Anyone who has gone to a restaurant knows the familiar sight of a menu. Menus lay out all the available food and drink items that the restaurant serves and for what price. They help customers easily choose what to eat without having to visibly see it. While most owners and diners don’t care too much about the restaurant’s menu, it is in fact a very important part of a restaurant that should not be overlooked. Here a few reasons why your restaurant menu matters.
- Shows the type of restaurant
Your restaurant’s menu can show a lot about the type of restaurant that is being run. Much more than most people think. Things like the cover, fonts and images of a menu shows the customer the kind of restaurant that they are at. Everybody who goes to a restaurant looks at the menu, so you definitely want to get this right. For example, something like a black leather cover can indicate a fancy restaurant, therefore that food will be fancy and gourmet. A laminated menu could show that it is a more classic, home-style diner with cheap and cheerful food. Font is also very important. A cursive font shows an elegant and lavish restaurant. A more basic font shows a restaurant that is straight to the point. Using things on your menu that doesn’t match the food your serving and your type of restaurant can greatly confuse your customers. For example, if you’re a classic diner and you design your menu to look exactly like one from a fancy restaurant, it can confuse your customers on what kind of food they are getting. The same is with an elegant restaurant. If you design and package the menu to be more home-style, the customers have no idea what you are really serving. This crisis can easily be averted however if your restaurant’s type matches your restaurant’s food. Another easy way to communicate the kind of food you are serving is by including a few pictures of your food in the menu. Pictures are the best way for a customer to know the kind of food that is being given. However, pictures should only be used if used well. Low-quality pictures and the placement of the pictures can ruin a menu, so use them wisely.
Overall, your restaurant’s menu creates a massive impact on the customer for the type of restaurant you are. Fonts, covers, materials, pictures and more show what your business is all about and the type of food that is being served. It is important to get this right as otherwise it can confuse the customers. If done well however, it will provide a great part of the overall experience at your restaurant.
- Impacts what customers choose
While many restaurant owners recognize the importance of a menu as being a handy tool for customers, there are a few features about them which can heavily impact what the customer chooses and eats. One example is how items at the top of a menu attract more interest by customers. When you get a menu, you start at the top so the first dish naturally gains more recognition. People don’t like looking and deciding their meal for ages, so if the first dish is one they like, they will be greatly inclined to buy it. This is as opposed to the last meal on the menu. People won’t see it as much as not everyone goes through the entire menu. This could lead to a disproportionate amount of people not buying that meal. Luckily, there is a way to use this trick to your advantage. One smart idea is by putting what you perceive as your best meal at the top. Since it is at the top, more people will buy it and since it is your best meal, people will be more likely to recommend the restaurant and come back. For the last menu item, choose a dish that doesn’t have a high profit margin. This way more of the larger profit meals will be sold. Another way menus impact customer choice is with the descriptions (if needed). If the items are thoroughly described and in a good manner, people are more likely to buy it. The more someone knows about something the more inclined they are to purchase it. By putting simple, but descriptive explanations under item, customers will have a better idea of what they are deciding to buy, therefore increasing the chances. You should also use interesting vocabulary and not make the descriptions sound boring. These two instances — item placement and descriptions — are only two of the many small tricks which can greatly impact customer choice. Another reason why the restaurant menus matter.
- Shows the quality of the restaurant
I’m sure you have been to a nice, pleasant restaurant before where the menus are downright terrible. While many think this is an issue that exclusively plagues bad restaurants, it also affects perfectly good ones as well. This is because many restaurant owners overlook menu design. Quite a few owners out there believe that as long as all the items are on the menu, everything’s fine and dandy. This however is not the case. Menus are one of the first impressions on restaurant goers, before they even see your food. If your menu is poorly designed and not great to look at, the will negatively impact the customer, even though they haven’t even eaten your food. First impressions are vastly important in everything in life and menus are no exception. If you use boring, uninspired fonts, the customers are going to think the same about the restaurant. If you decide to use photos in your menu and they are bad quality, people will think it will be the same with your food, even if the food is great! You need to make your menu high-quality, creative and unique. That way customers will get a good impression and believe that the food will be great (which it should be). Not to mention also that if your menu is well designed, it could definitely lead to more purchases. Overall, don’t settle with a poor, terrible menu. Instead, use a menu that inspires the reader and gives them a good impression.
All in all, restaurant menus matter. They don’t matter a little, they matter a lot. Restaurant menus show the customer what type of restaurant you are running, impacts what the customers choose, and shows the overall quality of the restaurant. These are three essential things to keep in mind to run a successful, profitable business that customers will love. Restaurant. Menus. Matter.
