Menyu

Country guide

Restaurant owners in the United States: the rules your menu follows, and Menyu’s limits

Seven US cities, picked by population on July 1, 2025, and the federal rules behind a restaurant menu: the nine major food allergens, the FDA Food Code that states adopt, calorie labeling for chains and sales tax. Menyu works for a US restaurant within limits: prices show in dollars and opening hours follow your city’s clock once you choose both in the settings, but guests cannot pay online. This page says plainly what works and what does not.

Cities in this guide

  1. Rank 1
    New York CityPop. 8,584,629 (2025)
  2. Rank 2
    Los AngelesPop. 3,869,089 (2025)
  3. Rank 3
    ChicagoPop. 2,731,585 (2025)
  4. Rank 4
    HoustonPop. 2,397,315 (2025)
  5. Rank 5
    PhoenixPop. 1,665,481 (2025)
  6. Rank 6
    PhiladelphiaPop. 1,574,281 (2025)
  7. Rank 7
    San AntonioPop. 1,548,422 (2025)

How these cities were chosen

The seven most populous cities in the United States on July 1, 2025, according to the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimates. Each page covers the city itself, not its metropolitan area; the New York City page covers its five boroughs.1

Menyu in this country

What Menyu can do here

Menyu works for a US restaurant, with limits. In the settings you choose US dollars and your city’s time zone: prices are typed and shown in dollars, with nothing converted, and the opening status and timed categories follow local time. Dishes translate into 25 languages and show their allergens, with dietary filters for guests, behind a QR code in your colors at an address that never changes; the dashboard runs in English. Where it falls short: online payment needs an account created in France, the sign-up phone field expects a French number, the opening status reads in French (“Ouvert · Jusqu’à…”) even on an English menu, allergens follow the EU list of 14 rather than the nine US major food allergens, orders have no tip line, and the subscription is billed in euros.

Works, with limits

Checked October 22, 2026

What works

  • Menu prices in US dollars, chosen in the settings; nothing is convertedIncluded
  • Opening status and timed categories on your city’s time zone, chosen in the settingsIncluded
  • QR code in your colors, with your logoIncluded
  • A menu address that never changes: edits go live without reprintingIncluded
  • Dishes translated into 25 languages, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean includedIncluded
  • Allergens per dish, from the EU list of 14Included
  • A vegetarian filter and one for each of the 14 allergensIncluded
  • Up to 10 photo or video stories on the menuIncluded
  • A preview of your menu from its link, no account neededIncluded
  • Dashboard in English and FrenchIncluded
  • Essentiel €49, Premium €79, Beyond €149 a month, billed in eurosIncluded

The limits

  • No online payment for a US restaurant: payment accounts can only be opened in France.
  • Dishes translate into 25 languages, but the menu’s buttons stay in English or French, and the opening status shows in French only (“Ouvert · Jusqu’à…”), even on an English menu.
  • No tip line and no service charge on orders placed from the menu.
  • Allergens follow the EU list of 14, not the nine major food allergens of US law: wheat only appears under gluten.
  • The optional phone field at sign-up expects a ten-digit French number: a US number would be saved without its +1 code.
  • Menyu bills its plans in euros, whatever currency your menu shows.
  • No text messages: booking confirmations go out by e-mail, with no reminder.
  • No connection to a POS or a till.
  • No custom domain: the menu lives on menyu.club.
  • One account per venue.

National rules

Rules that shape your menu

Local rules

Nine major food allergens, sesame since 2023

Federal law names nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) named the first eight, which then accounted for 90 percent of food allergies and serious allergic reactions in the country.2

The FASTER Act, signed on April 23, 2021, added sesame as the ninth. Since January 1, 2023, it must be labeled as an allergen on packaged foods.23

These labeling rules target packaged food. Most food sold in restaurants without a label falls outside them, and so does food wrapped or boxed after a customer orders.2

For your menu

Menyu tags dishes from the EU list of 14: it names eight of the nine, files wheat under gluten and adds celery, mustard, lupin, mollusks and sulfites. Check each dish against the US list.

Local rules

The FDA Food Code, a model each state adopts

The FDA publishes the Food Code as a model for regulating restaurants and food stores; local, state, tribal and federal regulators use it to write their own rules. It is offered for adoption, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, and the 2026 edition is the latest.45

Since its 2022 edition, the model asks restaurants to tell consumers in writing about major food allergens in unpackaged food (paragraph 3-602.12(C)).6

States set the details. Illinois accepts a QR code as written notice, provided the restaurant considers whether it suits its guests and keeps physical copies for those who ask. Massachusetts requires every printed menu and menu board to ask guests to tell their server about a food allergy before ordering.78

For your menu

Keep the printed menu: in some states the law speaks of printed menus and menu boards. The Chicago and Houston pages give the local version.

Local rules

Calories on the menu, for chains of 20 or more

Since May 7, 2018, restaurants that belong to a chain of 20 or more locations, trading under the same name with substantially the same menu items, must show the calories of standard items on menus and menu boards, and provide written nutrition information on request.9

For your menu

An independent restaurant with fewer than 20 locations is outside this federal rule.

Economy

Sales tax, set by each state with local additions

Sales tax is not federal. Texas, for instance, charges 6.25% and lets cities, counties, special purpose districts and transit authorities add up to 2%, for a maximum combined rate of 8.25%.10

Price display rules are state law too: in California, the Attorney General notes that a listed price may leave out government taxes such as sales tax. The Los Angeles page covers California’s rules on restaurant fees.11

For your menu

Menyu shows the prices you type, in dollars once you pick that currency in the settings, and does not connect to your POS: taxes stay on the check your POS prints.

Questions

Questions and answers

Can a US restaurant use Menyu today?

Yes, with limits. In the settings, choose US dollars and your city’s time zone: prices show in dollars, and the opening status and timed categories follow local time. The menu itself works as in France: translated dishes, allergens and filters, a QR code in your colors, a dashboard in English.

Online payment still needs an account opened in France, orders have no tip line, the opening status reads in French, and plans are billed in euros. Each city page sets out what that means locally.

Which allergens does a US menu have to show?

Federal labeling law covers packaged food and names nine major allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. For dishes served in a restaurant, the duty to inform guests comes from the food code your state or city has adopted; the FDA’s model has asked for written notice of major allergens in unpackaged food since its 2022 edition.

Menyu shows allergens dish by dish from the EU list of 14, which names eight of the nine and files wheat under gluten.246

Can a QR code replace the printed menu?

Not everywhere. Massachusetts requires an allergy notice on all printed menus and menu boards, and Illinois, which accepts a QR code for allergen information, asks restaurants to keep physical copies for guests who request them.

Keep the paper menu; Menyu adds the version that changes without a reprint.78

Illinois rules, on the Chicago page
Do I have to show calories on my menu?

Only if your restaurant belongs to a chain of 20 or more locations trading under the same name with substantially the same menu. Covered restaurants have shown calories for standard items on menus and menu boards since May 7, 2018, and give written nutrition information on request.9

Can guests pay or tip through Menyu in the US?

No. Online payment needs a payment account opened in France, and orders placed from the menu have no tip line. Menyu does not connect to your POS either.

Does my US phone number work at sign-up?

The field is optional and expects a ten-digit French number: a US number typed as ten digits would be saved as a plus sign followed by those digits, without the +1 country code. Leave it blank.

Why these seven cities?

They are the seven most populous US cities on July 1, 2025, in the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimates, from New York City (8,584,629 residents) to San Antonio (1,548,422). Each page covers the city proper, not its metro area.1

Method

Sources

Each fact on this page points to one of these sources, read on the date shown.

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Growth Holds Steady in Midsized Cities Amid Widespread Slowdowncensus.gov · accessed October 21, 2026

  2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Food Allergiesfda.gov · accessed October 21, 2026

  3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, The FASTER Act: Sesame Is the Ninth Major Food Allergenfda.gov · accessed October 21, 2026

  4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA Food Codefda.gov · accessed October 21, 2026

  5. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Food Code 2026fda.gov · accessed October 21, 2026

  6. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Summary of Changes in the 2022 FDA Food Codefda.gov · accessed October 21, 2026

  7. Illinois Department of Public Health, Allergen Requirements for Packaged, Unpackaged, and Bulk Labeling Frequently Asked Questionsdph.illinois.gov · accessed October 21, 2026

  8. Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Food Allergen Awareness FAQsmass.gov · accessed October 21, 2026

  9. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Menu Labeling Requirementsfda.gov · accessed October 21, 2026

  10. Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Sales and Use Taxcomptroller.texas.gov · accessed October 21, 2026

  11. California Attorney General, SB 478 - Hidden Feesoag.ca.gov · accessed October 21, 2026