Menu Design Tips part 2

For Starters

The most important thing to keep in mind when designing your menu is your customers. Who are you wanting to attract, based on the theme, style, price point and cuisine of your business? A sports bar, for example, will benefit from bright colors and fun graphics which suggest excitement and a party atmosphere -- just the things your customers want when watching the big game. If you've put together a unique menu with items that may be unfamiliar to some customers, art or photos of your items may help to increase sales.

Where Do Customers Look First?

Research shows that most people look to the top right corner of your menu first. This is a good place to feature one of your most popular menu items.

From there, a customer's eyes generally drift down and to the middle of the menu page. This is a good place to feature your most expensive menu item. Even though many may pass on this particular dish because of the high price, you can put other popular (and fairly expensive) menu items around your most expensive item. The contrast in prices makes people more likely to buy the items you place around your most expensive offering.

General Menu Layout Tips

Organization is also important, especially if you have a large menu. Generally, most designers organize their menu by the following categories:

• Breakfast
• Starters / Appetizers
• Soups
• Salads
• Lunch
• Dinner / Entrees
• Beverages
• Wine & Spirts

Other restaurants may feature specialty headings such as "Seafood" or "Vegetarian," or offer a separate dessert or wines and spirits menu. It's a good idea to list headings in a large, eye-catching font. This will help your customers find exactly what they want to satisfy their hunger.

Special Tip: There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to organizing your menu, but it's good to set a pattern and stick to it. Use a similar font for all your menu section headings, and another for your item descriptions. If you serve a full menu, it makes sense to list breakfast first. Drinks and beverages are often listed on the backside of menus for easy access, as this is typically the first order your servers will take.

Highlight Your Assets

Once you have decided how you will organize your food and drinks, think about what items you'd like to highlight. Small eye-catching graphics for "New" or "Chef's Choice" items can lead to an increase in orders and sales. Borders and boxes are also a great way to draw attention to special parts of your menu. Specials cards are another excellent way to showcase your best cuisine, and can be as intricate or as simple as you like. Borders and specialty graphics are especially effective for specials cards, as they help to draw attention to your inserts.

Special Tip: If your customers have trouble pronouncing the names of your dishes, number them! It's much easier to order a #7 than it is to try to puzzle out how to pronounce an unfamiliar name.

And for Dessert...

The best part about designing your own menu is flexibility - you can change it any time you want, to reflect your own menu changes. Many restaurants choose to buy menu covers made from leather or synthetic materials. You can then swap pages in and out as your menu changes and the theme and atmosphere of your restaurant continues to develop.