Every Four Years, the World Eats Together. Make Sure They’re Ordering From You.
Every few years, the world stops what it’s doing and watches soccer. Not “watches” in the casual background-noise kind of way. Watches in the staying-up-until-2-a.m., texting-your-cousin-in-another-country, wearing-a-jersey-on-a-Tuesday kind of way.
This summer’s tournament is one of the biggest food ordering moments your restaurant will see this decade. According to Numerator, 89% of U.S. consumers planning to watch the tournament expect to make a related food purchase, with prepared foods and appetizers ranking among the top five categories.
And unlike the Super Bowl, which peaks for a single Sunday, the matches run for an entire month. That’s round after round of watch parties, group orders, and hungry fans who want great food without missing a second of the match.
The restaurants that come out ahead won’t just be the ones with the best food. They’ll be the ones that made it easy for guests to order and easy on themselves to deliver.
Here’s where Menufy restaurants have a real edge.
“Independent restaurants are the heart of every neighborhood, and this summer’s tournament gives them a real shot to compete with the big guys. That’s what Menufy is built for: helping these restaurants get found, get orders, and show up in their community the same way the national chains do. When fans are planning a watch party and searching for great food nearby, we want a local, independent restaurant to be the answer.” -Jodi Lehrmann, VP Marketing, Menufy
Order ahead: great for guests, even better for you
Soccer watch parties are planned events. Fans know days in advance when the match kicks off and who’s coming over. That means they’re not ordering impulsively; they’re thinking ahead.
Order ahead through Menufy online ordering lets guests schedule their order for exactly when they need it. For them, it’s convenience. For you, it’s something more valuable: predictability.
When orders come in before the rush, your kitchen can prep with intention instead of scrambling. Your staff knows what’s coming. You can pace production, reduce wait times, and focus on execution instead of reaction.
And if you’re worried about getting hit with more than your kitchen can handle, Menufy gives you control. You can set limits on the number of orders scheduled per time slot, so you never end up with ten pizzas due at the same moment your oven has room for four. You decide what you can fulfill well, and the system works within those boundaries. High volume is the goal. Getting buried isn’t.
Catering and group ordering: feed the whole party
Not every fan is ordering for two. Soccer watch parties run big: friends, family, neighbors, the coworker who suddenly cares about soccer every four years. When groups get together, they want to eat well and they don’t want to make five separate decisions.
Menufy’s group ordering tools are built for exactly this. Instead of five separate orders arriving out of sync, everyone in the party can add their items to a single order from their own device. One order, one delivery, one far less chaotic experience for your kitchen and a better one for the group.
For catering and larger spreads, guests can build a full order from your menu and have it delivered or picked up ahead of kickoff. Larger ticket sizes, fewer back-and-forth phone calls, and a cleaner operation on your end.
If you offer catering or family-style options, this summer is the time to put them front and center. Update your menu to highlight shareable items, bundle deals, or anything that photographs well on a spread. Guests planning a party are already thinking in quantity. Give them a clear path to order that way.
Your Menu Does the Selling. So Does Google.
Here’s something a lot of restaurants overlook: when guests are ready to order, a confusing menu loses the sale.
Menufy’s online ordering experience is designed to make it easy for guests to see what you’ve got and know exactly what they want. Clean menu layouts, item photos, clear descriptions, and a checkout flow that doesn’t get in the way. It all matters more than people realize.
During big matches, guests aren’t browsing leisurely. They’re coordinating with five people and trying to hit “place order” before warmup ends. If your menu is easy to navigate, you get the order. If it’s cluttered or unclear, they move on.
Menufy’s Google integration takes this a step further. When someone searches for your restaurant, or for wings, pizza, or tacos near them before a match, they can start an order directly from your Google listing. No third-party app. No redirects. Just a guest who found you on Google Maps and went straight to ordering. For independent restaurants trying to get discovered by new customers, that’s a meaningful edge.
This is a good moment to make sure your Menufy menu is dialed in: photos loaded, descriptions updated, popular items easy to find. The guests coming through Google are already interested. A great menu closes it.
Why direct ordering beats delivery apps during high-volume events.
Delivery apps will see a spike during the big summer matches. They always do during events like this. But their model takes a cut of every order, charges your guests extra fees, and keeps the guest relationship for themselves.
With Menufy, you keep more of what you earn and build a direct connection with every guest who orders. That guest comes back as yours, not as a platform’s user who happens to be near your location.
There’s one more thing worth calling out: high-volume ordering events attract fraudulent orders. Large orders from unfamiliar cards are a real risk, especially during a month when new guests are ordering at higher volumes and tourist traffic picks up in host cities.
Menufy’s chargeback protection means you get paid for every legitimate order you fulfill. You’re not left absorbing the cost of fraud that had nothing to do with you, so you can take on big orders with confidence instead of hesitation.
This tournament is a month-long opportunity to get in front of new guests, serve your regulars well, and show your neighborhood what your restaurant is really capable of. Order ahead, group ordering, a clear menu, and the protection to take on volume without worry. These aren’t flashy features. They’re what a well-run busy shift actually looks like.
The match is coming. Get ready. Get Menufy.
Menufy restaurant partners, ready to make the most of it? Talk to your Menufy Success Team about updating your menu, turning on order ahead, setting up group ordering, and making sure your fraud protections are in place before the tournament kicks off.
JODI LEHRMANN, VP GROWTH MARKETING
Jodi brings deep B2B SaaS and digital marketing expertise to Menufy, having served as Director of Product Marketing at Vendasta and VP of Marketing Operations, Product Development, and Acquisitions at Web.com. She's spent the last year and a half helping drive growth for Menufy clients, and when she's not doing that, she's probably with her two dogs.