thread Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system? in Food & Beverage

Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

lilisalazar — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 01:27:36 GMT

We're currently exploring setting up a catering order form, i've done some in the past using Jotform such as this one here - https://tierradelsolpdx.com/catering

Is anyone using Square's built in online ordering for catering orders? If so i'd love to see your setup/link!

What i've found confusing is that the online ordering menus are all tied together with the main ordering page, there's no way to separate the categories, for example Regular Menu vs. Catering menu in separate ordering pages..unless i'm missing a work around..

TIA!

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

CinderBistro — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 01:37:03 GMT

We currently have all of our catering items & services added to our Square library and use the built in estimating & invoicing features. We also rely heavily on the Square Online ordering capabilities for pickups & deliveries. I think I may have find a workaround by creating a new "Catering" page where I can add the appropriate categories and items but I haven't yet had the time to actually set it up. I sure hope this is a possibility. If not, we have to find a solution soon because our catering business is expected to grow exponentially this year.

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

Donnie-M — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 14:42:11 GMT

@lilisalazar Yes, I’ve looked around quite a bit and I’m currently using Square for it, though I agree it’s not very clean out of the box.

You’re right about the limitation: online ordering menus are tied together, which makes separating regular vs catering awkward. You can make it work, but it takes some intentional structuring and restraint with categories.

That said, I’ve been thinking a lot about treating catering almost like a separate “location” within Square: same ecosystem, but isolated menus, pricing logic, and workflows. Square can get you most of the way there if you lean into how locations, menus, and fulfillment are designed, but it’s not obvious or well-documented.

Still exploring the cleanest way to do it, but I think there’s room to do catering better inside Square without bolting on a third party.

Just my 2c. Wait we don't have those anymore..Here's a nickel, call someone who cares...

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

CinderBistro — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 14:50:51 GMT

Based on Square's current design limitations, I completely agree with you that treating catering services as a separate location is the best technical option. The only major downside is the additional cost and complexity involved with doing so.

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

MAXSDELI — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 16:07:39 GMT

I’ve been looking into this for years and yes, the only viable way to setup a separate online Catering Menu seems to be, setting it up as a separate entity with a different site and url.

Typically, catering requires a different set of parameters than our online ordering site such as lead times, pickup/delivery availability, fees & gratuities, etc., making our current online ordering site unusable for Catering orders.

If anyone reading this thread has any ideas or suggestions, I’m all ears.

@isabelle

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

TheArcticCircle — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 20:38:28 GMT

Hey there,

This isn't the best option, but it works fairly okay for what we do. We added a page to our site and then put a featured item list and selected the specific catering items from our catalog.

Here's the link to our catering page. CATERING | The Arctic Circle

We also did something similar for cake ordering.

Here's the link for that. CAKES & PIES | The Arctic Circle

For fulfillment we have that set for people to pick their own pickup time so they can place orders ahead of time. Then we also in the items library under fulfillment methods we put a specific prep time for these items so people can't place them for pickup before they would be ready. For example, the cakes and pies have a 2-hour prep time so when ordering those it forces a 2-hour window. Doing this also allows us to make it so the orders show up on the KDS and print the ticket when we need to start preparing the order (this is another setting under fulfillment methods if you don't know where that is).

I'm always glad to answer any questions or help figure out specific issues you may be having.

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

lilisalazar — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 17:27:42 GMT

Hi Donnie!

I had tried that setup but was unable to show only one location's menu in one Online Ordering page and the other in a different one. From what I'm seeing we can only have 1 main online ordering pages despite having multiple locations per website... so maybe adding a separate site to that location may be a better option...

That's my nickel (doesn't have the same ring to it lol)

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

lilisalazar — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 17:32:55 GMT

@CinderBistro you're right about adding more complexity, do you know if we can have 1 Plus (paid) subscription for 1 location and 1 free plan for the second (catering) location?

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

lilisalazar — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 17:34:35 GMT

Thanks for your feedback @MAXSDELI that's the way I'm advising the team as well! 🙂

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

CinderBistro — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 17:43:16 GMT

When I was forced to setup two distinct locations for another restaurant that offered both online ordering and catering services, Square charged for both locations.

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

namilo14 — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 16:15:07 GMT

Hi, this I believe will work with what I am trying to do. Can you please let me know how did you get QTY selection on the top? See the attached screenshot.

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

lilisalazar — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 23:19:15 GMT

Yikes! Thanks for the heads up!

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

lilisalazar — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 23:22:04 GMT

The Quantity is built in by default 🙂

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

lilisalazar — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 23:24:23 GMT

Thanks for your input & nice setup! I see you're using the new bundles feature too, we just set this up for a client 🙌

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

Eddiemunster — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 10:03:18 GMT

We're still in the process of setting ours up fully-there's no photos yet. We have several locations (one Bricks and Mortar and 3 regular weekly locations for our food truck) so each location is set up on the online ordering page. Go to www.twfoven.com.au to have a look. We also have our catering location setup there so customers can preorder their catering items. There is a 2 day leadtime, so customers have to pre order and the system will give them a pickup day automatically. We're not open 7 days a week so it's a little challenging with the days that people can pickup but I'm working on this. You'll also see our menu is duplicating so that's another thing right now I have to figure out.

Setting up Catering as a separate location is a great solution. You can choose where customers pickup from and set this in the location as well as creating items with there own prep times etc. You can also create a google maps location and sync to it and set up all of your images and information there as well. There's a lot of benefits in making your catering page a separate location.

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

ribshackcaters — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 15:48:42 GMT

But does anyone cater off site??? I am looking for a work around where I can charge tiers of service and I am struggling. My current site allows the customer to choose the package and guest count but then also allows for them to pick a time / date AND THEN pickup (free), drop off only (10%), deliver and setup with disposable chafing (20%) and finally deliver real chafing and cleanup (30%). I've had 12 people from Square tell me not possible but one tell me it was, but when I followed the steps it didn't work. I will never get back to that one agent who was actually helpful!!

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

indianathomas — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 15:54:02 GMT

We us eZ Cater.

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

ribshackcaters — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 16:02:28 GMT

Like it works with Square as an integration or it’s a completely separate setup? Share your page?

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

indianathomas — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 16:18:11 GMT

Yes,

We have a website co-business called Keva Berries. Keva.com goes to Keva Berries (www.kevaberries.com). Keva Berries allows us to control the order time, quantities, and place notes. Square, however, does have limitations.

Notes:

You have the ability to set DATES and order prep times, however, it has to be done through pickup or delivery settings. Shipping settings will not work.
You can set order prep teams in case you have need time to produce all of the items.
You can setup DELIVERY and setup your fulfillment as in-store, charge fee's, etc.
You can create modifiers for custom requests, notes, etc.
You can create a separate contact form for Catering. This allows you to have a consultative meeting and then have them go back to place there order.

Recommendation's

Use eZcater.com first, hence, it's like a trusted shopping mall for businesses that want catering services.
Setup a CATEGORY called Catering and a sub-category for your different catering options.
Use Manus.AI to generate a catering site for Square based your brand, colors, theme, etc.
Begin with the customer journey in mind.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Re: Catering - Do you use Square or a third party system?

elponce — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 20:04:55 GMT

Hi there! We have a brick and mortar restaurant and do a lot of catering. I’m on ezCater but don’t love them, plus there’s commission and I don’t get the customer data to be able to market to them.

Originally I had catering on our regular online ordering site, but it was very confusing for customers. I have square for restaurants plus which I don’t have to pay for a subscription on each location, so I set up a separate catering location. I added invoicing plus to the plan so I can save on processing fees and create estimates with packages, and there is more flexibility with taking payments and retainers. The project feature in invoicing is something we are using for weddings and more full service events. I will break down the process below, but you can also see the flow if you go to elponce.com

Catering location has a free website through square- this offers online ordering for pickup only. I’m considering adding delivery so would love to know if anyone has had experience with catering delivery- we use the feature on our other location for the restaurant and love it, just not sure how they would handle large orders since I want to ensure the experience matches the price.

We have a google form on the homepage of the online ordering site for catering that allows guests to inquire about delivery, private events and offsite catering.

Once we receive an inquiry the catering sales manager sends an estimate through square invoices. If it is a simple order with delivery for drop off, usually they pay the invoice and we handle delivery or use a local service to deliver.

For offsite events with service we usually schedule a call and then send the estimate, sometimes with multiple packages for upselling- we offer bar and decor services as well as different levels of service for events. Another great feature of invoices plus is the ability to attach contracts and different customizations. These orders are where we use the projects feature, you can upload docs, create notes and it helps to keep everything in one place and the team can all see who is doing what.
I also love to see the sales separated from the restaurant so we can really track cogs, and ROI since the margins are different from our regular menu.