Do not overlook the design of your menu! It’s the first thing your customers notice.
The menu of your restaurant is your restaurant’s true business card. It’s the undervalued sales executive that plays a significant role in attracting customers to your restaurant. It is the key to your restaurant’s marketing plan and hence it should express your restaurant’s character and food style keeping your brand fresh in the customer’s mind.
You might be serving the best food in town but if your customer’s don’t know what to order your business is doomed. Hence, its imperative that you make sure that your menu is the best it can be. Here are some tips to help you design a good restaurant menu.
Start with the Menu Cover/Folder
Your menu folder is the first impression of your menu. A good menu folder helps to set your restaurant’s tone but a great menu folder defines your restaurant’s class and helps set it apart from the others. Consider a chic, luxurious, premium leather menu folder with rich dark brown tinge. Imagine the feel such a folder will produce for your menu. That’s an invaluable sense of perceived class you have created and invested in for your restaurant. You can also opt for a soft light grey, a classic black or even a flaming red if it suits your brand image and message.
Review your Menu Strategy
Organize your menu in a logical manner so that your guests do not have to scavenger hunt for the dishes. Make it easy for them to find what they are looking for making sure that your best sellers are given prime location on the menu. Restaurants that have menus with fewer ‘good’ dishes generally perform better than those that have many ‘ok’ ones.
No menu strategy is complete without pricing. Don’t keep all the dishes on your menu high end. Keep some options for patrons that come into your establishment with smaller budgets. Try including some sandwiches with your steaks.
Always focus on the minor details
In any business focusing on details is crucial, it’s what makes a business really stand out. When it comes to décor, service and food you need to defy your customer’s expectations. Ensure that your menu is up to the mark. There is no bigger turn off than finding typos in a menu so ensure that you proofread. Let your patrons talk about the food, not about the spelling mistakes.
Pay attention to your menu colour. Does your restaurant have a theme? What cuisine do you serve? These questions should help you decide your menu colour and set the tone for the consumer experience. Avoid getting your menu laminated. A laminated menu for most people leaves a bad taste in the mouth (pun not intended). Try a leather menu folder instead.
Keep it Clean
With high hygiene standards in a place like UAE we do not need to worry much about the quality of the food in restaurants. But what about the menus? I see so many dirty menus in restaurants which is a big put off. While a nice and classy leather menu cover will help keep your menu cleaner for longer don’t forget to clean the menu cover itself. A little bit of warm water and even some window cleaning liquid should do the trick. You just need to add it as part of your weekly restaurant duties.
Using leather, you can make an effortless and bold statement about your business. If your restaurant business requires a style intervention, reach out to us on [email protected] and we will give you various options to customize premium quality leather products to suit your needs.