Understanding the branding cascade
How profile defaults, template settings, and menu overrides work together.
What is the branding cascade?
The branding cascade is how MenuSquared resolves which fonts, colors, and logo to use for each menu. Think of it like CSS specificity: more specific settings override more general ones.
This system lets you maintain consistent branding across all your menus while still allowing individual customization when needed.
The three layers
Branding settings flow through three layers, from most general to most specific:
- Template defaults (bottom layer): Every template ships with a default color palette, font pairing, and header configuration. These are the built-in starting points.
- Restaurant profile (middle layer): Settings you configure in Settings → Design System. These override template defaults for all menus that use "restaurant defaults."
- Menu-specific overrides (top layer): Settings you configure in the editor's Branding tab for a specific menu. These override everything below.
The top layer always wins. If a menu has a custom primary color set, that color is used, regardless of what the restaurant profile or template defaults say.
Tip: Keep it simple
For most restaurants, setting your branding once in the Design System is all you need. Menu-level overrides are there for special cases, like a holiday menu with seasonal colors or a cocktail menu with a different vibe.
Practical examples
Consistent branding, multiple menus
Set your colors, fonts, and logo in the Design System. Create a dinner menu, a lunch menu, and a drinks menu. All three automatically inherit your brand settings. No need to configure each one individually.
Seasonal menu with custom colors
Your standard menus use your brand's burgundy palette. For a summer cocktail menu, you override the primary color to a coral tone in the editor. The summer menu gets coral; all other menus stay burgundy.
Different template, same brand
Your dinner menu uses the Marais template, and your cocktail list uses Vinyl Vermouth. Both inherit your restaurant's colors and fonts from the Design System, so they feel cohesive despite different layouts.
Scope toggle
In the editor's Branding tab, you'll see a scope toggle that lets you switch between:
- Use restaurant defaults: The menu inherits all branding from your Design System. Changes to the Design System will automatically flow through to this menu.
- Use menu-specific overrides: The menu uses its own branding settings. Changes to the Design System won't affect this menu.
Switch to menu-specific overrides when you want full control over a single menu's look. Switch back to restaurant defaults when you want consistency.
Tips & frequently asked questions
If I change my Design System, do existing menus update?
Only menus set to "Use restaurant defaults" will pick up Design System changes. Menus with menu-specific overrides keep their own settings regardless.
How do I reset a menu to use restaurant defaults?
Open the editor, go to the Branding tab, and switch the scope toggle to "Use restaurant defaults." The menu will immediately inherit your Design System settings.
Does the cascade affect published menus?
Yes. Published menus always reflect their current branding settings. If a published menu uses restaurant defaults and you update your Design System, the live menu will update too.