How to increase sales through good menu Design and Layout
The difference between an extremely successful restaurant and one that struggles to stay in business might really be the menu. After all, customers who are put off by a menu are less likely to be excited and order as much as they would if the menu were well-designed. The question is: What does a well-designed menu consist of? The answer may vary from one restaurant to the next, but a great menu design will typically have these attributes:
An effective layout
A good layout starts with breaking it down into multiple courses. The broadly accepted menu design convention has the appetizers up front, followed by salads and/or soups, followed by main course items, and typically ends with deserts and drinks. Believe it or not, customers are not likely to accept the ‘creativeness’ of changing this lineup, specially if they are hungry. Adhere to what the diner knows, and avoid categorizing dishes by meat. Note that restaurants specializing in pasta may be exempt from this rule so long as their separate their main courses by the type of pasta available. It is also important to show special dietary items on the menu to carer for your customers allergies such as Gluten Free items.
Colors and fonts specifically chosen to highlight the theme of the restaurant
Every restaurant has a theme, and your menu should be part of your theme. Nobody would go into Gino’s East pizza restaurant in Chicago and expect to see pink menus with cartoon fonts. Why? Because Gino’s East serves some of the best Chicago-style deep-dish pizza in the the US. Find fonts, colors, and even artwork that extend the visual harmony inside a restaurant rather than disrupting it.
Interesting descriptions with names
Some restaurateurs fear giving their dishes unique names as they worry that customers will not realise what they are being offered. Conquer this fear with interesting menu items in bold font and an interesting description below it in normal font. It is worth making the menu item name bigger in size than the description font, but never make the description font too small to read. This way one has the chance to brand your food while simultaneously allowing customers to know exactly what they are getting.
Quality is parmount
It is an undoubted fact that most restaurants never celebrate their second anniversary due to a lack of funding. Why? The food service industry is extremely competitive and thus many restaurant owners are perpetually looking for ways to cut corners}. The menu should never be one of those corners that ends up being cut too far, and it should certainly not be shaved to the point where menus are printed out at home on an ink-jet printer. 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 four rules when creating your menu and customers will take notice. This in turn will lead to word of mouth, and hopefully allow a restaurant to gain an advantage on your competitors who do not follow these rules. If there was any further proof that these rules are effective, visit any ten profitable restaurants that have already celebrated a decade in business and see if any of them breaks any of these menu-related rules.
