How to Design a Food Truck Menu in Canada (With Examples)

For food trucks across Canada, a well-designed menu can help you attract attention, turn heads, and drive more sales, even in a competitive or seasonal market. Here’s how to build a food truck menu that looks great, sells well, and keeps customers coming back.

Why Menu Design Matters for Food Trucks

In a small space with fast-moving customers, your menu has to work hard. It needs to communicate your concept quickly and clearly, highlight your best dishes, and help customers make a decision in seconds.

According to the Toast Consumer Preferences Survey 2025,  in which 200 Canadian restaurant-goers were polled on their restaurant design and menu preferences, 59% of Canadians still prefer printed menus, even at casual or mobile establishments, and 82% say they’re more likely to order an item that’s marked as a house favourite or best seller. Menu visibility and clarity matter more than ever.

What Makes a Great Food Truck Menu?

A successful food truck menu includes:

• A clear visual hierarchy (most profitable or popular dishes come first)

• Bold, readable fonts and colours

• Strategic layout by food type or prep time

• Icons or photos for key items

• Simple pricing that fits the neighbourhood

Keep It Short and Sweet

Food truck menus are typically short — and they need to be. Most guests expect to see 6 to 10 items, with quick service and a tight turnaround. Keeping your menu focused helps speed up service and reduces food waste, too.

Canadian Insight:

In Canada, price is the top deciding factor when ordering from a food truck, followed by uniqueness of the dish and speed of service.

According to the Toast Consumer Preferences Survey 2025, 53.1% of Canadian respondents chose price as the most important factor.

How to Lay Out a Food Truck Menu

Here’s a basic layout structure:

• Top Section: Signature items and bestsellers

• Middle Section: Secondary dishes or add-ons

• Bottom Section: Drinks and limited-time offers

You might also consider:

• Icons for spice level, vegan/vegetarian options

• Colour coding for easy scanning

• Highlight boxes for house favourites or “Chef’s Picks”

Design Tip

Bold fonts and vibrant colours are popular, but 55% of Canadians said they’re only appealing if the menu is still easy to read.

Pricing That Works

The majority of Canadians (50.3%) prefer whole number pricing ($12 over $11.99), and clear, no-surprise pricing helps improve trust.

Consider cost-based pricing with portion sizes and local ingredients in mind — and don’t forget to include GST/HST if applicable.

Legal note: Ensure your pricing is clearly displayed and includes tax where required by your provincial legislation (see CRA’s GST/HST guide).

Seasonal Items and Sustainability

Seasonal and limited-time menus are popular with Canadian diners. According to Toast’s Voice of the Canadian Restaurant Industry report, 77% of diners are looking for more affordable, value-driven menus, and 79% prefer sustainably produced options.

Including phrases like “seasonal,” “house-made,” and “sustainable” not only appeals to diners but can justify premium pricing — 45% say they would pay more for items marked as sustainable.

Canadian Food Truck Menu Design Examples

From bold chalkboard menus to bilingual design and seasonal specials, these Canadian food trucks offer real inspiration for anyone building a high-performing mobile menu. Each one blends branding, clarity, and customer-friendly layout in a way that stands out — both curbside and online.

1. Heirloom (Vancouver)

This vegan food truck keeps things clean and simple. Their menu isn't cluttered with fancy fonts or overwhelming choices. Instead, they use clear, easy-to-read text that lets their plant-based dishes speak for themselves. 

2. The Lobster Mobsters (Halifax)

Known for their cheeky maritime branding, The Lobster Mobsters use handwritten chalk menus, illustrated seafood icons, and local East Coast charm to draw crowds and create buzz.

5. Le TukTuk (Montreal)

Offering Thai street food with a Canadian twist, Le TukTuk’s food truck menu is bilingual (EN/FR), eye-catching with high-contrast colours, and clearly marks vegan and gluten-free options for maximum accessibility.

Bonus Tips for Canadian Operators

• Use Canva or Adobe Express to create bilingual menus (EN/FR) for Quebec or national reach

• Limit total menu items per section to 6–8 (most Canadian diners prefer this range)

• Highlight local ingredients to increase appeal and support Canadian farms

Final Thoughts

Your food truck menu does a lot more than list your food and prices. It's working as your storefront, your sales pitch, and your brand ambassador all at once. When someone walks up to your truck, that menu board has maybe 30 seconds to grab their attention, communicate your value, and convince them to buy.

The trucks that understand this, like the ones above, don't just survive in Canada's competitive food truck scene. They thrive.