> From https://brixsignage.com/industries/restaurants/ . All Brix pages as markdown: https://brixsignage.com/llms.txt

# Digital Signage for Restaurants: A Full Guide

What restaurant screens should show, where they go, the hardware and software to buy, what a 3-screen restaurant pays, and the rules on calories and fees.

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Digital signage for restaurants is a set of TVs that show your menu, specials and promotions, switch from breakfast to lunch on a schedule, and change a price from a phone instead of a reprint. A typical counter-service restaurant starts with two or three menu screens behind the counter and one in the window.

Each TV needs a media player behind it (about $40 to $100) and signage software (usually $6 to $30 per screen per month). [Compare digital menu board software](https://brixsignage.com/blog/best-digital-menu-board-software/) on price, dayparting and phone editing. Brix is one option, at $6 per screen per month billed annually, or $8 billed monthly.

## What should a restaurant show on its screens?

-   **The menu board.** Categories, items and prices behind the counter or over the ordering point. This is the screen that earns its cost.
-   **Day-parts.** Breakfast until 11:00 am, lunch, dinner, happy hour and late night, each switching on its own at the set time.
-   **Specials and limited-time offers.** Posted in the morning and taken down when they sell out or the offer ends.
-   **Combos and upsells.** A featured combo or the item with the best margin, in its own part of the screen next to the full menu.
-   **A window or street screen.** Today's special or a short loop of the food, readable from the sidewalk.
-   **Order status.** A "Now serving" or order-ready number where customers wait.
-   **Reviews and social posts.** Your Google star rating or recent Instagram posts, on a screen away from the menu.

## Where should the screens go?

-   **Over or behind the counter,** where customers decide while they queue. Two or three landscape TVs side by side are the classic menu board; one portrait TV per category also works.
-   **At the start of the queue,** so customers have decided before they reach the till. A slow decision at the register costs more than any screen.
-   **In the window,** facing the street, for people who have not come in yet.
-   **In the dining room or waiting area,** for order numbers, desserts, drinks and loyalty sign-up.
-   **At the drive-through,** where the board must be weatherproof and bright enough for direct sun.

## What hardware does a restaurant need?

-   **The screen.** 43 to 55 inches for a menu board, sized so the smallest price is readable from where customers stand. A rule of thumb for signs is 1 inch of letter height for every 10 feet of distance.
-   **Brightness.** A home TV is fine indoors. A window facing the sun needs a high-brightness commercial display (commonly 2,500 nits or more), or it washes out by midday.
-   **A media player** behind each screen. The [Amazon Signage Stick](https://brixsignage.com/guides/hardware-amazon-signage-stick/) costs $99.99, an Android box such as the Walmart onn. 4K costs $39.98, and a BrightSign player costs $380 to $820. Prices are from each maker's store, September 2026.
-   **A wired network if you can.** Restaurant Wi-Fi is shared with the POS, staff phones and guests. Amazon's micro-USB Ethernet Adapter for the Signage Stick costs $14.99.
-   **Power from a wall outlet,** not the TV's USB port, which can drop voltage and make a stick reboot.

## Can prices come from your POS?

Some signage software reads item names and prices from the point-of-sale system, so a price changed at the register changes on the board. Others read from a spreadsheet.

Either is better than retyping prices into a design, which is how boards end up showing one price and charging another. Ask a vendor which POS systems it reads, and who sets up the connection.

## What does it cost for a typical restaurant?

For a restaurant with 3 menu screens behind the counter, on TVs you already own:

| Item | One time | Per year |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 3 media players (Signage Stick at $99.99) | $300 |  |
| 3 Ethernet adapters (optional) | $45 |  |
| Software at $6 to $30 per screen per month |  | $216 to $1,080 |

New TVs are extra. Yodeck lists $8 to $16 per screen per month. OptiSigns lists $9 to $40.50 billed annually, or $10 to $45 billed monthly. Both are from their pricing pages, September 2026. See [digital signage cost](https://brixsignage.com/blog/how-much-does-digital-signage-cost/).

## Rules that apply to restaurant menu boards

-   **Calories.** In the US, a restaurant in a chain of 20 or more locations must show calories on its menu boards, including digital ones. See [calorie labeling on digital menu boards](https://brixsignage.com/blog/calorie-labeling-digital-menu-boards/).
-   **Service charges in California.** A mandatory service charge must be shown, with its purpose, on any menu or display with prices. See [California service charge law for menus](https://brixsignage.com/blog/california-restaurant-service-charge-menu/).

Check with your local health department for other local rules.

## Mistakes restaurants make with menu screens

-   **Too many items on one screen.** Split the menu across screens or pages; keep each readable from the queue.
-   **Prices typed into an image.** Every price change becomes a design job. Keep prices in data the board reads.
-   **A smart TV's own apps.** Smart TVs update themselves and show their own home screen after a power cut. A separate player that starts straight into the menu avoids that.
-   **Guest Wi-Fi.** Screens that share Wi-Fi with every diner freeze at the busiest hour. Wire them, and choose software that keeps playing from stored content when the network drops.
-   **Screens on all night.** Set screen hours so the TVs turn off when you close.

For step-by-step setup on one TV, see [how to display a menu on a TV](https://brixsignage.com/blog/ultimate-guide-tv-to-digital-menu-board/).

## Where Brix fits

Brix is signage software that runs on the Amazon Signage Stick, Fire TV, Android boxes and Windows PCs. It costs $6 per screen per month billed annually, or $8 billed monthly, so the 3-screen restaurant above pays $216 a year.

-   **Menu Board app.** Builds the board from a Google Sheet, a CSV or JSON file, or an API, with the columns Category, Item, Price, Description, Image, Sold out and Calories. Long menus change page on their own, sold-out items show with a line through or hide, and one line at the bottom holds a service charge or allergy notice.
-   **Calories.** The US chain (FDA) setting formats calories and adds the two statements the rule asks for.
-   **POS.** Brix connects to Toast, Square and Clover. Our team sets up the connection with you. [Talk to us](https://brixsignage.com/demo).
-   **Day-parts.** [Schedules](https://brixsignage.com/guides/schedules/) switch breakfast, lunch and dinner on their own.
-   **Order numbers.** The Now Serving app shows a number staff change from a phone.
-   **Opening hours.** A new screen follows Standard hours, 6:00 am to 11:00 pm, and the Signage Stick turns the TV off outside them. See [screen settings and display power](https://brixsignage.com/guides/screen-settings-and-display-power/).
-   **Offline.** Content is stored on the player and keeps playing when the network drops.

![A Menu Board with the US chain (FDA) calorie format and a note at the bottom.](https://brixsignage.com/images/screenshots/menu-board-app-rendered.png)

A Menu Board with the US chain (FDA) calorie format and a note at the bottom.

Setup takes about 10 minutes per screen. Brix does not sell screens and does not take orders: for self-order kiosks or a weatherproof drive-through system, go to a kiosk or drive-through specialist.

[Start your free 7-day trial](https://brixsignage.com/start). No card needed. Several locations and want a walkthrough first? [Book a demo](https://brixsignage.com/demo).

## Put Brix on your screens

Live in about 10 minutes. One plan: $6/screen/month billed annually ($8 month to month). No credit card to try.

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