The importance of designing a Restaurant Menu cannot be understated. Especially if your foodservice doesn’t have much notoriety, your menu is a tool that can draw customers in. This means your menu should not only reveal what you offer, but it should be capable of driving business on its own. That might seem like a tall order, but there are several things you can do to give yourself a leg up when it comes to designing a restaurant menu:
Write Engaging Meal Descriptions
It’s easy for a menu to simply list all the food a restaurant offers. But what menus should really strive for are meal descriptions that appeal to a diner’s inner food lover. For example, one way to describe a hamburger is an “8 oz. patty with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and Russian dressing.” But what would make a customer choose that hamburger over all others? So instead, describe that same hamburger as “8 oz. of charbroiled beef topped with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and grilled onions. Drizzled with homemade special sauce and served on a toasted Kaiser roll.” Now that sounds much more appealing, doesn’t it?
Clarity is Essential
Ever read a meal description and have no idea what it means? If your customers do that, there’s a good chance they’ll just leave. After all, why put extra effort in when there are so many other menus that are easy to understand? So if your menu includes foods that aren’t well known, consider adding a layman’s term translation that anyone would understand. This will help prevent any confusion.
Menus Should Be Easy to Read
Fancy fonts might look cool, but they can also be difficult to read. This can frustrate customers and motivate them to eat elsewhere. The same clarity principle applies to small font. Squinting shouldn’t be required to read your menu. Instead, the font should be large enough to be easily read.
Include Multiple Languages if Necessary
The United States is becoming a more diverse place. So if you’re located in an area where multiple languages are spoken, then having a menu with only English meal descriptions will make your restaurant less appealing to non-English speakers. In these situations, it doesn’t hurt to include multiple languages on your menu.
Appeal to Your Specific Target Market
Your menu’s design should be most appealing to the patrons you expect to carry your business. So if you operate a fine dining restaurant that attracts an older crowd, your menu should be formal in nature. But if your restaurant is in a college town and is targeting young adults, a more colorful menu will help you appeal to them. The bottom line is know who you’re trying to reach and what they’ll respond to.
