Getting started with Mensa
What happens after you apply, and what you'll need to have ready.
What happens next
We read your application
Every application is read by our team. If Mensa is a fit for your restaurant, we approve it and get in touch.
We set your restaurant up
We create your listing and check the details you gave us. Approval is not publication. Nothing is visible to diners yet.
You get your invitation
An email with a link to set your password. This first account is your restaurant's Owner, so keep it for yourself and give your team their own.
You complete your setup
Your dashboard opens on a checklist. Nine required steps, which you can work through in any order.
We review and publish you
Submit once the nine steps are done. We'll either publish you, or tell you what needs changing. A request for changes is a normal part of onboarding.
The nine steps to publish
You'll do these in the dashboard. Nothing you enter is public until we publish you.
- Name and cuisine
- Address
- Map location
- Phone number
- Opening hours
- Tables or capacity
- Menu
- Photos
- Booking settings
Worth doing as well
- A description: a short introduction diners read before choosing you
- Three or more photos
- Signature dishes, which get featured on your card
What to have ready
- Photographs
- Your dining room, the atmosphere, a signature dish. Not your logo, and not a photo of your printed menu. JPEG, PNG or WebP, at least 600px on each side.
- Your menu
- Dish names, short descriptions and prices. You can photograph a printed menu and have Mensa read it in, then correct anything it got wrong.
- Your hours
- Opening and closing times for each day. These decide when diners can book, so they need to be right.
- Your tables
- How many tables you have and how many people each one seats. This is what stops Mensa offering a booking you can't seat.
The full handbook
Forty-nine pages, with a screenshot of every screen. Made for printing, or for sending to a new manager.