A professionally designed restaurant menu can attract customers, increase sales, and emphasize your restaurant's identity. In our article, we will show you how to easily create an attractive and functional menu. You will learn how to design a restaurant menu, choose the right fonts, layout the menu effectively, and understand the important role of dish photos. You will also discover the ins and outs of the psychology of menu design, which can significantly affect customers' perception of your establishment. Remember, as many as 85% of guests find access to online menus makes the decision to choose a restaurant easier.
10 steps to the perfect restaurant menu
1. Choose a menu creation tool for your restaurant
The paper version of the menu is familiar to everyone, and we know how important a role it plays in a restaurant. But have you ever wondered how crucial an online menu is in attracting guests? Your customers have limited access to the paper menu, but an online menu can be reached from multiple places at once (through your Facebook profile, your website, or your restaurant's Google Maps profile).
Treat the online menu as one of your restaurant's most important business cards to help attract customers. As many as 85% of people check the menu before coming to a restaurant.
Creating a restaurant menu may seem complicated, but there are many online menu creators that offer simple and flexible menu templates that you can customize to suit your needs.
Our online menu builder will help you effectively attract new customers! BOWWE offers you many options: you can use menu templates created by our professionals or create your own menu completely from scratch and without any coding! If you don't have enough time, that's not a problem for us. You can commission us to create your menu! All you have to do is send us an email with the menu content to our address (hello@bowwe.com). Add photos of the dishes and the address of your website (if you have one). Include all the information you would like to feature! Our specialists will take care of the rest!
BOWWE not only helps you create and design elegant-looking menus but also makes menu management easy. By following our tips, you can be assured that your menu will be a success!
2. Think about what you want to include on menu
This is a very important step in creating a restaurant menu that will make your work easier in the following stages. Consider what characterizes your cuisine. The purpose of your menu should be to advertise your food and help customers choose the best combinations. A good menu describes the restaurant's identity and its approach to food.
When designing a menu, create a list of dishes and consider which ones are most profitable and which ones should be abandoned. In this case, menu engineering can be helpful. Menu engineering is a method of assessing the profitability of individual items. By using sales and food cost data, you can determine which dishes should be recommended, supported with marketing, or removed from the menu altogether.
For example, if your restaurant offers both the popular spaghetti bolognese and the lesser-known seafood risotto, the data may show that spaghetti sells much better, generating higher revenue. If this is the case, it's a good idea to provide marketing support for the spaghetti bolognese by promoting it as a "Chef's Special" or offering it as part of a set with dessert.
When designing a restaurant menu, it's important to consider profitability. If you have a dish that is expensive to prepare and not very popular, it may be better to replace it with a more profitable one. For example, you can experiment with new recipes or introduce a seasonal menu that will attract customers' attention and encourage them to visit more often. Understanding how to create a restaurant menu that maximizes profit involves continuously analyzing your offerings and being willing to make adjustments based on performance.
Implementing menu engineering in your restaurant menu layout can help identify which items are not performing well. By doing so, you can focus on designing a menu that highlights more popular and cost-effective dishes. This strategic approach to making a menu for a restaurant ensures that you are not only meeting customer expectations but also optimizing your revenue.
3. Organize your dishes into categories
When creating a restaurant menu, one way to organize dishes is by section, such as pasta dishes, chicken dishes, salads, etc. This approach is often appropriate for casual restaurants or those with large menus. Another option is to organize the menu according to the order of the dishes served—appetizer, salad, main course, and dessert. This usually works best for more upscale restaurants with smaller menus.
While variety on the menu is great, too many options can confuse customers. This is because with more options, we tend to feel more anxious, as confirmed by the psychological theory of the "paradox of choice." However, it's worth highlighting promotions that can attract attention and interest your customers.
4. Create attractive dish descriptions
A key element that can influence customers' decisions to try your dishes is the descriptions of menu items. When designing a menu, instead of using generic names like "tomato soup," add a bit of imagination and emphasize the high quality of the ingredients. For example, "Soup made from juicy, sun-ripened tomatoes" sounds much more appetizing and attracts attention.
The description of dishes should not only stimulate the imagination but also provide relevant information. It's worth including labels for vegetarian dishes, level of spiciness, weight, allergens, or number of pieces. Such descriptions not only encourage ordering but also build trust and ensure the customer knows exactly what they will receive.
5. Estimate the best prices for dishes
When designing a menu for a restaurant, menu prices, as well as the way they are presented, are key aspects of a restaurant's success. Regular tracking of sales performance and food costs is essential to ensure your dishes are making the expected profits. Valuable sales data allows you to make informed decisions about the pricing of individual dishes.
Reviewing this data regularly is crucial, as factors such as inflation and changing customer habits can affect the profitability of certain menu items. In this context, menu engineering again becomes an invaluable tool. For example, if a certain dish is not generating the expected profit, consider removing it or replacing it with something more profitable.
It is also worth considering offering sets and promotions that can attract more customers. For example, a "Lunch Set of the Day" containing soup, a main course, and dessert at an attractive price can significantly increase turnover during lunch hours.
6. Ensure optimal presentation of dishes
When designing a restaurant menu, it's crucial to avoid cramming too many dishes onto a single page, as this can make it unreadable for your customers. Ideally, your guests should be able to see all menu items at a glance.
A two-page menu is the optimal format. It provides enough space to arrange all the dishes in a way that guests can easily scan. On a two-page menu, guests usually spend most of their time looking at the center of the right-hand page (the "sweet spot"), and then at the first and last items in each column. Place your most profitable and best-selling dishes in these spots so that they are the first thing your guests see.
Experienced restaurateurs place the two highest-margin menu items at the top of each menu section and one high-margin item at the bottom. They also limit each section to no more than seven options.
In addition to using sweet spots to your advantage, you can use "eye magnets" to draw guests' attention to specific dishes. Eye magnets can include a photo of the dish, a graphic illustration, a border, or any other eye-catching element that sets that dish or menu area apart from others.
One of the secrets to designing a good menu is to consider the "golden triangle" of eye movement patterns. People are usually drawn to the center of the page first, then move to the content in the top right corner, and finally to the top left corner. As such, it's a good idea to apply this theory when designing menus.
7. Set a style that is quintessential to your restaurant
Ensuring that the style of your restaurant's menu matches your business is key to creating a consistent and appealing brand identity. No matter what style your menu will be—minimalist, modern, or vintage—you should be guided by consistency and legibility.
When designing a restaurant menu, you need to understand the meaning and uses of different colors. Some colors evoke specific emotions in people, so it is worthwhile to familiarize yourself with the psychology of colors. Start by thinking about the message you want to convey with your color scheme. What ideas and associations do you want to be linked with your restaurant? For example, owners of Asian restaurants often use colors that are associated with their culture, such as red. If your restaurant specializes in Italian cuisine, it is definitely worth incorporating green, which is associated with freshness.
The UI Kit in the BOWWE Menu Builder allows you to quickly change the style of your menu with practically one click! This means you can easily customize the style of your chosen menu template from BOWWE to match your restaurant's branding, or quickly update the style of your current menu. This is ideal for small business owners who need cost-effective and easy-to-manage tools to keep their menus up-to-date and appealing to customers.
8. Opt for a font that resonates with your restaurant's messaging
Choosing the right font for your restaurant menu is key to creating a consistent image for your brand. Serif fonts are associated with elegance and tradition, making them ideal for upscale restaurants, while sans-serif fonts have a modern, clean look, suitable for places with a more casual atmosphere.
Fonts can significantly affect customers' perception of the menu. Simplicity and elegance in font selection can enhance the aesthetics and professionalism of your menu.
Understanding how to create a restaurant menu that aligns with your brand involves careful consideration of font styles that reflect your restaurant's identity. Effective menu designing requires selecting fonts that are not only readable but also complement the overall restaurant menu layout and theme.
9. Choose photos that reflect the taste of your food
Studies show that digital menus can increase restaurant sales by 25-30%, and menus with beautiful photos by up to 65%. It's important that your food photos accurately reflect what the customer will receive on their plate. Otherwise, instead of encouraging, they can cause disappointment and negative feedback. To make effective use of photographs when designing a restaurant menu, consider these elements:
- Realism: Customers should receive on their plate exactly what they saw on the menu.
- High Quality: High-quality photos translate into a perception of the quality of the food served. Consider hiring a professional photographer who specializes in culinary photography and knows how to best present the food.
- Styling: Pay attention to the presentation and styling of the food. Use appropriate dishes, accessories, and backgrounds that highlight the character of the dish and the cuisine you represent.
- Lighting: Good lighting is key to highlighting the texture and colors of the food. Natural light is usually the most desirable, but proper studio lighting can also highlight the best features of the dishes.
- Update Photos: Regularly update the photos on your menu, especially when you introduce changes to your offerings or seasonal specials, which can further encourage customers to visit often.
10. Include key information about your restaurant
When designing a restaurant menu, ensuring it includes key information about your restaurant is important for customer convenience, building trust, and enhancing brand recognition. Here are the elements you should consider when putting together a menu for your restaurant:
- Opening Hours: Provide clear information about your restaurant's operating hours to help customers plan their visits and avoid confusion.
- Address: Make sure the location of your establishment is easily accessible and understandable to any customer.
- Contact Information: Add a phone number and email address to allow for quick contact for reservations or questions.
- Social Media: Include links to profiles on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to help build a community and stay in touch with customers.
- Delivery Information: If you offer delivery services, clearly indicate how orders can be placed online or over the phone to make it easier for customers to use this option.
How to make a menu for a restaurant - summary
Creating an attractive and functional menu is a key element in any restaurant's marketing strategy. Remember that online menus are now not just a convenience but a necessity that can significantly increase your restaurant's reach and attract more guests.
If you are looking for a way to create your own restaurant menu, do it with us! BOWWE allows you to easily and professionally design menus for your restaurant, making it a great option for any restaurateur looking to effectively manage their offerings both on paper and digitally.
Karol is a serial entrepreneur, e-commerce speaker m.in for the World Bank, and founder of 3 startups, as part of which he has advised several hundred companies. He was also responsible for projects of the largest financial institutions in Europe, with the smallest project being worth over €50 million.
He has two master's degrees, one in Computer Science and the other in Marketing Management, obtained during his studies in Poland and Portugal. He gained experience in Silicon Valley and while running companies in many countries, including Poland, Portugal, the United States, and Great Britain. For over ten years, he has been helping startups, financial institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises to improve their functioning through digitization.
