MenuPlates

A complete product, not just a screen

MenuPlates began as a platform for restaurants to manage a digital menu without mixing administrative tasks with the experience of people browsing the dishes.

The scope required more than a visual listing. Authentication, categories, dishes, images, and different application states had to be modeled across two independent layers.

The management experience

In the React front end, I organized flows so users could navigate categories, create and edit dishes, and maintain the images associated with each item. Responsiveness was part of the product structure rather than a later adjustment.

Empty, loading, API error, and confirmation states were treated as part of the workflow. That kept the interface understandable even before a menu was fully populated.

Service and persistence

The Node.js and Express backend concentrated authentication, business rules, and CRUD operations. Knex organized access to SQLite, while file uploads completed the cycle required to manage real dish imagery.

Keeping interface and service in separate repositories made the contract between both layers explicit and allowed each one to evolve independently.

Outcome

The project covers the core flows of a working full-stack product: authentication, persistence, uploads, content management, and API consumption through a responsive experience.

Beyond the technical delivery, MenuPlates represents an important point in my development: thinking about front end and back end as parts of the same experience, with clearly defined responsibilities.