Getting your drinks menu right is key to running a smooth coffee service. This guide walks you through creating a flexible, efficient drinks menu in Lightspeed Restaurant.

What's in this guide?

Adding core menu items
Creating product variants
Creating options and modifiers
Arranging your POS menu layout

Adding core menu items

Below is a sample menu you can upload directly into Lightspeed Restaurant. Use the provided templates to set up and import your products in Back Office. If you prefer to start from scratch, you can add the products manually.

• Tax Inclusive (IncTax): Standard pricing in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
• Tax Exclusive (ExTax: Standard pricing in the US. 

Below is a preview of the drinks included in the import file. 

Creating product variants

Product variants help you manage products that come in different sizes, flavors, or other variable attributes. Follow the essential steps below or check out our full guide on creating product variants. 

To create product variants: 

1. Log in to Back Office with your Lightspeed credentials.
2. From the navigation menu, select Products > Add Products.
3. Enter the product name, category, sales price, and sales tax.
4. Click Add Product.  
   
5. Once the product is created, click the cogwheel icon on the right to access settings.
   
6. Under the Variants tab, enter an attribute such as Size, Dine In, or Takeaway.
7. Click Add after entering each attribute. 
8. Click Save Template. 
   
9. In the dialog box, click Yes to confirm that you're converting the product into a template. 
   
10. Under the Variants tab, click Add a new Variant.
11. Enter the variants under the corresponding attribute. The values you enter in the field for the price and for each attribute will make a new product.
12. Click Add Variant to save. 

Using the attributes above, each coffee drink will appear as shown below.

Coffee	Variants
Coffee	Small, TA
	Large, TA
	Small, DI
	Large, DI

For teas, add an attribute called Tea blend and then add different blends as values, as shown below. 

Base Product	Variants
Tea	Assam, Chai (Leaf), Chamomile, Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Green Tea & Jasmine, Lemongrass & Ginger, Peppermint, Rooibos, Sencha

Creating options and Modifiers

The next step is to organize your Modifiers into Option Sets, such as Milk Option, then assign these Option Sets to all your drink menus. Follow the essential steps below or check out our full guide on creating Option Sets. 

To create Option Sets: 

1. From the navigation menu, select Products > Option Sets. 
2. Click Create > Create Option Set. 
   
3. Enter a name for your Option Set.
4. Click Create. 
   
5. Add your options. These can be Modifiers, products, or both. 
   • Price ($): Enter the price for the option. Each option can have a unique price, which will only apply when used in this Option Set.
   • Tax: Select the applicable tax setting for each option. 

   

6. Click the plus (+) icon on the right to add an option to your Option Set. 

   

7. For more settings, navigate to the Rules tab and configure the following options: 
   • Minimum Selection: Set the minimum number of options that staff must select. 
   • Maximum Selection: Set the maximum number of options that staff can select. 
   • Show Option Prefixes (No, Extra, Side, Only): Toggle to Yes if you'd like these instructions to appear with the options. This helps communicate detailed instructions to the kitchen. 

   

   The changes will be saved automatically. Once your Option Sets are ready, link them to your products or modifiers.  

By default, Option Sets and Modifiers are displayed in alphabetical order. To control the display sequence, prefix each Option Set with a number. The table below shows the common Option Sets and Modifiers typically used in cafes. 

Option Set name	Modifiers
1. Milk options	Skim Milk, Soy Milk, Almond Milk, Coconut Milk, Lactose-free Milk, Milk on side, No Milk
2. Strength	Extra shot, 1/2 strength, 1/4 strength, DECAF, Ristretto shot
3. Temperature	Warm, Extra hot, Volcanic
4. Sugar / Sweetener	1/2x sugar, 1x sugar, 2x sugar, 3x sugar, 1/2x sweetener, 1x sweetener, 2x sweetener, 3x sweetener, No sugar
5. Syrup / Other	Vanilla, Caramel, Butterscotch, Extra chocolate, Mint, Pumpkin Spice, Sugar Free Vanilla
6. Takeaway / Dine In	Takeaway, Dine In, BYO Cup

If you've set Auto-Prompt on POS to No, you can add modifiers to drinks from the product edit screen when placing an order without having all options pop up for customers who just want a regular coffee.

For Modifiers you use frequently, you can add them as on-screen Modifiers by indicating in the Product Info page that they are Modifiers, then adding them to the same category as the cafe drinks. This will make them visible on the POS screen.

Arranging your POS menu layout

The final step is to go to the POS and arrange the products to match your workflow. All hidden Option Sets can be accessed by clicking on the product in the order summary on the right, then selecting Options at the top of the Edit screen.