As a restaurant owner, the key to success is serving good food – and drinks. But what’s even more important is how you present those dishes to your guests.
Let’s face it, first impressions are everything. And your menu is the first place your guest will see their choices of meals.
Believe it or not, there is much strategy behind the design of your restaurant menu. It’s not just about throwing pictures of your plates on a page with short descriptions. Here are 3 tips to creating the perfect menu:
Use Catchy Menu Descriptions
Tell the story behind each meal. Coming up with engaging and unique descriptions for your menu items can make all the difference in check sizes. Use this an opportunity to give the inside scoop into what is in each plate. Ingredients and preparation. Just like a well told story is hard to put down, a detailed menu description is hard not to entice an order. This isn’t about information overload. It’s more about using words that describe the texture of the meal, the preparation of the meal, and the flavor the meal will bring.
Include Photos
We eat with our eyes first. A customer is not going to be encouraged to order a plate of food that looks gross. A good photo can help get the customer excited about what they are about to devour. Food porn is a real thing. Beautiful food can make a mouth water. That is what your customers are looking for when they dine at your restaurant. A meal that makes them drool. A memorable meal. Think of photos as an extra way to promote your menu items. Another marketing tool.
Placement Like A Book
It’s called visual strategy. The way our eyes scan a menu – it’s a pattern. Just like a reading a book, we read a menu from left to right. So dividing the menu into two sections per page is the best way to place the categories. This makes it easy for customers to arrange the groups of plates in a logical order. Drinks first, appetizers second, entrée’s third, and desserts last. Break the menu up by using boxes around sections and feature high profitable items at the top of each category.
An easy-to-read menu will keep your customers ordering more and profits rolling in. Make sure to know the cost of every recipe and start building the perfect menu.
