new menu containing those items and apply the schedule to that menu. See Best Practices for Menu Scheduling below.

Set Menu Availability in Menu Manager

Use Menu manager when you want to update one menu's schedule quickly from a single settings panel.

In Toast Web, navigate to Menus > Menu management > Menu manager.
Select the name of the menu for which you want to create an availability schedule.
A settings panel will appear on the right side of the screen. In the Availability section, select Specific days and time. A day/time table will appear.
Select the pencil icon next to the day/time table. From here, you can select the appropriate Day(s) available and Time available in the pop-up window.
Select Save when you're finished making changes.
Select Publish all changes.

Expected outcome: The menu now appears on your POS, Toast Online Ordering, and third party partners only during the days and times you selected. Changes take effect within a few minutes after publishing.

Note: If there's a time change in your region, such as the start or end of Daylight Savings Time or British Summer Time, menu availability will automatically adjust to reflect the updated local time.

Set Menu Availability in Menu Builder

Use Menu builder when you are already editing a menu's full details or when you prefer the builder view.

By default, the menu availability setting is set to always, meaning the menu is available during all hours that the restaurant is open. If you specify a custom schedule for a menu, a calendar icon appears next to the menu's name to indicate that a custom schedule is in effect.

Follow these steps to override the default schedule and create a custom schedule for a menu:

Navigate to Menus > Menu management > Menu builder, or select Menu builder from the Quick actions section of your Toast Web homepage.
Next to the name of the menu you'd like to change availability for, select the three-dot overflow menu icon to the right of the menu's name, then select Edit.
Scroll down to the Availability section of the menu details page.
For the When is this menu available? setting, select Specific days and time.
A Day(s)/Time table appears below this setting. Select the pencil icon to the right of that table.
By default, all days are selected. Select a specific day to remove it from the Day(s) available.
By default, the menu is available at all times on the days selected. To edit the times this menu is available, select the checkbox next to Available at all times to remove the check mark.
Start and End time settings appear below the Time available setting. Enter your desired times for the days you've selected. Select Save on the pop-up window when you're finished.
At the top of the page, select Save to finish editing, then publish your changes to push them to your POS and Toast Online Ordering page.

Expected outcome: The menu now appears only on the days and times you configured. The calendar icon next to the menu name in Menu builder confirms a custom schedule is in effect.

Important: Availability settings are configurable on the menu level only. The Availability section does not appear when you're editing menu groups or individual menu items.

Best Practices for Menu Scheduling

Use a separate menu for item-level scheduling. To restrict an individual item or menu group to a specific time, create a new menu for those items and apply the schedule to that menu.
Duplicate menus to handle different schedules per day. For example, a lunch menu ending at 2:30 p.m. on weekdays and 3:00 p.m. on weekends can be managed through two separate menu versions. Archive unused versions to keep your menu editor uncluttered.
Add a small buffer at the end of any menu availability schedule. A buffer gives staff time to wrap up last-minute orders before the menu becomes unavailable on the POS. For example, set your breakfast menu from 8:00 a.m. - 11:10 a.m. when breakfast ends at 11:00 a.m.
Use a shallow copy for staggered schedules. If you need the same menu available during different time ranges on different days (for example, Happy Hour 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays), make a shallow copy of the menu and apply a second availability schedule to the copy. See Add or Copy Menu Items and Modifiers for steps.
Remind guests with the Toast Online Ordering Spotlight feature. For example, a Spotlight banner could say "Breakfast available until 11:00 a.m. daily." See Promote Online Ordering Deals with a Spotlight Feature for steps.
Synchronize availability across third-party platforms. When you update a menu's schedule, the schedule should reflect on third party partner sites like DoorDash, Uber Eats, or other integrated partners. Always select Publish all changes after making updates.

Frequently Asked Questions

The questions below are grounded in verbatim user phrasing from the conversation pool.

Can I schedule an individual menu item or menu group to appear at certain times?

No. Menu availability is a menu-level setting only. You cannot set time-based availability on a single menu item, menu group, modifier, or subgroup.

Can I set different times on different days of the week for the same menu?

Only one time period can be set per menu. If you need the same menu available at different times on different days (for example, a Happy Hour menu that runs 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays but 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. on Mondays), make a shallow copy of the menu and apply a second availability schedule to the copy.

Will my menu schedule update automatically for Daylight Savings Time?

Yes. If there is a time change in your region — such as the start or end of Daylight Savings Time or British Summer Time — menu availability automatically adjusts to reflect the updated local time. You do not need to manually update the schedule.

Can I schedule menu changes in advance?

At this time, scheduled publishing is only available for restaurants that use Toast Multilocation Management (MLM) or one of the Restaurant Management suites. Learn more about Toast Suites here: Toast Suites Overview.

Will hiding a menu for online ordering also affect local orders?

Yes. Hiding menus for online ordering also affects their availability for local orders. Take care when changing channel visibility — see Manage Your Menu Visibility Settings for the difference between availability (when) and visibility (where).

Why is my breakfast menu still showing on the POS after its end time?

If a menu still appears after its scheduled end time, work through these checks:

Confirm you selected Publish all changes after editing the schedule. Schedule changes do not take effect until published.
Confirm the menu's Availability is set to Specific days and time and the times you entered match your intended end time. The default setting is always.
Confirm the device time on your POS matches the local time in your region.
If the menu is integrated with Toast Online Ordering and DoorDash or Uber Eats, the partner platform's menu may take a few extra minutes to reflect the change. Reach out to the partner if the menu still appears after publishing changes.

If the menu still does not respect the schedule after these checks, see Get Help With Disappearing Menus or Menu Items.

What's the difference between menu availability and menu visibility?

Menu availability controls when a menu appears (days and times). Menu visibility controls where a menu appears (channels — POS, kiosk, Toast Online Ordering, online ordering partners). For visibility, see Manage Your Menu Visibility Settings.