Make the Menu Work for You (1/3)

The average restaurant customer takes 3.5 minutes to read a menu. In that time, what is your menu saying to this diner? What opportunities are taken – and what are missed – each time a person seeks to find out information about you and your service? The menu is one of the most important portals of communication for a restaurant operation, and unfortunately one of the most misused and misrepresented of all the sales tools used. It is as important as an enthusiastic front staff, expert kitchen service, and exquisite décor. A savvy restaurant owner recognizes that a menu is not just a catalog of selections. It tells the story of the restaurant, sets the mood, attracts the diner, reflects the skills of the staff, and perhaps most significantly – dramatically increases profitability of a sitting. A well thought out menu builds excitement and anticipation to an enjoyable culinary experience. It is your big opportunity to have an intimate one-on-one communication to establish your restaurant brand and “personality.” Here are some steps you can take right now to improve your menu. Make the Menu reflect your restaurant. Does the menu reflect your “look?” Is it a Quick Casual restaurant? An upscale eatery? A family place? A “let’s get together” restaurant? A well established one with a long history in the community? This is where the diner gets to read about you and is officially introduced to you. The menu should be clean, easy to understand, and made to invite the diner to a culinary adventure – to understand your food, ingredients, perhaps your culinary philosophy, the regions represented by your ingredients and style, the history of your establishment, etc. Decisions should be made with care as to selection of the menu color, texture, size, presentation, and additional information. Seek the advice of a professional service. They can help you find the best papers, textures, printing and design for your menu, as well as how to achieve the look you want for the investment you can afford. Colors can make meals look appetizing or disasterous. Use a color that is not the main attraction, but serves to highlight the text and the photos. Make sure the menu is easy to read by using an appropriate text size (not too large, not too small). Also, have your printer show you different fonts which can send out the right message to your customers. A key suggestion: have someone proofread your menu to make sure you are grammatically and idiomatically correct! Have a professional design your logo design – look at local places, etc. for examples of logos, and either select one or have one created for you. Put it on everything the customer sees – as well as what your staff sees – to reinforce your restaurant brand. No matter how well you have designed your menu, if it is stained, dirty, or mutilated it will cancel your customer investment immediately– as it will be hard to convince the customer that the experience will be a good one. Make the menu understood. Asian restaurants have unique challenges because many menu selections are typically hard to pronounce, or are sound strange to a customer who may not speak your language. Guests should not be intimidated or feel awkward, so make dishes easy to pronounce. Use numbers next to the items, as well as enticing photos and pictorials of the selection presentations. Make the Menu Tempting. The language of the menu should be inviting. Be more expressive and use descriptive language that can help sell your meal. Be aware of cultural differences – something that sounds tasty to you may have the opposite effect on your customer. Make sure the description matches the taste! Briefly include information about the dish, how it is prepared and served, main ingredients, as well as any qualities that are compelling enough to make the reader want to try it (unique qualities, taste, seasonings, seasonality, etc.)