MenuNook: Live Menus for Local Food Sellers

MenuNook is a real-time menu platform I built for local food sellers who need a simple way to keep customers updated without managing a full e-commerce store or constantly re-exporting PDFs.

The Problem

Local food sellers often rely on PDFs, Canva exports, Instagram posts, or text messages to show what’s available. That works until prices change, items sell out, or customers need a clean link they can open from anywhere.

Product Approach

MenuNook should feel like the fastest way to go from 0 to online menu, quickly and easily, while also not feeling like a utilitarian tool that just gets the job done.

That meant prioritizing user experience, clarity, simplicity, joy, and a little polish on the menu that would make it felt trustworthy without adding operational weight.

Interactive Walkthrough

From the landing page, users can see a quick demo of the app in action so they can understand the interface and functionality at a glance.

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Cookies
3 items

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip

Soft-centered cookies with deep caramel notes and dark chocolate.

$18

Lemon Sugar

Bright lemon cookies with a sparkling sugar finish.

$16

Cookies and Cream

Vanilla cookies folded with crushed sandwich cookies.

$18

Cakes
3 items

Pickup Boxes
3 items

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Maple Street Bakes

Cookies
Cakes
Pickup Boxes

Small-batch cookies baked fresh for weekly pickups.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip

Soft-centered cookies with deep caramel notes and dark chocolate.

$18

Lemon Sugar

Bright lemon cookies with a sparkling sugar finish.

$16

Cookies and Cream

Vanilla cookies folded with crushed sandwich cookies.

$18

Cakes

Celebration cakes and simple rounds for birthdays and gatherings.

Vanilla Bean Celebration Cake

Sold out

A polished layer cake with whipped vanilla frosting.

$58

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Rich chocolate cake made for generous, easy slices.

$42

Strawberry Shortcake

Light sponge layered with cream and ripe strawberries.

$60

Pickup Boxes

Ready-to-go assortments for gifting, weekends, and market day.

Weekend Treat Box

A rotating box of weekend bakes for porch pickup.

$24

Birthday Dessert Box

Sold out

A small-format celebration box with candles included.

$28

Mini Cookie Sampler

A mixed dozen of mini cookies for gifting or sharing.

$14

When signing in, a quick state-change animation helps users know what’s happening, especially useful if the user has poor internet connectivity.

Once users are signed in, the onboarding process guides them through the essential steps to get their menu up and running.

Get Started

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Two quick steps, then your menu is ready to build.

I originally handled setup through a progressive series of forms, but that made the app feel slower and more open-ended than it needed to. Moving setup into a dedicated onboarding flow gave the process a clearer shape, removed unnecessary state-gating fetches from the home screen, and let the main app load into a more focused, ready-feeling experience.

User input shows up across MenuNook in small, focused moments like creating categories, adding items, and editing details, so I wanted each form to feel native to the screen it appears on: a centered dialog on desktop that keeps the current context visible, and a bottom drawer on mobile that is easier to reach, dismiss, and use with one hand.

Once categories and items exist, the home screen becomes the main editing surface.

I wanted ordering to feel direct instead of hidden in a settings screen, so both category cards and item rows can be moved in place.