Pavement boards, wall boards, table boards and chalk markers compared: the trade buying guide to Securit chalkboards for Irish cafés, pubs and restaurants.

A restaurant chalkboard is still the cheapest-to-run, fastest-to-change piece of signage in Irish hospitality: a pavement board that pulls walk-ins off a wet Grafton Street, a wall board that sells today's specials without reprinting the menu, a table board that upsells the Sunday roast. But "a chalkboard" now covers dozens of formats, three or four frame materials, indoor and outdoor finishes, and two completely different kinds of marker. Buy the wrong one and you get a board that blows over, a surface that ghosts after a month, or specials nobody can read from the door. This guide walks through what CWD Hospitality supplies to Irish cafés, pubs, hotels and restaurants from the Securit chalkboard and menu display range, and how to match each format to the job.

Which type of restaurant chalkboard do you actually need?

Start with the location, not the look. Each spot in a venue has a different reader, viewing distance and weather exposure, and the board should be chosen accordingly.

Street and entrance — a pavement board (A-board) or easel. Its job is to stop people walking past, so it needs a big writing area, a frame that will not blow over, and a surface that copes with Irish rain. Counter and bar — a wall chalkboard, usually landscape and wide enough to carry a full drinks list or the day's lunch menu. Dining room — a framed wall board that fits the interior, typically in a finish that matches the furniture. Tables and buffets — small freestanding table chalkboards, insert boards and chalkboard tags for specials, reserved signs, wine of the week and buffet labels. Deli and counter displays — price-tag sets with clamp holders so each item is labelled individually.

Pavement boards: what to look for before you put one on an Irish street

The pavement board is the hardest-working chalkboard in the building, and the one most often bought badly. Four things decide whether it lasts.

Height and footprint. Securit pavement boards come in two broad sizes. The 85 cm boards (Woody, Deluxe and Nature ranges) suit narrow footpaths and doorways where you need to keep a clear path for pedestrians and buggies. The 120 to 135 cm boards (Woody 120 cm, Deluxe 125 and 135 cm, Nature 135 cm) are the ones you see outside pubs and hotels with a wider frontage, where the extra height makes the board readable from across the road. Measure the footpath first: the open footprint of an 85 cm Woody is roughly 54 by 54 cm, and the larger boards need 70 cm or more.

Frame material. The Woody range is pinewood, the Deluxe range is lacquered rubberwood in beech, teak, mahogany and dark brown, and the Nature range is beechwood in a natural or vintage grey finish. All are built for outdoor use, but a lacquered finish will keep its colour longer in coastal towns and on south-facing frontages. For venues that want a lighter, more modern look, the Multiboard is a polypropylene pavement board at 115 by 60 cm, in black, silver or white; it will not rot or warp and is easy to wipe down.

Wind. This is the one that catches people out. An A-board on a Galway or Dún Laoghaire street without a wind stopper will end up in the road. Securit sells wind stoppers in packs of 12 that brace the two leaves open, and the Woody pavement stand (80 cm or 120 cm) is a heavier, single-panel alternative with a fixed base for exposed sites.

Easels. For hotels, function rooms and wedding venues, the 165 cm easel in beech, black, mahogany or teak holds a chalkboard at eye level for welcome signs, event directions and seating plans. Easels are indoor-first; use them under a porch or canopy rather than on an open street.

Wall chalkboards: sizes, finishes and how to mount them

Wall boards are where the menu, the drinks list and the daily specials live, so size them to the content and the viewing distance. A good rule of thumb: for a board read from the counter queue (one to three metres away), letters need to be at least 3 cm tall, and a 76 by 56 cm board comfortably holds about eight to ten menu lines at that size. Anything read from across a room, or from the door, wants the 87 by 67 cm Universal board or one of the long boards.

The Universal wall chalkboard at 76.3 by 56.5 cm is the standard pick for a café counter, and it comes in black, teak and mahogany finishes with screws included, plus a larger 87 by 67 cm version. The long wall chalkboards (100, 120 and 150 cm wide by 56 cm high) in lacquered rubberwood are built for bars and coffee counters where the menu runs horizontally above the back bar; the dark brown finish is rated for indoor and outdoor use, so it also works on a covered terrace wall. For a dining room with a more decorative scheme, the gold-framed wall chalkboard at 83.5 by 63 cm brings a deeper, coated frame that suits hotels, bistros and cocktail bars.

If you want chalk without a frame, there are two more options. Securit chalkboard paint turns a section of wall, a door or a panel into a writing surface, and self-adhesive chalkboard stickers label jars, bottles and shelves without any fixings.

Table chalkboards and tags: the small boards that drive the upsell

Table boards are the most under-used chalkboard in Irish venues, and the one with the clearest return: a specials board on every table is read by every cover, which a wall board is not. The Securit Elegant range is a freestanding, double-sided wooden board in three sizes: 17.5 by 15.5 cm (packs of ten), 23.5 by 20 cm (packs of six) and 32.3 by 27 cm (packs of six), in beech, black, teak and mahogany so they can match the pavement and wall boards. The larger Elegant boards with a handle (47 by 26 cm and 54 by 35 cm) are designed to be carried to a table or stood on a buffet.

The Silhouette range is the fun end of the collection: black boards cut in shapes such as teapots, arrows and speech bubbles on a wooden base, with mini versions from 7.5 by 9 cm for buffet labels and reserved signs, usually with a chalk marker in the pack. Chalkboard tags at 18 by 8 cm, with a string or a clamp holder, label platters, cheese boards and cake stands, and the deli and counter price-tag sets bundle tags, acrylic clamp holders and markers for a full counter.

Chalk markers: waterproof or wipe-off?

The marker matters as much as the board, and most complaints about "ghosting" or "it washed off in the rain" come down to using the wrong one. There are two families.

Waterproof chalk markers are for anything outdoors or anything you want to keep for a week or more: pavement boards, terrace boards, window glass and the permanent sections of a wall menu such as the header or the logo. They resist rain and condensation and need a dedicated chalk-marker cleaner to remove, so they are not the right tool for a board you rewrite every morning. Securit's waterproof white markers come in packs of six and twelve, with yellow also available for highlighting a price or a dish.

Liquid chalk markers (non-waterproof) are for the parts that change: today's soup, the specials, the guest beer. They wipe off with a damp cloth, come in white, pastel, metallic and mixed-colour sets, and are what most cafés use day to day. A practical set-up is to write the fixed parts of a wall board in waterproof marker and the daily parts in liquid chalk, so the daily wipe never takes the headings with it.

A few habits keep boards looking new: let marker dry fully before wiping, clean a waterproof board with the proper cleaner rather than a kitchen degreaser, and give any board a complete clean every few weeks rather than only wiping the lines that change, since the residue that builds up around the edges is what makes a board look tired. For a venue opening or a refit, the café and bar chalkboard kits pair a board with waterproof markers and cleaner in one trade pack, which removes the guesswork.

Can a chalkboard carry your allergen information?

Yes, and many Irish cafés and pubs already use one for exactly this, but the rules are specific. Under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, given effect in Ireland by S.I. No. 489 of 2014 as amended by S.I. No. 656 of 2024, allergen information for non-prepacked food must be provided in writing, in English or in Irish and English, at the point of presentation or sale, and it must be easy to find before the customer orders without them having to ask. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland's guidance allows that information to sit beside each menu item or centrally in a clearly visible place, and it says specials written on chalkboards or similar displays must be updated each time the offering changes.

In practice this means a specials chalkboard needs the allergens written beside each dish (for example "Seafood chowder — contains fish, milk, celery"), not a generic "our food may contain allergens" line, and whoever wipes and rewrites the board owns the job of rewriting the allergens with it. Generic wording is not acceptable. A small table chalkboard works well for a single special; a wall board with a ruled allergen column keeps a longer list legible.

A quick checklist before you order

• Measure the footpath or wall and check the open footprint of a pavement board, not just its height.
• Pick one finish family (black, teak, mahogany, beech or dark brown) and carry it from pavement to wall to table.
• Add wind stoppers or a stand for any pavement board on an exposed street.
• Order waterproof markers for outdoor and fixed text, liquid chalk markers for daily text, and a cleaner for the waterproof ones.
• Buy table boards in packs that cover every table, plus a few spares for the buffet and reserved signs.
• Decide who rewrites the board each day and build the allergen line into that routine.

Frequently asked questions

What size pavement board should a café buy? For a typical Irish footpath, an 85 cm A-board keeps the path clear and is readable from a few metres. Choose 120 cm or taller only where the frontage is wide and the board needs to be seen from across the road.

Can Securit pavement boards stay outside in the rain? The Woody, Deluxe, Nature and Multiboard pavement ranges are made for outdoor use, and the Multiboard is polypropylene so it will not warp. Use waterproof chalk markers on any outdoor board and bring wooden boards in overnight to extend their life.

What is the difference between waterproof and liquid chalk markers? Waterproof markers resist rain and stay put until removed with a dedicated cleaner, so they suit outdoor boards and fixed headings. Liquid chalk markers wipe off with a damp cloth and suit text that changes daily.

Do allergens have to be written on a chalkboard specials menu in Ireland? Yes. Allergen information for non-prepacked food must be given in writing before the sale, and the FSAI says chalkboard specials must be updated each time the offering changes. Write the allergens beside each dish rather than using a generic statement.

How do I stop a chalkboard from ghosting? Use the right marker for the board, let ink dry before wiping, clean waterproof marker with a chalk-marker cleaner rather than household chemicals, and give the whole board a full clean regularly rather than only wiping the lines that change.

Shop the range

• Securit Chalkboards and Menu Displays
• Café and Bar Chalkboard Kits
• Chalkboards: wall, table and pavement
• Deli and Counter Price Tag Sets
• Front of House and Restaurant Operations

CWD Hospitality supplies the full Securit range to the Irish trade. Call +353 1 257 3871 for help choosing boards, markers and kits for your venue.

Sources

• FSAI: Allergen information for non-prepacked food
• CWD Hospitality: Securit chalkboard and menu display range (product dimensions and finishes)

Photos: Bundo Kim and Jonathan Borba / Unsplash. Other images: CWD Hospitality.

Tags

B&B cafés chalkboards front of house guide hotels Ireland menu displays pubs restaurants Securit signage

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