Option groups let guests customize an item without you creating a separate item for every combination. For example, a Choose a side group holds Fries and Salad. Options and option groups are also known as modifiers and modifier groups.
✅ Short on time? Ask Owner Agent to set up an option group for you. Open Ask Owner in your Owner Dashboard or Owner App.
Requirements
The Manage menus permission. See Staff jobs and permissions.
Before you start
Choose the location you want to change. These steps are for menus you build in Owner, including Owner POS menus.
If your menu comes from a third-party POS (a POS from another company, not Owner POS), create options and set required choices in that third-party POS. A Managed in your POS label means you make that change in your third-party POS, not in Owner. To change how those groups look to guests, see Customize how your third-party POS menu looks in Owner.
When you add the same group to another item, you reuse it. Changing Choose a side changes every item using that group. Create a separate group when two items need different options or rules.
Choose how guests pick
For a sandwich, you might require one side but let guests skip extra toppings. A required choice and a preselected choice do different things:
Required: Guests must make a choice before adding the item.
Preselected: A choice starts checked. Guests can change it while meeting the group's rules.
Price: Each selected choice can add to the item's price. Preselecting it does not make it free.
Use your Owner Dashboard to choose how guests pick or to preselect a choice. The Owner App uses Selection rules (a minimum and maximum) instead.
In the Owner Dashboard
Open Menu in the left-hand navigation and choose your location. Create any new options first using Create and manage options, then return here to create the group.
Name the group and choose its rules
Open Option groups.
Click Create Option group.
Enter the name guests should see in Group name.
Choose how guests pick under Option selection.
Choose the type that matches the item:
Single: Guests must choose exactly one, such as Fries or Salad.
Multiple: Guests can choose different extras, such as Cheese and Avocado.
Quantity: Guests can choose more than one of the same extra, such as two sauces.
Pizza: Guests choose which side gets each topping. See Set up pizza toppings.
For Multiple, Quantity, or Pizza, turn on Limit option selection to set Minimum and Maximum. A minimum of zero makes the group optional. A minimum of one or more makes it required. Quantities count toward these totals: two sauces count as two selections.
Add options before saving
A required group needs options before you can save it. For the sandwich's side, add Fries and Salad.
Under Options, click Add Options.
Select the existing options you want.
Click the Add confirmation button for your selection. Its label includes Option or Options, depending on how many you chose.
Click Save on the group.
Saving a group does not add it to an item. Use the next steps to attach it.
Add the group to an item
Open Menu › Items and choose the item.
Under Option groups, click Add Option groups.
Select the group to add.
Click Add Option group. The button includes the number selected when you choose several.
Click Save Item.
Preselect an option
Use this when an item starts with a usual option, such as Fries, but guests can change it.
Open Menu › Option groups and choose the group.
Find the option under Options.
Check its Preselect box.
Click Save.
You can preselect more than one option in a group, like the standard toppings on a burger. In an optional group, guests can uncheck any of them. In a required group, guests can swap the choice but can't leave it blank, so a preselected Fries can become Salad. The same preselection applies to every item that uses this group.
Change the name or availability
Open Menu › Option groups and choose the group.
Change Group name to rename it for guests.
Under Advanced Settings, use Available to change whether the group is offered.
Click Save.
To give staff a separate name, open More settings and turn on Use a different name internally. Enter the internal name, then click Save. Guests keep seeing the group name, while staff see the internal name in the Owner Dashboard and on kitchen tickets. This helps with shorter kitchen labels or a kitchen that works in another language.
In the Owner App
Open More › Menu. Choose your location in the top-left, then choose your menu from the menu-name dropdown.
Create a group on an item
Open the item through its category.
Tap + Add option group.
Tap + Create new option group.
Enter the group name.
Tap Save.
Then open the group and add its options. Use Edit to set its rules with the steps below.
Reuse a group
Open the item that should offer the group.
Tap + Add option group.
Select the existing group.
Tap Save.
This Save adds the group to the item. You do not need a second item Save for this action.
Change a group's settings
Open the group from an item or the menu's Options tab.
Tap Edit in the top-right.
Change the name, availability, or Selection rules you need.
Tap Save in the top-right.
In Selection rules, set the Minimum guests must choose and the Maximum they can choose. Tap Done to return to the group, then Save to keep the change. To preselect choices, use the Dashboard steps above.
To give staff a separate name, tap Internal name, choose Yes, and enter the name. Tap Done, then Save.
On your Owner Tablet or Owner POS
Open Menu in the left-hand navigation. Choose the menu, then open the item through its category.
These steps are for menus you build in Owner, including Owner POS menus. If your menu comes from a third-party POS (a POS from another company), create and manage its groups in that third-party POS.
Create a group on the item
Tap Create new option below the item's groups.
Enter the group name in Option name.
Tap Done.
On this item screen, Create new option creates an option group, not an individual option. Open the group to add its options.
Reuse a group
Tap Add existing options below the item's groups.
Select the existing group.
Tap Done.
Here, the entries in Add existing options are option groups. Done saves the addition without another Save button.
Change the group's rules
Open the group.
Tap Selection rules.
Set Minimum and Maximum.
Tap Done.
For a required single side, set both to one. For optional extras, set Minimum to zero. Done saves these rules.
Tap the group's availability status and choose when to stop offering it. This saves immediately and affects every item using the group. To change the name guests see or preselect choices, use the Dashboard steps above. Edit name on the tablet changes the staff name, which can differ from the guest name.
Check what guests see
Open the item on your ordering website. Check that guests can choose the right side, that required choices cannot be skipped, and that the total includes the right extras.