Introduction to Menu Levels

Menu levels are a customized way to indicate when menu items are available to workstation operators. Menu levels determine which items within a transaction (menu items, discounts, service charges, or tenders) can be accessed on a workstation at all times throughout the day. There are two types of menu levels: main levels and sub levels. On the workstation, a main level and a sub level are active at all times during any transaction. To make an item accessible, it must be available on the current main and sub levels. Main and sub levels have two functions:

They determine what items a workstation operator can and cannot access during a transaction.
They can impact items, such as different prices, to be active at specific times (for example, a Happy Hour price versus a regular menu item price).

Menu levels are often used to determine serving periods. Basic examples of menu levels are Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Happy Hour. If a location starts serving eggs at 6:00 a.m., but stops at 11:00 a.m., as the kitchen changes to serving sandwiches the manager can use menu levels to remove all egg items from the workstation screen. These items remain in the database, but are not available to workstation operators at certain times.

Menu levels are also used to control sizing, meaning certain menu items only exist on a large level, while others only exist on small or medium levels. Using menu levels for sizing allows workstation operators to determine whether a cup or bowl of soup is ordered. You can apply the concept of small and large to many items, such as a half sandwich or full sandwich, a glass of wine or a carafe, a mug of beer or a pitcher, and an appetizer portion verses an entrée portion. Workstation operators generally have manual control over the menu level that determines item sizing.

Menu levels are used to change pricing, such as Happy Hour level becoming effective at 4:00 p.m. on weekdays, where all beers have a reduced cost price record that is effective only when that menu level is active. You can configure the application to manage these levels automatically.

Two menu levels need to be active in order for menu items to appear on the workstation:

Main level
Sub level

The two levels work together to control the active items so that different combinations of levels mean that different items can be active. For example, if main level 1 is called Regular and sub level 1 is called Breakfast, only menu items and price records configured to be active on both Regular and Breakfast levels are available when those two levels are active. If Regular is active all day, but at 11:00 a.m., Breakfast switches to Lunch, active items only on Regular and Breakfast are no longer available, while items on Regular and Lunch can be sold. The item’s definition can have other levels active as well.

Menu levels are not an all-or-nothing feature; you can configure them as required. After you configure menu levels, they can be activated in multiple places using a hierarchy of overriding modules. If menu level defaults are specified in multiple modules, they are applied in the order listed.

Menu Level Hierarchy

The following menu level hierarchy determines which setting controls the default transaction menu levels:

Table 13-6 Menu Level Hierarchy

Hierarchy Number	Enterprise Management Console (EMC) Configuration	Description

1	Auto Menu Levels module	The Auto Menu Levels table is the most flexible of all menu level settings. It allows for more complex menu manipulation. For example, if a location has levels like Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Happy Hour, and Brunch, all with different menu items or price records, the Auto Menu Levels table controls them. Using the Auto Menu Levels table, menu levels are configured to change at specified times. There are 8 different Auto Menu Levels, all of which can be enabled on different days and times. If the time of day falls during an active auto menu level, the main or sub level that is specified for that auto menu level is the active level. See Activate Auto Menu Levels for more information.
2	Transaction Menu and Sub Level Defaults	The Default Main Level and the Default Sub Level (configured in the RVC Parameters module) become the default for the revenue center as a whole. If this setting is used, whenever a workstation operator signs in to the revenue center, these two menu levels will be active until they are changed manually. See Activate Default Menu and Sub Levels for a Revenue Center for more information.
3 Default if no levels are configured for use	Main 1 and sub 1 are always defaults	If none of the other menu levels are configured, the workstation defaults to main level 1 and sub level 1 as the active levels for the transaction. This is configured in the Menu Level Sets module. See Activate Main and Sub Level Defaults for more information.

Parent topic: Menu Items