Facebook has, somewhat quietly, rolled out the option for restaurants to add their menu to their Facebook page via a PDF.

While this may not be an earth shattering update it does relieve the need to install a third party app and then take the time to customize the menu and update any pricing or menu changes one at a time.

I see this new option as a Godsend for restaurant owners who want to get their menu online, fast.

While the process is fairly simple there are some hang-ups with the current system and its availability that should be mentioned before I show you how it’s done.

First, this option is only available for pages that have “self-identified” as a restaurant. Which according to comments online means hotel owners who offer a menu through an in-house café or room service do not have the option to add their menu.

Second, you can only upload a menu via PDF (unless you are using Constant Contacts – Single Platform) as detailed on Facebook’s article. At this time no other file format is allowed, which may not be a big deal unless you haven’t changed your menu in last couple of years and the only digital version you have is a JPEG or some other file. Personally, I know a lot of restaurant owners who fall into this category. Hopefully a multi-type file option is available soon, but we’ll see.

It should also be mentioned that your PDF be in one file. It can have multiple pages in the file, but it must contain your whole menu if you want a user to be able to view everything you offer.

In short you can NOT upload multiple PDF files.

And lastly, this option is only available to businesses in the U.S. and Canada. Facebook’s Timothy Rathschmidt has said “For now it’s U.S. and Canada. We’ll look to roll it out to more countries, but no timing on that.”

Now let’s take a look at how easy it is to add your restaurant’s menu.

1)      Navigate to the left sidebar on your page and in the “About” section you should see your contact information and an option to add your menu.

If you do not see this option in the sidebar you can also navigate to the “Settings” tab at the top of your page and then access the “Page Info” option on the left inner sidebar and navigate to “Menu” in main panel.

2)      After you click on either option above you’ll be presented with a button to upload your file (please note that a 1MB file size is the maximum allowed).

3)      Click “Save Changes” and your menu is now live on both desktop and mobile applications!

Even with some minor inconveniences I must say Facebook has done a great job of making it extremely easy to upload a menu to their platform.

What’s this mean going forward?

Maybe we are on the verge of something significant here, a robust option for online ordering? This wouldn’t seem so far off if Yelp had not acquired SeatMe recently.

Or maybe it’s just Facebook’s way of trying to attract more business owners to the platform.

What do you think? Tell me in the comments below.