Menu Design: 6 Tips to make it Lasting and Effective

“Everyone is a critique” 

Information can travel around the globe in an instant and that includes your restaurant’s menu. The World Wide Web is why businesses with a vision to expand their reach must put their best foot foward. In this day and age, anyone can get a hold of what your restaurant is like “in the snap of a finger”, or a click of a button if literally speaking.

Yes, everyone can in fact be very critical about food and share it to the public. Whether or not it is read by just a couple of hundreds or to up to thousands of “followers”, a review on your restaurant by several average joes today can make a serious impact on your data analytics.

Gone are the days when only a handful, with a decent following, can blog about their food experiences. Today, anyone, through Instagram, Facebook and even TikTok, to name a few, can be a critique.

Restaurants and Digital Marketing

Today, restaurants would pay extra to be highlighted by food bloggers or even magazines, for honest, and not always pleasant, customer reviews. But in reality, digital marketing is a new arm most companies are implementing that can be done For free too. Businesses with the right amount of creativity and perfect timing can create serious buzz around their products.

The key to stand out, digital marketing strategies is by building an upper hand. Because of the fluidity of information today, it is vital for restaurants to serve a complete package deal. This includes an enticing experience when reading the menu, the warm service received, the pleasant physical vibe of the place and of course, an exemplary dish.

The complete restaurant package is what can be marketed digitally. But what can argue that the menu is the most informational aspect of the restaurant. The menu is where you, as the restaurant owner, can:

• Set the bar your willing to take on
  • Build the hype and value to your dishes
• Establish the overall branding of your restaurant

Always keep in mind that when you’re penetrating a new market, before the food is delivered to the table of your first customer (a.k.a. Critique numero uno), they are presented on this printed sheet of paper. 

6 Tips on how to create an Effective Menu

1. Be realistic. The length of your menu is dependent on the size of your kitchen. Don’t overwhelm your kitchen staff with an elaborate list of items you want to serve. Know your kitchen’s capacity and be economic.
2. Be concise. Describe your food but keep it short and straight to the point. 
3. Be reasonable. A menu should always have the price. It is a standard piece of information that should allow your customers to know instantly whether or not they will get value for their money or whether or not it fits their budget. It’s also your way of establishing your position in the market and determining your primary competitors. 
4. Simplicity is key. Use easy to read text fonts. Mix and match bold and regular texts to emphasize the dish name from your brief description. 
5. Change up. Have a staple menu that doesn’t change through the year. But if you want to be crafty and maximize the skill-set of your kitchen staff and the seasonal produce available in your area, create a special menu that highlights dishes available only for a limited time. 
6. Stay on brand. Use your menu as one of your primary tools to establish your restaurant’s brand. Whether or not you hire a graphic artist to design your menu for you, keep in mind that how you present your dishes on the menu should correlate with the overall brand of your restaurant. 

Conclusion

Keeping these tips in mind when conceptualizing your menu can only go so far. What’s equally as important is how it turns out on print. AK Prints can help provide your restaurant with  high quality menu prints that will best suit your brand. Choose from a selection of sizes of high-grade, water-proof material:

• 8.5”x11”
• 8.5”x14”
• 11”x17”
• 12”x18”

They can even offer a designer for you so that they can assure you that the key points to remember mentioned above will all be satisfied for the best customer experience you could give. 

Have you thought about redesigning your menu yet?