Add a special and set its end date
Make a dish a special, control its availability, and understand what happens when its date passes.
For: Owners and Editors with editing access
In this guide
Mark the dish as a special
A special is a regular Dishcard with an availability setting. Enter and review its recipe just as you would any other dish before putting it into service.
- Create the dish or open it and choose Edit dish.
- Under Availability, choose the intended Menu visibility.
- Select This dish is a special.
- For a timed special, enter Available through (optional). Leave the date blank if it should remain available until you change it.
- Choose Create dish or Save dish.
The dish remains available through the chosen day in the restaurant’s time zone. It leaves the current public and generated printed menus after that day. Check the restaurant time zone in settings before using dates.
Enlarge screenshotCheck what staff and guests will see
The saved card shows a special badge and its end date, or Special · no end date. Active specials appear in their own output section. Open the intended menu’s web view and menu-card preview to confirm the entry is visible.
A hidden dish stays out of outputs even when it is marked as a special. Likewise, a dish must be included in the named menu you are checking. If it is missing, inspect those settings before changing its recipe.
When a date passes, Dishcard keeps the saved recipe. It updates the relevant output data when the menu is refreshed. Printed paper and previously downloaded PDFs still contain their old snapshot until you replace them.
Extend, bring back, or retire a special
Open the dish editor to change the end date, remove the date, or clear This dish is a special. Save and check the output again. If you want the card retained without serving it, choose Hidden from outputs.
Use the menu’s Filter control and Specials option to find special records. Clear other filters and search text if expected items are missing. When bringing a previous special back, recheck the current recipe and supplier products rather than assuming the old ingredients still match.
Tell the team when availability changes and replace the relevant printed copies. See Keep printouts current for the handoff.
Reviewed against the current Dishcard app. Screenshots use sample restaurant data.