Tabletop Menu Card Holder

Tabletop Menu Card Holders: What You Need to Know

These small pieces of metal or plastic serve a very simple function: They give you a place to display menu cards, reservation cards, or table numbers. You'll find tabletop card holders in plastic, glass, stainless steel, wood, and even cast iron on this page. Choosing the right material and style goes a long way to creating an attractive ambience in your dining room. From simple, minimalist holders to eye-catching metal spirals or tree designs, you can make your tabletop menu holders as extravagant or subtle as you'd like.

Some restaurants utilize number card holders to pair a customer with their order. This saves the effort and awkwardness that can come with asking for and shouting a customer's name, especially in a casual establishment without hosts and servers dedicated to specific areas. Reservation card holders not only ensure no one is accidentally seated at a reserved table but also welcome the guest the table has been saved for.

Common Questions About Tabletop Menu Holders

What material should I choose for tabletop menu holders?

The three main materials used in restaurant card holders are plastic, metal, and wood. All three of these materials can provide a good return on investment, and none of them are exceptionally expensive, so the main determinant will be which material best fits the rest of your table setting. Metal tabletop menu card holders last longer than the other two, but all three main materials will last long enough for you to get serious use out of them. Wooden options need greater care when cleaning, as leaving wood damp can cause it to warp. Plastic and stainless steel are easy to clean and resist corrosion, while other metals such as cast iron may have more specific care requirements. Consult the product specifications page for the piece you're interested in to learn more about the care requirements.

What's the difference between a menu card holder and a number card holder?

Menu card holders are typically much larger than a number clip because the paper they hold is going to be larger. A number clip only needs to hold a small sheet with a legible number, while a tabletop menu card holder has to hold a paper large enough to advertise multiple menu items in a font large enough to be legible. If you plan on using the tabletop menu holder for a small sheet, you can get a number holder instead. If you're considering doing both, you can either buy both styles or get a menu holder and print out larger number cards when you're going to use them as identifiers.