I am creating a website for a friend who owns a restaurant.
She needs to be able to easily update the food menu(s) and
update the website. I need to allow her to do this w/o actually
editing the HTML code. What is the best way to handle this?

You'd have to either give her the ability to change the code and be ok with it, or find a site hosting that has some kind of site builder built into it that she can go in and change things with a WYSIWYG editor. Only other way is to do a CMS type site which you can allow certain editing permissions in and it would entail mostly updating an article instead of actual code.

Doing a normal site with HTML/CSS etc. there's no real way to do what you're asking without some major PHP/JAVA/ETC. type features in it.

I have a similar site where the customer uploads a daily Word document with the day's menu (always the same file name). There is a link within the page to the document so browsers can click on the link and bring up the menu. Hope this may help.

I think a CMS is the way to go. It will allow her to change the menus without having to edit or have access to the code.

What Pauline suggests is also a good idea Kellie. If you can get the site to access a Word doc or similar document file, then your customer could very easily just upload the file for changes via an ftp program like DirectFTP by Coffeecup. Very simple to do, and as long as they can deal with something like Microsoft Word or similar program they'd be set to go. Making changes there could be as simple as menu item changes or pricing, or even graphics. That would work pretty slick and be very similar to what they'd have to do in a CMS.

I think the best way would be cushy cms (it is free) you can allocate which sections she is permitted to edit herself online on the page. Check out the link below:

http://www.cushycms.com/

I'll have to check that out too, I've never heard of that one.

PDF document for the win...