Cafe, bakery and ice cream shop menu boards
Quick answer: DigitalSignage.com runs a cafe, bakery or ice cream counter's menu boards for $0 in software: the first 3 screens are free forever, with no credit card, ads or watermark, which covers the one or two boards a small counter needs; from the fourth screen it is $3 per screen per month. Use a TV you own with a $30 to $60 Android TV stick, build the menu in SignStudio, keep prices, today's flavors and sold-out items in a Google Sheet so staff update the board from the counter, and schedule a morning and an afternoon menu. Portrait suits a long list of flavors; landscape suits photos.
Last updated October 22, 2026. Product facts from the SignStudio components, scheduling and portrait screen pages; type sizes from our typography guide; menu rules from our FDA menu labeling page.
One screen or two
A small counter rarely needs more than two boards, and the free plan covers three.
| Counter | Boards | What goes where |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee cart or kiosk | 1, portrait, 32 to 43 inches | Drinks and sizes in one column, pastries below, today's special at the top |
| Cafe with a bakery case | 2, landscape, 43 to 55 inches | Left: drinks; right: food and the case, with photos of today's bakes |
| Ice cream or gelato counter | 1 or 2, portrait | Flavors in a grid with a sold-out mark, cones and cups with prices, allergen line, seasonal flavor featured |
| Bakery with pre-orders | 2 | One board for the counter menu, one for order pickup, holiday pre-order deadlines and a QR code to order |
Mount the board above the counter where people queue, at 6 to 10 feet from the viewer, and check it from the back of the queue, not from behind the till. Our screen size guide puts 43 to 55 inches as the comfortable range at that distance.
Portrait or landscape
| Portrait (1,080 by 1,920) | Landscape (1,920 by 1,080) | |
|---|---|---|
| Suits | Long lists: 20 flavors, a drinks menu with four sizes | Photos, a few hero items, a two-column menu |
| Reads like | A printed menu card | A poster |
| Fits | Narrow wall beside the till, a pillar, a window | Above a wide counter or the bakery case |
| Setup | Design in SignStudio's Portrait HD preset, then rotate the player's output to match the mounted screen | Default |
Our portrait guide covers the rotation step for Windows, Android, Raspberry Pi, Chrome OS and Mac players. An ice cream counter with many flavors is the clearest portrait case; a bakery that sells on photographs is the clearest landscape case.
Flavors, prices and sold-out from a Google Sheet
The daily problem at a small counter is not design, it is the 3 pm moment when the pistachio runs out. The answer is a spreadsheet the counter staff already understand:
- Make a Google Sheet with one row per item: name, price, a short description, an allergen code and a column for "available" (yes or no), plus a column for "today's special".
- Share it with the SignStudio service account.
- Add the Google Sheets component to the menu zone and select the range; the board shows the rows and follows the sheet as it changes.
- When an item sells out, staff change "yes" to "no" on a phone or the till PC; the row disappears or shows a sold-out mark, depending on how you built the scene.
- Seasonal flavors are rows you un-hide in October and hide again in January; prices change in one cell.
No one opens the layout editor during service. For a chain of counters, one sheet per shop with its own prices and the same layout everywhere.
Allergens and menu rules
An allergen line on the board saves the question at the counter and is required in some places.
- Keep a short allergen code per item (for example N for nuts, D for dairy, G for gluten, E for egg) in the sheet, show the key in a fixed corner, and keep the full ingredient list available on paper or by QR code.
- Calorie labeling under the FDA menu labeling rule applies to chains with 20 or more locations under the same name; an independent cafe is outside it, but a franchise counter may not be. Our FDA menu labeling page has the detail.
- Local rules vary on allergen disclosure and on price display; check once with your local authority, then put what they require in a fixed zone of the board so it never rotates away.
- Prices must match the till. The sheet is the one place a price lives; change it there and the board and the staff agree.
Morning and afternoon dayparts
A cafe is two shops: breakfast and coffee until about 11, then lunch and sweet things. Build two scenes and schedule them by time of day in SignStudio: the morning board with pastries and the breakfast sandwich from opening to 11, the afternoon board with cakes, cold drinks and the ice cream from 11 to close, and a "closed, back tomorrow at 7" scene after hours. A weekend brunch scene runs Saturday and Sunday only; a holiday pre-order scene runs on a date range and removes itself. Scheduling and dayparting are included on the free plan.
| Daypart | Hours | Board shows |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | Open to 11 am | Coffee and sizes, pastries, breakfast items, the bake of the day |
| Afternoon | 11 am to close | Lunch, cakes, iced drinks, ice cream flavors, the pre-order deadline |
| Happy hour or late | Last hour | Day-old bakes at a discount, "everything must go" |
| Closed | After hours | Hours, tomorrow's special, a QR code to pre-order |
Photos or text
Both, in proportion. A photograph sells a cinnamon roll in a way a word cannot, and a list of 20 gelato flavors is unreadable as 20 photographs.
| Item type | Treatment |
|---|---|
| Hero items (two or three) | A large photo each, name, price |
| Everything else | Text rows from the sheet, name and price aligned, one line of description at most |
| Flavors | A grid of names with a small colour swatch or a tiny photo, sold-out mark in text as well as colour |
| Specials | One slide that rotates with the menu every 10 to 15 seconds |
Type sizes from our typography guide for a menu board read at 6 to 10 feet: item names 36 to 60pt, prices 36pt, descriptions 24pt, on a 1080p canvas; headlines twice the body. Use your own photographs, shot in daylight on a plain board; stock photos of food that is not yours cost trust. Keep the board still: a menu that animates while someone is deciding slows the queue.
Hardware and cost
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Software, DigitalSignage.com, 1 to 3 boards | $0, forever |
| Player: Android TV stick behind any TV | $30 to $60 (our restaurant guide's figure), or an $81 to $137 Raspberry Pi build |
| Display, if you do not own one: consumer 43 to 55 inch | $300 to $450 for 55 inches; a commercial panel at $995 to $1,450 for long hours or a sunny window |
| Electricity | About $75 a year per 55-inch screen at 12 hours a day |
The SignPlayer does not run on Fire OS, Tizen or webOS, so put a stick or a Pi behind the TV rather than using its own apps. Pairing is one step: the player shows a registration code, which you type into SignStudio under Register SignPlayer. If the shop's Wi-Fi drops, the board keeps playing from the player's cache; only the Google Sheet stops updating until the connection returns, so the last menu stays up rather than a blank screen. A fourth board, for a second shop or a window display, moves the account to $3 per screen per month for every screen, so four boards are $144 a year.
Setup in an afternoon
- Create a free DigitalSignage.com account and install the SignPlayer on an Android TV stick plugged into the TV above the counter; type its registration code into SignStudio under Register SignPlayer.
- Pick a menu board template in portrait or landscape and set your colours and fonts.
- Build the Google Sheet with the item rows and share it with the SignStudio service account; place the Google Sheets component.
- Add two or three hero photos and the allergen key in a fixed zone.
- Duplicate the scene for the afternoon menu and schedule both by time of day; add the closed scene.
- Stand at the back of the queue and check that the prices read; then publish.
Frequently asked questions
Cafe, bakery and ice cream shop menu boards
A small counter needs one or two boards, which the DigitalSignage.com free plan covers: 3 screens free forever, no credit card, ads or watermark. Run them on a TV you own with a $30 to $60 Android TV stick, keep prices, flavors and sold-out items in a Google Sheet so staff update the board from the counter, show allergen codes in a fixed zone, schedule a morning and an afternoon menu, use photos for two or three hero items and text rows for the rest, and go portrait for long flavor lists.
How do I mark a flavor as sold out on a digital menu board?
From a spreadsheet. Keep one row per flavor in a Google Sheet shared with the SignStudio service account with an available column; the Google Sheets component shows the rows and follows the sheet as it changes, so staff switch yes to no on a phone or the till PC and the board updates without anyone opening the layout editor.
Should a cafe menu board be portrait or landscape?
Portrait for long lists such as 20 ice cream flavors or a drinks menu with four sizes, mounted on a narrow wall or pillar; landscape for photo-led boards above a wide counter or bakery case. Portrait scenes use SignStudio's Portrait HD preset and the player's output is rotated to match the screen.
Do I have to show calories or allergens on a cafe menu board?
The FDA menu labeling rule's calorie requirement applies to chains with 20 or more locations under the same name, so an independent cafe is outside it, though a franchise counter may not be. Allergen disclosure rules vary by place; a short allergen code per item with a key in a fixed zone, plus the full list on paper or by QR code, meets most of them. Check once with your local authority.
Can the board switch from the breakfast menu to the afternoon menu by itself?
Yes. Build a scene per daypart and schedule each by time of day in SignStudio: morning until 11, afternoon until close, a closed scene after hours, a weekend brunch scene on Saturday and Sunday, and holiday pre-orders on a date range. Scheduling and dayparting are included on the free plan.
What does a digital menu board cost for a small cafe?
Software is free for the first 3 screens on DigitalSignage.com, forever. Hardware is a TV you own plus a $30 to $60 Android TV stick, or a new consumer 55-inch TV at $300 to $450; electricity is about $75 a year per screen at 12 hours a day. A fourth board moves the account to $3 per screen per month for every screen.
Related guides
- Digital signage for restaurants and menu boards 2026
- Best menu board software 2026
- Digital menu boards
- Portrait screens and rotation
- FDA menu labeling
- Scheduling and playlists
Try it on your own screens, free
DigitalSignage.com, which publishes this guide, runs a permanent free plan: the first 3 screens are free forever (no credit card, no ads, no time limit), then from $3 per screen per month with volume pricing via a public calculator. The free SignPlayer runs on Windows, Mac, Android and Android TV, Chrome OS, Raspberry Pi, iPad or any modern web browser. Start free · 2026 pricing