The A-Z Of Restaurant Menu Design

A menu is the game-changing tool in any restaurant’s marketing plan. It not only represents and reflects an eatery’s personality, but also throws light on overall operations, boosts profits, establishes the budget and helps maintain the freshness of the brand in the customer’s mind forever.

The restaurant menu should create a favorable impression and also leave a lasting impact on everyone who holds it or sees it digitally on the restaurant’s website. Create website for restaurant and having an online menu is absolutely important for restaurants that wish to survive in the highly competitive industry. The menu should also make the diners feel that they have chosen the best brand for their memorable meal. The menu must be the reason why guests are content about being there, wanting to come back and also recommend it to near and dear ones.

FACTORS THAT CAN MAKE A RESTAURANT MENU AWESOME1. Use Restaurant Menu Design To Give Prominence To Dishes That You Want To Sell:

Restaurants must concentrate primarily on the menu’s design. Unless it is neat and easy to read, guests will find it difficult to navigate. Also, the menu design must highlight the most profitable menu items.

Restaurants can also use boxes to highlight their chef’s specialties or their own signature dishes. This breaks the monotony of the menu format, provides a pleasant variation, increases design value and also guides new customers to the restaurant’s specialties.

2. Convert the Menu Into A Sales Tool:

The menu is a restaurant’s ‘silent salesperson’. The menu must be used to highlight items that garner greater support and profits. Such items can be listed under categories like ‘Chef’s Specials’ or ‘Most Popular’. Several Menu Engineering and Design tricks can also be used to maximize profits.

3. Stylish Restaurant Menus:

If the restaurant wishes to conquer the fine-dining restaurant industry and win a clientele with refined culinary tastes, it must use a stylish menu. Stylish restaurant menus need not necessarily be complex. Even the simplest menu design on a plain paper with a carefully selected typeface can inspire those who seek class and elegance in every choice of theirs.

4. Optimize Eye Movement Patterns:

Restaurants can follow the ‘golden triangle design trick’ to catch the reader’s attention. This trick is based on the idea that when people see a page, their eyes start gazing from the center, then move to the top right corner and later, to the top left – thus, forming a triangular pattern. So, items that the restaurant wishes to sell more must be placed either at the center or the top of the menu ensuring that guests spot them rapidly.

5. Avoid Currency Symbols:

Restaurants must bid adieu to dollar signs ($) on both the physical and digital menu. A study has revealed that diners who order using a menu without the symbol are likely to order significantly more. Since every guest knows what the number beside the menu item means, it is redundant to further explain it using a dollar sign. Since the sign triggers negative associations about expenditures, it is advised to omit it altogether. Thus, easing price pain points is mandatory for all restaurants on its respective menu.

6. Use The Power Of Photography:

Any business that wishes to survive, compete and make profits has now realized the power of photography. An image is equal to 1000 words. When coupled with a copy that is minimal, yet convincing, photographs can change the tide in favor of the restaurant. Drool-worthy images spice up an otherwise mundane menu design. When customers are confused about what to order, scintillating and appetizing images of your food can help them decide their meal options for the day.

Pictures are quite tricky to use. Restaurants often do not know how to use the right amount of images – they either use too much of it ending up creating a negative image or use too little, failing to create any impact. Thus, restaurants must use images sparingly, but place them in the right spots to initiate CTAs. Also, photos must align with the rest of the design elements.

Using a photo beside a menu item is shown to increase sales by 30%

7. Optimize The Website’s Online Menu & Ordering System:

Make sure that the online menu used on the restaurant’s website is easy to read. This determines whether the diners decide to make a visit to the restaurant or not.

While it is okay to upload a PDF format of the menu on the restaurant website, it is most advisable to get the same design written directly on the webpage (preferably in HTML format) so that the user-experience is enhanced and search engines crawl you text and offer it as results during searches.

The online ordering system and menu must be personalized and made to match the brand as much as possible. The online menu must be filled with high quality images of all the menu items so that customers know beforehand what they are ordering and what they can expect during the delivery. When customers browse the online menu, there are no restaurant staff to guide them. These images and descriptions must be sufficient to help them make informed decisions.

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The A-Z Of Restaurant Menu Design

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