How We Verify Menu Prices — and Why Some Are Missing
Our one firm rule: never publish a price we can't verify. Here's how that works in practice, and why you'll sometimes see an item with no price at all.
Menupedia is a reference, and a reference is only worth as much as its trustworthiness. So it's worth being plain about how we put a restaurant page together — where the data comes from, what we do when we can't confirm something, and why you'll occasionally see an item listed with no price next to it. This is the editorial standard the whole site is built on.
The one rule: don't invent data
The single rule that governs every page is simple: we do not invent menu items or prices. If we can't verify a price from a credible public source, we don't make one up to fill the gap. We'd rather show you an incomplete page that's honest than a complete-looking page that's partly fiction. Everything below is just the practical machinery for keeping that rule.
Where the data comes from
Our primary source for any restaurant is the restaurant's own published information — its official menu, its nutrition and allergen documents, and its locations directory. A brand's own menu is the most authoritative statement of what it serves and, where the brand publishes prices, what it charges. Where a chain documents nutrition or allergens, we draw dietary flags from those published guides rather than guessing.
What happens when a price can't be verified
Prices are the hardest data to pin down, because many restaurants don't publish them centrally, and the ones that do often vary by location. When we can confirm a price, we publish it. When we can't, we do one of two things:
- Keep the item, omit the price. If we know an item is on the menu but can't confirm its price, we list the item without a number rather than inventing one. A missing price is a feature, not an oversight — it's us telling you "this exists, but we won't guess what it costs."
- Flag estimates clearly. Where we show an approximate figure, we label it as an estimate so you never mistake it for a confirmed price.
Why every page carries a date
Menu prices are some of the fastest-changing numbers in retail. An accurate price is only accurate as of a moment in time, so every restaurant page on Menupedia shows when its menu data was last reviewed. That date is your cue to treat the figures as a well-sourced reference rather than a live quote — and to confirm with the restaurant before ordering, especially for allergens and nutrition.
What counts as a credible source
Not every number on the internet is a source. When we confirm a price or an item, we're looking for information that traces back to the restaurant itself or to widely corroborated public documentation — not a single unverified listing on a third-party site that might be out of date or wrong. A brand's own menu and nutrition pages sit at the top of that hierarchy. Where a chain doesn't publish prices centrally, we're more cautious, which is precisely why some items on those pages carry no price: the absence is the honest answer.
This caution matters most for anything safety-related. Allergen and nutrition flags are drawn from brands' published guides, but those guides can change and can't capture every kitchen's cross-contact risk. So we treat that information as a starting point and say plainly, on every page, that anyone with a food allergy should confirm directly with the restaurant. A reference should make its own limits clear, and that's one of ours.
What we are, and aren't
We document menus; we don't rank or rate them. "Signature items" on our pages mean iconic or most-ordered as established by the brand or widely cited coverage — not our personal favorites. We're independent, not affiliated with any restaurant, and we're not an ordering platform; for ordering and current pricing we always link you to the official source.
Found something wrong?
Because prices move and menus change, errors are inevitable, and we'd genuinely rather hear about them. If you spot a wrong price, a missing item, or a closed location, our contact page tells you exactly what to send. Well-cited corrections get prioritized on our next review pass. You can also read the fuller version of these standards on our about page.
Menupedia is an independent reference. Prices and menu items change; figures on our restaurant pages are dated and sourced from publicly available information. Always confirm with the official restaurant before ordering. See how we work and how we verify prices.