💲 Best Practices for Setting Up Menu Item Prices
Setting up your Menu Item Prices correctly ensures accurate and predictable pricing behavior across your NX POS and menu configurations.
Small mistakes in price point order or modifier setup can lead to incorrect pricing — especially when dealing with items that include modifiers, prep mods, or multiple price tiers.
🎯 Understanding How NX Selects Prices
NX determines the correct price for a menu item or modifier based on the first matching price point it finds in the list.
If multiple price points meet the same conditions, NX will always use the top-most applicable price point.
That’s why price order matters — both for main menu items and their child items or modifiers.
⚙️ Example Scenario: Feta Modifier Issue
In one case, a Partner encountered a pricing issue with the modifier Feta.
Their setup looked like this:
| Price Point | Price |
|---|---|
| NO | $0.00 |
| ADD | $1.00 |
When an employee selected “Add Feta”, NX matched the first available price point with “NO” instead of “ADD,” because it appeared first in the list.
This caused NX to incorrectly apply a $0.00 price to the modifier.
✅ Correct Setup:
| Price Point | Price |
|---|---|
| ADD | $1.00 |
| NO | $0.00 |
Placing ADD above NO ensures NX reads the price points in logical priority order and applies the correct pricing every time.
📸 Example:
🧩 General Rules for Setting Up Menu Item Prices
🏷️ For Main-Level Items
When defining multiple prices for a single item (for example, based on time, promotions, or conditions), list the most restrictive prices first.
That means narrower time windows or specific conditions should come before general ones.
Example Order:
- Taco Tuesday – Tuesday 5pm–9pm
- Wednesday Half-Price Tacos – Wednesday 10am–9pm
- Happy Hour – Monday–Friday 4pm–6pm
- Regular Price – Default price
This ensures NX properly applies special pricing when multiple conditions overlap.
📸 Example:
🍽️ For Child-Level Items or Modifiers
For items like toppings, additions, or prep mods — use common price points first.
Recommended Order:
- Add – Example: Add Feta +$1.00
- Sub – Example: Substitute Feta +$1.00
- No – Example: No Feta $0.00
This ensures that when NX evaluates the modifier, it applies the most common (and typically charged) price point before moving to free or special options.
📸 Example:
🧠 Pro Tips
- Always double-check modifier ordering. If you see unexpected $0.00 charges, review your price point order first.
- Ensure price points are included in the Menu Set. Price point availability can be controlled by the current Menu Set assigned or active for the Area you are using.
- Name price points clearly — avoid duplicate names or ambiguous labels.
- Use enterprise defaults for consistent modifier pricing across multiple venues.
- Test new configurations by creating test orders in the POS to confirm expected pricing behavior.
✅ Summary
| Category | Best Practice | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Main-Level Items | Most restrictive first (limited promotions → regular price) | Ensures special prices override standard prices properly |
| Child-Level Items | Common price point first (Add → Sub → No) | Prevents $0.00 or incorrect modifier pricing |
| Price Point Naming | Use clear, consistent names | Avoids confusion and duplicate matches |
| Testing | Verify prices in POS before going live | Confirms pricing behaves as expected |
💬 Example Takeaway
When in doubt, remember:
- Top-down logic: NX uses the first matching price point.
- Main items: Most specific → least specific.
- Modifiers: Most common → least common.
A few extra seconds spent reviewing price order can save your venue hours of confusion and incorrect pricing later.