Creating a Menu using React.js

Menus are an essential tool for helping customers decide what to order and are a necessary part of the dining experience. It is typically displayed on paper or digitally, and it includes the names and prices of each dish along with a brief description of what the meal consists of, for example, the restaurant menu.

Menus vary in terms of the types of dishes that are offered. Some menus might focus on a particular type of cuisine, such as Italian, Chinese, or Nigerian, while others might offer a more diverse selection of dishes from different cuisines.

This tutorial will provide an overview of how to create a menu list using React.js.

Necessary steps for setting up the project or local environment.

Learn how to iterate over an array of menu items and render them as a list using the ul li elements tags.

For this project, TailwindCss was used for styling.

By the end of this tutorial, you will understand how to create a menu using React.js and be able to develop this project.

Prerequisite

1. Install node.js on your system.
2. Have an understanding of Javascript.
3. Understanding of how React.js works.

Setting up the project or local environment

Create a folder in your desired location.

mkdir react-menulist

This will create a new folder called react-menulistin your specified path.

Next, cd into the project

cd react-menulist

This will change the previous directory to the current directory, where the react-menulist folder is located.

Inside the directory of our project

Create a react boilerplate using the create-react-app or vite tools; I prefer vite.

npx create-react-app ./ or npx create-vite@latest ./

I am using ./ because I have created the folder and cd right into the directory

./ creates the react boilerplate for you right inside the created folder

In your terminal, install Tailwind CSS for styling your project and necessary dependencies.

To install TailwindCSS, go to their documentation and follow the guidelines of your chosen framework.

For this project, the following dependencies were installed:

npm install react-loader-spinner --save and npm install react-router-dom@6

Start the application with these commands

npm run start or npm run dev

Using npm run start (CRA) or npm run dev (VITE) depends on how you create the React application.

Now we have our local environment working let's create the project

Setting up the project

1. First, we'll create a separate file for our data. This will let us organize our code and keep related information together. It is also a useful way of refactoring the codebase.

To do this, simply create a new file in the root directory of your project and give it a descriptive name, such as data.js

Next, define your data in the file as an array or object.

Example: data.js file and it's content

Import this data into other parts of your project as needed, and use it to display your item.

1. Under the src, create a folder calledcomponent( this is optional and for organizational purposes), then create all the files you want to work with.

Next, create a Header.jsxand an Home.jsx inside the component folder.

The purpose of this Header.jsx file is to create a navigation menu.
Header.jsx

import { useState } from 'react'
import { NavLink } from 'react-router-dom';
const data = [
    {
        title: 'All',
        link: '/',
    },
    {
        title: 'Breakfast',
        link: '/breakfast',
    },
    {
        title: 'Lunch',
        link: '/lunch',
    },
    {
        title: 'Dinner',
        link: '/dinner',
    },
    {
        title: 'Snacks',
        link: '/snacks',
    },
];

const Header = ({title}) => {
  const [navs]=useState(data)
  return (
        <>
            <div>
                <h1 className='h1'>{title}</h1>
            </div>
            <ul className='flex justify-center items-center gap-8'>
                {navs.map((nav, index) => (
                    <li key={index} className='li'>
                        <NavLink
                            to={nav.link}
                            className='navs'>
                            {nav.title}
                        </NavLink>
                    </li>
                ))}
            </ul>
        </>
    );
}

export default Header

In the Header.jsxfile, we added an array of data and iterated through it using the** map() method*. Then we passed the iterated data to the **NavLink* component.

Using the map() method, we can quickly iterate through the menu list data and render it to the browser.

Next import the Header.jsx to the Home.jsx file.

Home.jsx

import React, { useState } from 'react'
import Header from './Header'
import { data } from '../../data'

const Home = () => {
    const [meals] = useState(data)
    return (
        <div>
            <Header title='Cr Menu💖' />
        </div>
    );
}

export default Home

To view it in the browser, render the Home.jsxfile into the root file, App.jsxwhich is created by default.

Remember, we installed react-router-dom as one of the dependencies, so that will be imported in App.jsx to help with the navigation.

App.jsx

import React from 'react'
import{Routes, Route}from 'react-router-dom'
import Home from './components/Home';


const App = () => {
    return (
        <Routes>
            <Route path='/' element={<Home />}></Route>
        </Routes>
    );
}

export default App

Result

To create a Menulist

1. Create a file called menulist.jsx

In this file, the meals stored in useState() are passed as a prop to the Menulist.jsxfile, which will use the prop to iterate.

In the Menlist.jsx file, the prop will be received, and the map() function will be used to iterate through the data in data.js and retrieve each item.

import React from 'react'

const Menulist = ({meals}) => {
    return (
            <div className='meal-container'>
                {meals.map((meal) => (
                    <div key={meal.id}>
                        <div className="grid grid-cols-1 md:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3">
                            <img src={meal.img} alt='img' className='img' />
                            <div className=" flex flex-col">
                                <div className='title-price'>
                                    <h5>{meal.title}</h5>
                                    <small>{meal.price}</small>
                                </div>
                                <div>
                                    <small className='ml-3 w-full'>--------------------------</small>
                                    <p className='para-menu'>{meal.para}</p>
                                </div>
                            </div>
                        </div>
                    </div>
                ))}
            </div>
        );
}

export default Menulist

To make it look beautiful and have a layout, use CSS or your desired CSS framework.

Next, import the Menulist.jsx into Home.jsx file

import React, { useState } from 'react'
import Header from './Header'
import { data } from '../../data'
import Menulist from './Menulist'

const Home = () => {
    const [meals] = useState(data)


    return (
        <div>
            <Header title='Cr Menu💖' />
            <Menulist meals={meals}
        </div>
    );
}

export default Home

Result

To get specific meals based on the category selected

1. To access a specific menu, such as Breakfast.jsx:

• import and render the MenuList file. In this specific file, use the filter() method on the prop passed to the MenuList file to select and display only the menu items that match a certain criterion from the database.

• The** filter() method **will return an array of items that pass the test.

Result

This process will be repeated for the other categories, such as lunch, dinner, and snacks, in their respective files.

To make all components display on our browser

First of all, we will import BrowserRouter **from the react-router-dom library **to our main.jsx or index.js(this is the main entry point of the application). This component will wrap up the entire React application.

Main.jsx

import React from 'react'
import ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client'
import App from './App'
import './index.css'
import { BrowserRouter } from 'react-router-dom'

ReactDOM.createRoot(document.getElementById('root')).render(
  <BrowserRouter>
    <App />
  </BrowserRouter>,
)

Next, in App.jsx import Routes, and Route from react-router-dom library

App.jsx

import React from 'react'
import{Routes, Route}from 'react-router-dom'
import Breakfast from './components/Breakfast';
import Dinner from './components/Dinner';
import Home from './components/Home';
import Lunch from './components/Lunch';
import Snacks from './components/Snacks';

const App = () => {
    return (
        <Routes>
            <Route path='/' element={<Home />}></Route>
            <Route path='/breakfast' element={<Breakfast />}></Route>
            <Route path='/lunch' element={<Lunch />}></Route>
            <Route path='/dinner' element={<Dinner/>}></Route>
            <Route path='/snacks' element={<Snacks />}></Route> 
        </Routes>
    );
}

export default App

Loading Aspect

1. This project includes the react-loader-spinner package as one of its dependencies:

To use it

• Ensure react-loader-spinner is installed

• Import it to where it will be used, for this project it was imported at the Home.jsx.

A video demonstrating how it is used

In the Home.jsx file, set the useState() hook to true, and use a **setTimeout() **to change it to **false **after a certain amount of time. This will cause the loading spinner to disappear and the MenuListcomponent to be displayed.

import React, { useState } from 'react'
import Header from './Header'
import { data } from '../../data'
import Menulist from './Menulist'
import { CirclesWithBar } from 'react-loader-spinner'

const Home = () => {
    const [meals] = useState(data)
    const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true)
    setTimeout(() => {
        if (loading) {
            setLoading(false);
        }
    }, 700);

    return (
        <div>
            <Header title='Cr Menu💖' />
            {loading && (
                <div className='flex items-center justify-center'>
                    <CirclesWithBar
                        height='50'
                        width='50'
                        color='#4fa94d'
                        wrapperStyle={{}}
                        wrapperClass=''
                        visible={true}
                        outerCircleColor=''
                        innerCircleColor=''
                        barColor=''
                        ariaLabel='circles-with-bar-loading'
                    />
                </div>
            )}
            {!loading && <Menulist meals={meals} />}
        </div>
    );
}

export default Home

Result

Final Result

Conclusion

In conclusion, a menu is an important aspect of running a business such as a restaurant, as it provides customers with information about the types of dishes and beverages that are available and helps them make informed decisions about what to order.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful and that you have learned something about using React.js to create a menu.

The source code is found in my Repository

Live link

Thanks for reading💖