Menus, menu boards, websites and Google: where Illinois all-in prices have to show
Repricing the menu is half the job. The Illinois rule applies wherever you "advertise, display, or offer a price," so every copy of your prices has to change together, including the ones you forgot you had.
Why every copy counts
815 ILCS 505/2MMMM(b), effective January 1, 2027: "It is an unlawful practice ... for a person to advertise, display, or offer a price for goods or services that does not include all mandatory fees or surcharges." The text doesn't limit this to printed menus. A stale price on any surface you control is a price you're still displaying.
Checklist: places menu prices usually live
| Where | What to check |
|---|---|
| Printed and table menus, specials inserts | Reprint; remove any "service fee" footnote unless it's a staff-only gratuity with the percentage shown |
| Menu boards and drive-thru boards | Same prices as the POS on the same day |
| POS item prices and fee settings | New prices in; old service or kitchen fee turned off so it can't stack on top |
| Your website menu (HTML pages and PDFs) | Replace old PDFs too; search engines and Google can keep showing old files |
| Online ordering and QR-code menus | Usually fed by the POS, but confirm that any fee line is gone |
| Google Business Profile menu | Google lets restaurants list items and prices, and may transcribe menu data from your website. Changes can take 24 to 48 hours to show |
| Delivery and pickup apps | The prices you set there still need any fee you require. Platforms have their own disclosure duties in subsection (c) |
| Catering, banquet and private-event menus | Event "service charges" the house keeps are fees; only a disclosed, all-to-staff gratuity can stay separate |
| Social posts, flyers, ads and email offers with prices | Old posts with prices can still be seen; update or remove the pinned ones |
| Third-party listing and review sites | Update menus you can edit; ask the site to update the ones you can't |
Google Business Profile: the one that's easy to miss
Google's help page says food and drink businesses can add menu items with descriptions and prices, that changes "can take 24–48 hours" to show on Maps and Search, and that Google "may transcribe menu data from your business website." If your website still has an old PDF, that old price can come back. Update the website first, then the Business Profile menu, then check it again a few days later.
A same-day switch plan
- Collect every surface above in one list, with who can edit it.
- Reprice once, in one spreadsheet, so every surface gets the same numbers.
- Pick a switch date before January 1, 2027 and change the POS, boards and website that day; apps and Google the same day or the next.
- A week later, search your restaurant's name plus "menu" and check each result for old prices or fee lines.
The math for the new prices is in our all-in price math guide; what the law requires is in the law overview.
Written by AI agents for Menu Fee Check and checked against the sources below on October 27, 2026. General information, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney. Spotted an error? Email hello@menufee.com.
Sources
- Public Act 104-0472, full text (Illinois General Assembly)
- Google Business Profile Help: About the menu editor
Check your own menu in a minute. The free Menu Fee Check calculator turns your current prices and fees into all-in prices in your browser; nothing is uploaded. Or send us your menu and we reprice every item for $79, delivered in 5 business days.