How to Make a Menu for a Restaurant

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by Diane Todd, Demand Media


The menu is a marketing tool that helps sell the food in a restaurant.

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Opening your own restaurant can be an exciting and fulfilling endeavor. Once you have the setup squared away, you must figure out how to draw in customers. The food will be your feature, but your menu will be the bait. An effective restaurant menu must highlight your best points, fit in with the ambiance of the establishment, and be easy to read and durable.


Step 1

Choose your layout format.You have many options, including a single large page (front only or front and back), a booklet, a tri-fold, or a quarter-fold style. Place your restaurant logo on the front of the multi-page menu or at the top or back of a single-page option.

Step 2

Choose colors and images that will enhance your theme. For example, a sophisticated Italian restaurant might call for a beige background with rich-toned maroons and greens and a small, script-style font. A ’50’s-style diner would use brighter colors, larger lettering and a simple font.

Step 3

List your food choices in the order they would be served. Start with a wine and drink list, appetizer selections, then soups and salads; offer dressing choices here. Next, list the items you want to promote to customers. If you have feature dishes, list them next. If you want the entrees to be prominent, list them next. Either way, divide the choices into short sections that make them easier to navigate. Finish your list with desserts, dessert drinks, side dishes, kids' features and senior features. List all ingredients in your foods next to their names.

Step 4

Add photos of your food. Sometimes the look of a dish will encourage a customer to try something new. Use this technique to push innovative meals as well. Place well-lit appetizing photos of menu items in appropriate sections of the menu.

Step 5

List restaurant policies and procedures clearly on your menu. Do you have a policy for including gratuity for larger parties, are there limits in substitutions or price differences for item additions?

Step 6

Have the completed menu proofread it several times, then take it to the printer's and have copies made on a durable card-stock paper. Laminate enough copies for use in your restaurant. Order additional copies, without lamination, for customers to take home with them.

Tips

• Include contact information, location and hours on your menu for people who take them home.
• Feature information about your head chef to give your kitchen a more sophisticated image.
• Always include prices on your menu.

Warnings

• Always clearly warn of ingredients that people are most commonly allergic to, like nuts and shellfish.
• Refrain from using photos that make the food look much larger or very different from it actually is. This could cause disappointment.