Guide
Getting modifiers right.
Badly built options are where online menus leak money and where kitchen mistakes come from.
In short
Modifiers should price per size and per option rather than as a flat surcharge, be grouped into required and optional choices, and be limited in number at each step. A large with extra cheese should cost more than a small with extra cheese, and if your system cannot do that, you are losing margin on every large order.
Updated 28 August 2026
Flat surcharges lose money on large sizes
If extra cheese is a fixed charge regardless of size, the large is subsidising the small, because it takes more cheese. Across a busy pizza menu this adds up quickly and silently. Modifier pricing should scale with the size it is applied to.
Required versus optional
Separate the choices somebody must make from the ones they may. Size and base are required and should be asked first. Extras are optional and come after. Mixing them produces a screen where the customer cannot tell what is compulsory, which slows ordering and generates errors.
- Required choices first, one screen
- Optional extras after, clearly optional
- Sensible defaults selected where a default exists
Limit the number of choices at each step
A screen with thirty toppings takes a long time to read and reduces completion. Group them, show the common ones first, and put the rest behind a see-more. Choice is good until it becomes work, and on a phone that threshold is lower than on a printed menu.
The kitchen has to be able to read it
Modifiers that print as a wall of small text cause mistakes at exactly the wrong moment. Negative modifiers in particular, like no onions, need to be visually distinct on the ticket, because they are the ones that generate remakes and refunds when missed.
The honest limitation
Building modifiers properly is genuinely fiddly work and it takes hours on a large menu. It is also the part people rush during setup, and the errors surface for months afterwards as pricing anomalies and kitchen mistakes. Budget the time once rather than paying for it repeatedly.
Questions, answered straight.
Not covered here? Just ask us.
Should extras be free?
Free extras that cost you money are a slow leak. Charge for anything with a real cost and be clear about it, rather than absorbing it invisibly.
How many modifier groups is too many?
If a customer has to make more than two or three decisions to add one item, ordering slows measurably. Consolidate or set defaults.
Do modifiers affect kitchen timing?
Yes, and heavily modified items take longer. If your quoted times do not account for that, complex orders arrive late.
Should I offer half and half?
For pizza, it is expected, and it needs pricing per side rather than as a flat option. If your system cannot price by side, you are losing money on every mixed order.
See it run your restaurant.
Twenty minutes on your menu and your numbers. We'll show you what actually changes in the first month and exactly what it costs. If it's not right for your restaurant, we'll tell you that instead.
- Live in days, not months
- We build your menu and train your staff
- No contract, and thirty days to change your mind
Rather just ring us? +353 87 438 8032
Tell us about your restaurant
We reply the same day, usually inside a couple of hours.