Adding menu items in Micros Simphony is a relatively easy task and a fairly common one for restaurant managers, but there are a few essential aspects you need to keep in mind.
In this article, I will teach you how to add menu items, remove and edit them, as well as some best practices you need to keep in mind when doing maintenance on your Oracle Hospitality Simphony system (1).
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Adding menu items in Micros Simphony
In order to start adding menu items in Micros, we need to open EMC, select the level where we need to add the new item (enterprise, property, or RVC), and open the menu items module from the configuration tab.
If you need a refresher on EMC and its different levels, check out my article here: EMC Complete Guide.
Once you open the menu items module, you will have to click the “Search” key to populate the entire database and see all the menu items you have in the system already.
Menu items are added in groups, so it’s best practice to keep the different items within their group based on the menu item number. For example, I have all my appetizers in the 3000 to 4000 range and my soups between 4000 and 5000. So if I want to add a new appetizer, I will add it in the 3000-4000 range to keep the database organized and clean.
The best way to add a new menu item is to use a template. If you want to add a new appetizer to your screen, find another appetizer that behaves in the same way and use it as a temple. What do I mean by “behaves the same”? Here are some examples of things to consider:
- It appears in the same area of the screen,
- Requires and allows the same condiments,
- Requires seat position.
Once you have a good template, we will use the search functionality to locate it in the database. You can use the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + F” or click the binocular icon in the top bar to pull up the search window. In the field, we will select “name” and in the “text to find” area, enter the name of your desired template and click find next. If there are multiple items with the same name, click find next until you locate the correct one.
Related Article: Combo Meals.
Now that you have a good template to use, select it and click the insert key (green plus in the top bar).
In the “add menu item” window that appears, select the following options:
- The task to perform: “add master record from template”
- Master to copy: Tomato Bruschetta (your template)
- Name: Enter the name of your menu new menu item
- Record Number: the next available record number in the correct range (ex: 3000-4000)
- Price: Enter the price of the new Menu item.
Once you add all the needed information, click ok to add the new menu item.
Once the new menu item was added successfully, you will be prompted to add another one. Answer “yes” if you have more appetizers to add, or “no” if you are done.
If needed, adjust the Major Groups and Family Groups.
PRO TIP: If you are replacing an old item with a new one, you will be tempted just to change the name and price, but don’t do that! Simply changing the name of an item will cause issues in reporting and confusion with sales totals down the line. Add your new menu item as mentioned above and keep reading to see how to remove the old one off the screen.
You can also use the Simpony Search Feature to order Menu Items on the POS, which is very useful, especially when you have many items, such as wine lists. For more details, check out my article on Ordering Wine by Bin Number.
For more Free Content on other Simphony modules, also Read this Article.
Changing menu items in Micros Simphony
Sometimes we need to make changes to an existing menu items in our Simphony POS. Examples include:
- Changing prices
- Removing Items from the screen
- Changing required condiments
- Changing print classes
Menu items have three components:
- Master Record – Name and reporting
- Definition – Item Behavior (print class, condiments, and location on the screen)
- Price – Item price
Depending on what changes we are trying to make, we will work with one or multiple of these components.
First, we will find the item in the database using the “find feature” described above.
Now let’s take a few examples of changes.
Related Post: Repeat Items Round
Removing a menu item from the screen
There are several ways to remove a menu item from the screen, but the best way to do it is to remove the SLU from the menu item definition section.
Select the definition record, scroll to the right until you locate the SLU field, select the ellipsis (…) and from the dropdown, select “none”.
This will not remove the menu item from the database; we never want to do this because this item has sales totals from the past attached to it, and removing it will cause issues in reporting. Instead, this will remove the item from the POS screen so the servers don’t see it anymore. If we ever bring this item back in the future, adding it to the screen is super easy; just add the SLU.
As with everything in EMC, remember to save after you make any changes by clicking the disk icon on the top bar.
Related Post: Programming Weighed Menu Items.
PRO TIP: Some systems use “hard-coded” buttons instead of SLUs, so to remove a menu item from the screen, you will have to manually remove each button in Page Design.
Changing the price of a menu item in Micros Simphony
Changing Prices in Simphony is very fast and easy. All we have to do is find the item and navigate to the price tab. From there, we can just change the price and save.
If you need to make multiple changes at once, such as a $1 price increase to all your entrees, Simphony also has a bulk price editor that can make the process super fast.
All you have to do is select all the items by holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard or by dragging the rectangle at the beginning of the row, then right-click and select “Bulk Price Editor.” From the dropdown select “Increase Price by Amount”, enter $1, and click “apply changes”.
And as always, remember to save.
Changing the print class and condiments for a menu item will require changes to the Menu Item Classes module.
If you are having issues with your printers, check out our Kitchen Printers Article.
If you are looking for more Simphony Training, we have a complete online course and support platform. More details below.
Now it's your turn!
- Do you have any questions about Menu Item Maintenance in Micros Simphony?
- What kind of changes to menu items do you find yourself making most often?
- Let me know in the comments below!
33 thoughts on “Menu Items in Micros Simphony – 2024 New Complete Guide”
I want to add at tip line on the guest check so the servers have the chance to get tips on our free breakfast, but when we print the check it automatically closes and doesnt let us add the tip for the guest to sign to the room.
How can I adjust that on emc.
In order to add the tip line, you need to have it printed in the Guest Check Trailer (similar to the Credit Card Trailers).
An example will look like this:
** FOR ROOM CHARGE ONLY **
Tip:______________
Total:____________
Room Number:______
Signature:________
After the guests add the total with the tip on there, you will have over-tender the check, which means entering the total amount first and then hitting the room charge key. The order is important! Ammount, then hit the key.
Example:
The check Total is: $10.00
The tip is $2.00
You enter 12.00 and the hit room charge. The system will prompt to confirm if $2.00 is a tip.
Confirm, and you are good.
When accessing the Micros Oracle Reporting and Analytics web page to retrieve various reports, multiple menu items are not corresponding correctly to the actual item sold.
For example, when a sale for a Lobster Roll has been posted, the Lobster Roll shows up correctly on the guest check. However, when looking at the sale in Reporting & Analytics, the sale shows up as “BRUSSELS SPROUTS”.
Any idea how I can have this resolved?
Thanks!
This can happen if someone does not change the menu item correctly.
When removing a menu item from the database, like the Brussel Sprouts, and simply replacing the name in EMC with Lobster Roll, R&A does not change the name as well.
If this happens a lot, with many changes, its really difficult to keep track.
You can try to adjust menu Item masters in R&A and open a case with the Help Desk.
Can we apply No Discount on each item on menu items in Micros,
Sure, you can create item discounts that apply to individual items, not the entire check.
Select the “item discount” option bit in EMC when programming your discount.
how are payment types configured
Hey Dax,
Payment Types are configured in the Tender Media tab.
New to simphony. Currently changing item prices and there’s doesn’t seem to be consistent method to there being some items that update correctly on our POS and others stay with their old price. We are saving the change in the EMC client, updating the database on the POS, and closing and restarting the POS application. Thoughts?
Hey Matt,
It sounds like your database has a bunch of overrides at the lower levels (such as RVC, Property or Zone).
If you are changing the price at the enterprise level and an override exists at the RVC level, then that information does not flow down, you will need to also change it at the RVC level, or which ever level as the override present.
Levels and overrides are a bit confusing at first, but make sense after.
This video should help: https://youtu.be/OiRBZKFxtl0?si=-bmq1FqmmLgmpPuI
Is there any option to use the effective group for different priced items, it will be amount change for every item will be different
Are the prices different based on revenue center or time period? You can also try to use automatic discounts to change the price based on different conditions. I need more info to help.
I’m trying to change a few disparate item’s prices permanently on a date in the future… would effectivity groups accomplish this? I’m used to being able to create price_def records under an item with effectivity dates but this concept doesn’t translate well in Simphony.
If I assign only a handful of items this new effectivity group with new price records… will all of our other menu items without price changes remain active if they aren’t in any effectivity group? Any recommended steps or ways to stage price changes would be supremely useful, thanks!
Is there a way I can have a specific menu item only show up in certain RVCs? Right now the only way I see it being possible is by manually overriding every single record. Is there a way to pick and choose which RVCs will have a particular menu item? Thank you!
Hey Martin,
You can do it in multiple ways:
1. Add the Menu Item Masters and Definitions at the Enterprise or Property Level, then add the prices at the RVC level (where needed). Menu Items with no price records will not show on the other RVC’s.
2. If you have multiple properties with the same setup, like a chain restaurant, you can also use zones. Group the RVC’s in different zones (restaurants together, bars together etc.) and add the prices at the zone level.
3. You can also consider using different SLU’s for each RVC, but I think that will be more complicated.
Can I please get some help with this, it is urgent, and we have no one to ask.
I am new to this programme, and was shown only how to make new products.
I had to make a new product for my department. I made a mistake along the way, and instead of the product only showing up in my department, it was shown in all other departments. I found out what I did wrong, so I know for next time.
BUT, one of those other departments is a restaurant, and the server had the new product added to one of the tabs, because that new product had a similar name to a product the restaurant uses… Without knowing that her tab was still opened with this new product on it, I went in and deleted the product from the main database. I chose to delete it because we haven’t started with that product yet, and I was told all tabs were closed, so I thought it would not cause any problems. Now, the product is deleted, but she cannot close the tab, because the product still shows (it says “menu item” instead of the actual name that was on there before). We cannot delete it from the till, we cannot close the tab, we cannot print it out as cash, nothing. Any sollutions for this?
Thanks!
Try to reboot the workstation and then try to void the entire check using the void check key.
If that doesnt work, add the menu item back, update the WS, void the item from the check, then delete it again.
I know that renaming menu items will cause headaches down the line in regards to reporting… but is that only in relation to Name1? Can I rename Name2/Name3 without consequences relating to item alignment in R&A? Thanks!
No, it’s in relation to the object number, any of the 3 names will behave the same.
If you change the any names, you cause issues in reporting and alignment.,
I am trying to have a menu item show across multiple SLU’s. I thought this would be as simple as selecting the multiple SLU’s in the master record. However, all of the items I have done so far are only showing on the SLU in SLU 1 spot. Help?
In order to make the item show up under multiple SLU’s, you will need to add another definition under the same Menu Item Master and assign the second SLU under Definition 2.
how to add the same item to more than one revenue center with different prices?
You will need to add the Menu Item at the property level, that will make it appear under all RVC’s, then create an override for the price record at the RVC level and change the price locally.
Hi Michael.
Could you please help me with one thing?
We have oysters in our menu, and currently we have set 3 different menu items (1 oyster, 6 oysters and 12 oysters). The problem we are facing is that we are not able to use the countdown feature when we know the total of oysters we have left (e.g 50 units) because we have 3 different menu items. Is there a better way to set up? maybe use a modifier that would multiply the number of tye original item?
ps. each item has different prices – ordering a dozen would be cheaper than ordering 12 separately.
thank you
Hello,
I’m afraid there is not a lot you can do there with that setup.
If you want to use the countdown functionality, I would keep one menu item (1 oyster) and add automatic discounts for 6 and 12 to reduce the price when buying more.
That way the automatic discount will kick in on its own and reduce the price, you have accurate reporting and you can use the countdown.
Make the 12 Oysters automatic discount Priority 1, and the 6 Oysters Priority 2, and make them exclusive of each other.
That way if the order 6 and then 6 more, the 12 Oysters discount will replace the other one and take over.
hi wish my message finde you will please could help me how i can remove open food in laundery
In order to remove a food item off the screen, open menu item maintenance, located the item using the find key, open the definition section and remove the SLU. Save and update.
In rare cases where the items are hard coded on the screen, you can remove the button in page design (rare cases).
Hi, I hope this message finds you well. Please, I would like to know how I can remove an item from the laundry , for more explication i have in laundery open food , open liquor and open beer so i don’t want use it in laundery .
thank you
If you just need to remove it from a single RVC, you can open menu item maintenance at the Laundry RVC Level, find the open item there and delete the price record. I know its an open item so its probably priced at 0, but if you remove the price record, the item will disappear and not work anymore.
We want to remove it at the RVC level so we dont affect the other locations.
Another thing to consider is making the open items manager only, that way they won’t be used where they are not suppose to.
Is there a way to set up the expiry of a menu item in Simphony?
You can use auto hiding to make the button disappear at some point, but then you have to programm it back to make it appear again.
By default there is no expiration option in Simphony, but can possible be added with custom programming.
Is there any way to have a trailer print differently when a different type of payment is used to close the check?
Such as (in hotel) I would like the room charge closed dockets to print a different trailer to a cash closed docket.
I’m afraid not. Not in the core system.
You can probably do it with custom programming.