Google Sheets Restaurant Allergen Sheet

A straightforward allergen matrix for your menu, built in Google Sheets and ready to use. List your dishes, mark which of the fourteen major allergens each one contains, and let conditional formatting handle the visual flagging. Print it for the kitchen, share view-only with front-of-house staff, update it the moment a recipe changes. Accurate allergen information, one source of truth, no specialized software.

For restaurants, cafés, and catering operations that need to get allergen tracking right without paying for a compliance suite.

🪺 Who it's for

• Restaurant and café owners managing allergen information across menus
• Catering businesses adapting to client dietary requirements
• Kitchen managers and chefs coordinating with front-of-house staff
• Operators in regions with strict allergen disclosure requirements (EU, UK, etc.)

🌊 What it solves

Allergen tracking is non-negotiable for any food business, but the dedicated software for it is priced for chains, not small operations. Meanwhile, the alternative (a Word doc that gets out of sync within a week) is how mistakes happen. This sheet gives you a proper allergen matrix at a small-business price point, with conditional formatting that makes high-risk items visually obvious and a collaborative structure that keeps kitchen and front-of-house looking at the same data.

⚙️ What's inside

• Pre-loaded columns for major allergens (gluten, nuts, dairy, shellfish, eggs, soy, and more)
• Menu item rows with space for name, description, and notes
• Conditional formatting that flags allergens visually for quick scanning
• Print-friendly layout for kitchen posting
• Shareable link for read-only staff access
• Easy to extend with additional allergens or dietary categories (vegan, halal, etc.)

🦆 A note from me

This one's a tool, not a system, it does a specific job and does it well. If you're a small food business that's been tracking allergens on paper or in a doc that never stays current, this will save you time and reduce real risk. It's not a replacement for proper allergen training or legal compliance advice, but it's the reliable matrix that should sit behind both.

Make a copy, map your menu, get it into the kitchen by the next service.

This template includes a small cost to support my work. If the cost is a barrier, you can still get it for free on Gumroad. If you choose the free option, please consider leaving a review, sending a kind message, or providing any support you can. Your feedback truly means the world!