ER diagram for food delivery app
This ER diagram models the core database of a food delivery app: who orders, where they order from, what they order and who delivers it. It is a good starting point for students learning database design and for developers sketching the schema of a delivery or ordering platform.
Example: ER diagram for food delivery app: click to open it in the editor and change it.
Entities and Key Attributes
The model has six tables. Each one uses an INT id as its primary key.
| Entity | Key attributes | Foreign keys |
|---|---|---|
| customers | id, name, phone | none |
| restaurants | id, name, city, rating (DECIMAL) | none |
| menu_items | id, name, price, is_veg (BOOLEAN) | restaurant_id |
| orders | id, total, status | customer_id, restaurant_id, partner_id |
| order_items | id, quantity | order_id, menu_item_id |
| delivery_partners | id, name, phone, vehicle | none |
Relationships and Cardinality
- restaurants 1 : N menu_items: a restaurant offers many dishes, and each dish belongs to one restaurant.
- customers 1 : N orders: a customer can place many orders.
- restaurants 1 : N orders: each order comes from a single restaurant.
- delivery_partners 1 : N orders: a partner delivers many orders, and each order has one partner.
- orders 1 : N order_items: one order contains many line items.
- menu_items 1 : N order_items: a dish can appear in many orders.
order_items is a junction table. It resolves the many-to-many link between orders and menu_items and stores the quantity of each dish.
How to Adapt It for Your Project
- Add an addresses table linked to customers if users save several delivery locations.
- Add a payments table with order_id, method and payment status.
- Store a unit price in order_items so old orders keep the price that was charged, even after the menu price changes.
- Add timestamps such as created_at and delivered_at to orders for tracking and reports.
- Add a reviews table if customers rate restaurants or partners, instead of storing only one rating value.
Tip: Make partner_id in orders nullable. A new order often has no delivery partner until someone accepts it, and a NOT NULL constraint would block saving it.
Frequently asked questions
What are the entities in an ER diagram for a food delivery app?
This diagram uses six entities: customers, restaurants, menu_items, orders, order_items and delivery_partners. Together they cover users, restaurant menus, orders with their line items, and delivery.
Why is there an order_items table?
An order can include many menu items, and a menu item can appear in many orders. The order_items table resolves this many-to-many relationship and records the quantity of each item.
How is the delivery partner linked to an order?
The orders table has a partner_id foreign key pointing to delivery_partners. This creates a one-to-many relationship: one partner can deliver many orders, and each order has one partner.
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