Your menu is more than just a list of dishes and prices. It's a powerful tool to communicate your brand, showcase your culinary skills, and entice your customers to order more. But how do you design your menu categories and sections to make them easy to navigate, appealing, and profitable? Here are some tips to optimize your menu layout and presentation.
Before you decide on your menu categories and sections, think about your restaurant concept and your target audience. What kind of cuisine, style, and atmosphere do you offer? Who are your ideal customers and what are their preferences, needs, and expectations? Your menu should reflect your concept and audience, and use appropriate language, tone, and design elements. For example, if you run a casual burger joint, you might have simple and fun categories like "Burgers", "Sides", and "Shakes". If you run a fine dining establishment, you might have more sophisticated and descriptive categories like "Appetizers", "Entrées", and "Desserts".
Guests, seasonality of guests, the region you are operating in should always be factors in your menu. I have experienced too many menus built and constructed around pride and skill instead of catering to the guests. When you cater to the guests and what they want you dramatically increase the longevity rate of your business. Pride should be more centered around the bottom line and not just what's on the plate!
Your guests should always be your primary concern when putting out a menu. At the end of the day, your menu is a sales tool for your team to use to sell what your bar and kitchen produces. It your menu doesn’t speak to your guests it won’t be effective.
Your menu categories and sections should have clear and consistent labels that tell your customers what to expect from each section. Avoid using vague or confusing terms that might confuse or frustrate your customers. For example, don't use "Salads" as a category if you also offer salads as sides or entrées. Don't use "Specials" as a section if you don't change them regularly or make them stand out from the rest of the menu. Use labels that are specific, accurate, and relevant to your menu items.
Your menu categories and sections should group similar items together to make it easier for your customers to find what they are looking for and compare their options. For example, you might group your dishes by main ingredient, cooking method, flavor profile, or portion size. You might also group your drinks by type, such as "Wine", "Beer", "Cocktails", or "Non-Alcoholic". Grouping similar items together helps your customers narrow down their choices and avoid information overload.
Your menu categories and sections should limit the number of items and sections to avoid overwhelming or boring your customers. Too many items and sections can make your menu look cluttered, confusing, and unfocused. It can also make it harder for your customers to remember and order your dishes. A good rule of thumb is to have no more than seven items per section and no more than seven sections per menu. This way, you can showcase your best dishes, highlight your specialties, and create a sense of variety and quality.
In general less is more. A short frequently (monthly or quarterly) changing menu is easier to prepare and offers less opportunity for waste. For most bars and restaurants 30-40 items seems to be the sweet spot.
The big thing for me is really diving into the analytics of the menu. Understand what your top-sellers are and how you can improve on those and build a menu around those to increase the odds of profitability. Use the specials to test drive items and if they stick they get added to the next menu rotation.
Your menu categories and sections should use visual cues and white space to guide your customers' eyes and attention. Visual cues are elements like icons, images, colors, fonts, or borders that help your customers differentiate between sections and items. White space is the empty space between elements that helps your customers focus and breathe. Visual cues and white space can help you create contrast, hierarchy, and balance in your menu layout and presentation. They can also help you emphasize your signature dishes, upsell your high-margin items, or promote your seasonal offers.
Your menu categories and sections should be tested and tweaked regularly to ensure that they are effective, relevant, and profitable. You can test your menu by collecting feedback from your customers, staff, and peers. You can also use data from your sales, costs, and inventory to analyze your menu performance. Based on your test results, you can tweak your menu by adding, removing, or changing items or sections. You can also change the order, position, or size of items or sections to influence your customers' perception and behavior.
Testing and soliciting guest feedback are great, but they are not scientific. You need to make sure that you use menu engineering to optimize your menu on a regular basis. It’s essential to know not just what people tell you they like, but what actually sells and the profit margin of each item.