Best Way to Organize Vegetable Side Dishes in the Item Library?

alexjames3123 — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 10:45:17 GMT

I'm interested in learning how other restaurant owners organize vegetable side dishes like broccoli, green beans, or mixed vegetables in their Square item library.

Do you keep them in a single "Sides" category, or do you create separate categories for healthier options? Also, do you use modifiers for different preparation styles, or do you create separate items?

I'd love to hear what has worked best for your menu management and reporting.

Re: Best Way to Organize Vegetable Side Dishes in the Item Library?

ehflower — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 21:00:53 GMT

to keep things simple I would keep them as a category of sides because you can see how profitable your overall side category is by having correct cost inputted. However, maybe healthier options might have a higher cost but might not be able to command a higher price to the consumer so you would be able to compare the two categories and see if there is enough demand on a healthier option therefore slowly adjusting prices so margins might become more aligned with both categories.

Or you might want this healthier option broken out into its own category because you are buying goods that are fresh and only available for short seasons so there is a lot of change of items being offered over the course of the year for limited time only within this category; versus a very static "regular" side category

the other option you can do with square is have side category and then have two sub categories under like "healthy options" and "regular options", but i am not sure how those reports look I do not use sub categories.

Just a thought if you are brain storming.

(but the nice thing about square is you can change it easily next year if you want to lump them all together)

have a great day.

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Best Way to Organize Vegetable Side Dishes in the Item Library?

Re: Best Way to Organize Vegetable Side Dishes in the Item Library?