MENU WRITING

Menu Development Suggested Steps:

1. Entrées
- Plan the meats and other entrées for the entire period or cycle because
these are generally the most expensive items on the menu
- Careful planning can help control costs by balancing the frequency of
high-cost versus low-cost entrées
2. Soups and sandwiches
- If more than one soup is included then one should be a cream or
hearty soup and another is a stock-based soup
- A variety of sandwiches may be offered and these may not change
from day to day
3. Vegetables and “sides”
- Should be appropriate to serve with the entrées
- Potatoes, rice, pasta, or other grains may be included as one choice
4. Salads
- Select salads that are compatible with the entrées and vegetables
- Certain salads such as tossed vegetable salad, coleslaw, etc. may be
offered daily
5. Desserts
- On a selective menu, the number of choices may be limited to 2 or 3,
plus a daily offering of fruit, ice cream or sherbet, and yogurt
6. Breads
- Provide a variety of choices such as white bread, whole grain or wheat
bread, and hot bread
7. Breakfast items
- Generally include fruit juices, hot and cold cereals, and toast
- Eggs, other entrées, hot breads and fresh fruits are also included
8. Beverages
- A choice of beverages that include coffee, tea, milk, softdrinks and
juices are included

How Many Items Should be on a Restaurant Menu?

The short answer is “fewer than you might think”! George A. Miller, a cognitive
psychology expert, found that most people can only retain seven pieces of
information at a time. That doesn’t mean you should only have seven menu items,
but it does mean that you should consider categorizing your menu items and
keeping the offerings within each category between three and seven.

The Power of Good Restaurant Menu Design

Restaurant menu design can make or break your restaurant's profits. If your least
profitable item is the most prominent on the menu, your guests will order it time
and again, instead of considering other options that are equally delicious but more
profitable for your business. If your food is your art, your menu is your canvas.

How to Make a Restaurant Menu

1. Write Out all Menu Items

Before you dive into design, you have to learn to write a restaurant menu. Using
Excel, a Google Sheet, or even pen and paper, list out all of the meals you want to
offer.

2. Categorize Menu Items

Categorize all the items into apps, entrees, desserts, or any other categories. Then,
decide which menu items you want to appear most prominently on the menu; you
may want appetizers to appear at the top of your menu, and you may want a
particular appetizer to be at the top of the list because it's a star — high profit, high
popularity. Simply move around your menu items until they're in the exact order
you want them to appear on the menu.

3. Set Menu Prices

Menu prices - and how you portray them - are the most crucial aspect of the
restaurant food menu. If you're really starting from scratch, you’ll need to figure out
how to price your menu in order to bring in the most profit while delighting your
guests.

4. Create Menu Descriptions

Use descriptive and enticing adjectives — like refreshing, crispy, savory, tangy,
sour, sweet, crunchy — where possible, but don’t go overboard.

Consider what a new customer would be picturing if they’re reading your menu for
the first time. What may seem obvious to you might not be so clear to a newcomer.
Think about what questions or clarification a guest may need and add those
descriptions to your restaurant menu.

5. Decide on a Menu Color Scheme

Choose a color scheme for your menu that reflects your restaurant brand. This can
be as simple as choosing three colors you might want to see on the menu, or
deciding that you want your menu to be black and white to save money on printing.

6. Design Your Restaurant Menu

Now comes the hard part: translating all your hard work on that sheet into a menu
design.
As you do, keep in mind these menu design best practices:

 A menu has to be easy to digest. As some might say, "Keep it simple,

stupid." Your customers will be overwhelmed by a large menu, so try to keep
it to one or two pages.
 Remember the golden triangle. Our eyes typically start in the middle of a
page, then move to the top right and top left, so consider putting high-margin
dishes at the center and upper right corner of your menu.
 Use dollar signs strategically. A study at Cornell found that diners who
ordered from a menu without dollar signs ($) spent significantly more than
those who ordered from a traditionally priced menu. Consider removing dollar
signs from your menu, and don't list menu prices in a single column so it's
easy for customers to compare.

7. Restaurant Menu Photos

Printed menus benefit from white space, and the more photos or icons you add, the
more distracted customers are from your actual content: the food, and those
awesome descriptions you just wrote.

You may want to include photos of your most profitable menu items, but these
photos need to be high quality - and that quality needs to translate to print. You
may have to hire a food photographer to take these photos because low-quality
photos can be worse than no photos. Work on your food presentation skills first, and
then hire a photographer or a friend to take the perfect photo for your menu.

8. Choose Menu Fonts, Spacing, and Composition

You have a color scheme, a general idea of how you want your menu items to be
laid out on the page, and possibly a few photos you want to include. Now, it's time
to put it all together to create a restaurant menu.

At this point, many restaurateurs hire a menu designer or turn to menu templates
to give them a starting point. It can take an hour, a day, or a week to go through
different iterations, considering margins, spacing, fonts, and overall composition.

Also, don't forget: updating your menu regularly should be easy. If you don't leave
space to add or remove menu items over time, especially if your menu changes
seasonally, then you may have to start this whole process over again. As many
guests - especially the loyal ones that keep coming back - will remember your menu
design and where to find their favorite items, you'll want to make sure it's easy to
update, so you don't have to overhaul your menu design again and again.

9. Select the Final Menu Layout

Come up with a few design choices to share with your business partners and staff,
and vote on which you think is best for your restaurant brand. Your stakeholders will
want to review the content - exactly how you're describing each menu item - as well
as the prices and the cohesiveness of your brand.
10. Proofread and Print Your Menu

Finally, it's time to print your restaurant menu. But first - take a moment to
proofread your menu and send it to someone who hasn't been staring at it for the
past week. One misplaced comma or small typo could change your guests'
perception of the restaurant. Don't skip this step, because if you do, you could
waste a lot of money printing menus that will just end up in the trash.

https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/how-to-make-a-restaurant-menu
Also read:
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/article/301/restaurant-menu-design.html

https://www.restaurant-website-builder.com/how-to-write-a-menu-for-a-restaurant
https://www.restaurant-menu.net/menu-writing-rules

Activity:
1. Plan a cycle menu for a school canteen with customers whose ages range
from 16 to 65 years old. Meals to be offered are breakfast, lunch, midmorning
and midafternoon snacks. What factors did you consider in planning the
menu?
You may use the internet to find dishes that may be included in your menu.

2. Write and design a menu for any 1 of the following foodservice operations:
a. Family dining restaurant
b. Quick service restaurant
c. Catering service operation
d. Formal dining restaurant
e. Snack bar