untested:

my @matches = grep /\Q$search\E/i, @array;
if (@matches > 12) {
   print @matches-12, " matches ignored<br />\n";
   $#matches = 11;
}

while (my @row = splice(@matches, 0, 3)) {
   print "<tr>\n";
   for my $item (@row) {
      my ($category,$item_name,$item_price,$item_picture)=split(/\|/,$
+item);
      print <<End_of_line;
        <td valign=top CLASS=MENU1>
    <img src="$photo_loc/$photo1" width=75 height=75><BR>
        <B>$item_name</B><BR>
        $item_price<BR>
        </td>
End_of_line
   }
   print "</tr>\n";
}
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