Increase sales with good menu Design and Layout

The difference between an extremely successful restaurant and one that has a hard time keep its doors open might actually be their menu. After all, customers that are put off by a menu are less likely to be excited and thus order as much as they would if the menu were inspiring. The question is: What does a well-designed menu consist of? The answer may vary from one restaurant to the next, but a good menu design will typically have these attributes:

An effective layout

A good layout starts with having multiple sub sections. The more often than not accepted menu design convention has the appetizers at the top, followed by salads and/or soups, followed by main course items, and typically ends with deserts and drinks. Customers are not likely to accept the ‘creativeness’ of changing this lineup, in particular if they are impatient. Do not deviate from what the customer is used to, and avoid categorizing dishes by meat. Note that restaurants specializing in pasta may be exempt from this rule so long as their separate their mains by the type of noodles available. It is also important to show special dietary items on the menu to carer for your customers allergies such as Gluten Free menu items.

Colors and fonts specifically chosen to highlight your theme

Most restaurants have a theme, and your menu should be part of that theme. Nobody would go into Gino’s East pizza restaurant in Chicago and expect to see purple menus with bubbly-character fonts. Why? Because Gino’s East serves some of the best Chicago-style deep-dish pizza in the entire country. Utilize fonts, colors, and even artwork that follow the visual harmony inside a restaurant rather than disrupting it.

Interesting item names with descriptions

Some restaurateurs fear giving their dishes unique names as they worry that customers will not understand what they are being offered. Conquer this fear with interesting menu items in bold font and an inspirational description below it in normal font. It may be worth making the menu item name bigger in size than the description font, but don’t make the description font too small to read. This way one has the chance to brand their food while simultaneously allowing customers to know just what they are getting.

Quality is parmount

It is an unquestioned fact that most restaurants go out of business before the second year due to a lack of funding. Why? The food service industry is extremely competitive and thus many restaurant owners are constantly looking for ways to cut corners}. The menu should not be one of those corners that ends up being cut too far, and it should certainly not be cut to the point where menus are printed out at home. A menu is a major part of your customers dining experience, and is a pertinent part of the first impression that most customers will carry away with them after a meal.

Follow these basic rules when creating a menu and customers will take notice. This in turn will lead to word of mouth, and allow a restaurant to gain a significant advantage on your competitors who do not follow these rules. If there was any further proof required that these rules are effective, visit any successful restaurants that have already celebrated a decade in business and see if any of them breaks any of these menu-related rules.