Import your menu from a file or URL
You should not retype three hundred lines by hand. Upload a file or point Servio at the menu you already publish, then review before anyone orders.
Menu import is included on every plan. Servio rebuilds categories, items and modifiers from a CSV export or a public menu URL. You approve the rebuild before it is live. The slow part is checking modifiers and allergens, not the import itself.
What to upload
If your current POS can export CSV, start there. If guests already order from a public URL, point the importer at that page. A photograph of a paper menu is the weakest source: we can still start from it, but you will spend longer on review. There is a longer switching write-up in how to migrate a restaurant menu.
Bring allergen notes with the items if you have them. Since Natasha’s Law, the safest place for allergen information is attached to the dish all the way to the pass, not in a folder behind the counter. A modifier that changes the allergen profile (no bun, extra sauce, a milk swap) has to travel with the ticket.
What to check before you publish
Prices first. Then modifier groups: sizes, milks, cooking temperatures, sides. Then sold-out items so they do not appear on a Saturday QR menu. Then kitchen routing: a category added after stations were set up can be routed nowhere, which is the usual reason tickets never reach a screen. The kitchen tickets article covers that failure in service.
Walk the published menu once on a phone, as a guest would. Names that make sense to the chef (“S. salad, no dsg”) do not make sense on a table. Twenty minutes of renaming during review beats months of servers translating at the till.
If the import looks wrong
Do not go live on a half-reviewed menu and “fix it later”. Unpublished items stay unpublished. Email support@servio.uk with the file or URL you used and a screenshot of the row that came out wrong. Setup help is included. Growth, Enterprise and founding pilot venues get hands-on migration rather than a second upload attempt on their own.
Common questions
Can I import from my old POS export?
If you can export CSV or share a live menu URL, Servio rebuilds categories, items and modifiers for you to approve before service. Always spot-check prices before you open.
Is menu import free?
Yes. It is included on every plan. Growth and Enterprise add hands-on migration help; founding pilot venues get guided setup through the first service.
What if my menu is only a photo?
Upload what you have or point us at a URL. Review will take longer than a clean CSV, but you still should not retype the menu by hand.