How to Create a Profitable Restaurant Menu
by Luke Arthur, Demand Media
When starting a new restaurant, creating the menu is one of the most-important responsibilities that you will undertake as the restaurant owner. The items you put on your menu will be responsible for bringing in the revenue that it takes to run the business. Finding ways to maximize profit should be one of the utmost priorities for you. The way that you create your menu can have a drastic effect on the profitability of your restaurant.
Step 1
Promote your most-profitable items. These are the items that have a low cost for the ingredients and can be sold at a high market. These items may require a very small amount of time from your staff to prepare. Focus on promoting these items over the other offerings. If you can steer people into items you want them to order, it can significantly improve your profit margins.
Step 2
Emphasize the items that you want ordered with menu design tricks. A talented graphic designer can help emphasize something on the page. For example, drawing a colorful box around a featured item can naturally draw the eye of the customer to that offering. The layout of the menu can have a drastic impact on what the customers order. If you are featuring your most-profitable items, it will lead to more profit for you in the long run.
Step 3
Use relative pricing to make some of your most-profitable items look more attractive. For example, if you have one dish that is priced significantly higher than the others, it may make the rest of the dishes look more attractive. If one dish is priced at $35, the $20 plate does not seem as expensive. While this will not always work, it can influence many customers.
Step 4
Put your best offerings at the top of the category. Most restaurants place their most-profitable items at the top of a particular food category. The majority of orders come from that section, so it only makes sense to put your best dish in that slot.
Step 5
Include photos of the dishes in your menu. With a large photo of a featured dish on the menu, customers will be more likely to order it. If the customer has no idea what the food looks like, he may be hesitant to give it a try.
Tips
Offer specials in one section of the menu. While some customers will take advantage of these discounted offerings, others will be more likely to order what they really want. The special serves as the hook to get customers in the door, but your other menu offerings will still be in play.
References
About the Author
Luke Arthur has been writing professionally since 2004 on a number of different subjects. In addition to writing informative articles, he published a book, "Modern Day Parables," in 2008. Arthur holds a Bachelor of Science in business from Missouri State University.
When starting a new restaurant, creating the menu is one of the most-important responsibilities that you will undertake as the restaurant owner. The items you put on your menu will be responsible for bringing in the revenue that it takes to run the business. Finding ways to maximize profit should be one of the utmost priorities for you. The way that you create your menu can have a drastic effect on the profitability of your restaurant.
Step 1
Promote your most-profitable items. These are the items that have a low cost for the ingredients and can be sold at a high market. These items may require a very small amount of time from your staff to prepare. Focus on promoting these items over the other offerings. If you can steer people into items you want them to order, it can significantly improve your profit margins.
Step 2
Emphasize the items that you want ordered with menu design tricks. A talented graphic designer can help emphasize something on the page. For example, drawing a colorful box around a featured item can naturally draw the eye of the customer to that offering. The layout of the menu can have a drastic impact on what the customers order. If you are featuring your most-profitable items, it will lead to more profit for you in the long run.
Step 3
Use relative pricing to make some of your most-profitable items look more attractive. For example, if you have one dish that is priced significantly higher than the others, it may make the rest of the dishes look more attractive. If one dish is priced at $35, the $20 plate does not seem as expensive. While this will not always work, it can influence many customers.
Step 4
Put your best offerings at the top of the category. Most restaurants place their most-profitable items at the top of a particular food category. The majority of orders come from that section, so it only makes sense to put your best dish in that slot.
Step 5
Include photos of the dishes in your menu. With a large photo of a featured dish on the menu, customers will be more likely to order it. If the customer has no idea what the food looks like, he may be hesitant to give it a try.
Tips
Offer specials in one section of the menu. While some customers will take advantage of these discounted offerings, others will be more likely to order what they really want. The special serves as the hook to get customers in the door, but your other menu offerings will still be in play.
References
- Salon; How Restaurant Menus Make You Spend More; Francis Lam; February 2010
- CBSMoneyWatch.com; Tricks of the Restaurant Trade: Seven Ways Menus Make You Spend; Marlys Harris; April 2011
- Kraft Foods: Six Profitable Menu Ideas
About the Author
Luke Arthur has been writing professionally since 2004 on a number of different subjects. In addition to writing informative articles, he published a book, "Modern Day Parables," in 2008. Arthur holds a Bachelor of Science in business from Missouri State University.