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Menu chalkboard

A menu written up like the board behind the counter: a framed dark board carrying a centred heading and two columns of dishes, each with its price on the right and a short note beneath on a dashed chalk line, and a centred allergy note and link at the foot.

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Theme
Preview size
Look

Takes your theme’s colours and type.

Twenty Twenty-Five·1280px

Manrope typefacergb(255, 255, 255) ground1280px viewport

Start here

What to change first

  1. The dishes and prices. Duplicate a row to add a dish.
  2. The column labels. Plates, and bakes and drinks.
  3. The link. #menu.

The signature moment

The menu is the board behind the counter

The menu is a dark board set inside a frame, the dishes ruled off with dashed chalk lines and the prices pushed to the right edge of each line. The board is an inverted slab inside a thin framed border, so it reads as a thing hung on the wall rather than a section of the page. The two columns sit side by side on a laptop and a tablet and one under the other on a phone.

Theme handoff

What comes from where

From your theme

  • Typeface.
  • Palette.
  • Link.

Set by this pattern

  • The dish names and prices.
  • The heading.

Full pattern notes

Why it works, and how it is built

Open a topic for the complete design reasoning, editing guidance and implementation notes.

Design rationaleComposition, intent and nearest alternatives

Overview

A menu written up like the board behind the counter: a dark board inside a frame, a centred heading, two columns of dishes with prices, and a centred allergy note. It sits in the listings section beside menu-course-columns, whose prices hang on dotted leaders on the page, and menu-single-sheet: here the whole menu is one object on the wall.

The signature moment: the menu is the board behind the counter

The menu is a dark board set inside a frame, the dishes ruled off with dashed chalk lines and the prices pushed to the right edge of each line. The board is an inverted slab inside a thin framed border, so it reads as a thing hung on the wall rather than a section of the page. The two columns sit side by side on a laptop and a tablet and one under the other on a phone.

Make it yoursVariations and the edits to make first

What to change first

  1. The dishes and prices. Duplicate a row to add a dish.
  2. The column labels. Plates, and bakes and drinks.
  3. The link. #menu.
Theme behaviourInheritance, fixed decisions and contrast

What it inherits from your theme

  • Typeface. The base states no font family.
  • Palette. The board is your contrast colour with base type; the frame is a currentColor hairline on your base ground; the chalk lines are the board's text colour. Labels on the board start at base, never a ground role.
  • Link. A transparent, underlined core button in the board's text colour.

What it decides for itself

  • The dish names and prices. clamp(1.125rem, 1.5vw, 1.3125rem), one size for both so a row reads as one line.
  • The heading. The x-large rung, centred.
Technical notesBlock mechanics, responsive behaviour and constraints

The Crumb look

Part of the Crumb Pattern Set, one café's whole site in one design language: oat ground #f4ecdf, espresso ink #2b1d16, muted cocoa #5c4a3f, milk cards #fbf7f0 on oat hairlines #dccfbf, terracotta #b3462d labels and peach #e8a27c on the espresso slab. Headings are Georgia at 400, body, labels and buttons Helvetica; buttons are espresso pills or underlined links, cards and photographs rounded at 14px. Every text pair is measured on the ground it is painted on. Take the base for your theme's colours, or the look's Use my theme chip.

Notes

  • Core blocks only: group, heading, paragraph, buttons, button. No plugin, nothing to keep updated.
  • The root group sets headings and links to currentColor, so every heading, paragraph and link inherits the group's text colour in any theme; only role-bearing text (labels, rules, plates) carries its own chain.

Questions

Menu chalkboard: common questions

Does Menu chalkboard need a plugin?

No. It is built only from core WordPress blocks (button, buttons, column, columns, group, heading and paragraph), so it pastes into the block editor with nothing to install.

Will Menu chalkboard match my theme?

Choose by variation. Framed board takes your theme’s palette; Crumb brings its own colours.

How many variations does Menu chalkboard have?

2: Framed board and Crumb. Each is its own markup; choose one in the toolbar above the preview before you copy.

Is Menu chalkboard free?

It is included with a subscription, with every Core Pattern and variation. 56 Core Patterns are free to copy without one.

Which WordPress version does it need?

Requires a block theme on WordPress 7.0. Classic themes and page builders are outside our supported setup. Adaptive patterns use the block theme’s colour, spacing and typography presets; styled variations declare their own colours or type.

The markup

21KB of core-block markup, 7 blocks (button, buttons, column, columns, group, heading, paragraph), and nothing else: paste it into the block editor and it becomes editable blocks wearing your theme.

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