When you're in the business of branding and design for the food service industry, eating out takes on a whole new perspective. Most people look at the menu to decide what to order; designers look at a menu, analyze it and, usually, find fault...
Typos abound in menus. We appreciate that spelling is not a essential skill for a successful restaurateur but where was the design company's proofreader? How could that menu have gone to print with incorrect capitalizations? Why is there so much inconsistency? And the way the prices are presented; don't they realize that by aligning prices on the right, the natural instinct is for guest to select by price?
Once we have figuratively ripped the menu apart, the real fun starts. Surely that can't be their signature dish? Have they paid no attention to eye-mapping? It's surprising how many restaurants don't take into account the very expensive and very intensive research that has been undertaken about menu engineering; it's there for the taking from your design company.
It is estimated that the majority of restaurants could increase their sales by between 4 and 10 percent simply by employing menu engineering principles when designing their menu.
Remember that your menu is not a simple bill of fare; your menu is your greatest selling tool. By the time a guest is sitting in your restaurant, looking at your menu, he or she is a captive audience. Whatever you want to tell them, however you want to guide them, whatever impression you want them to have about your restaurant ... it's right there in their hands. Make sure that you make the most of it.
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