When your guests walk into your restaurant, the first thing that they do when they sit down will be to look at your menu. They will see all of the dishes you offer so that they can choose what they want to eat that evening. However, your menu doesn’t have to be just a list of food. It can be a beautiful work of art that can dazzle your customers, stir their appetite and really make a great impression for your business.
So how can you make your restaurant menu more appealing to your customers? There are a few changes you can make that will really make a big difference. Here are some valuable tips:
1. Well Written Food Descriptions
When your customers are reading the descriptions of your dishes, do the words give them an idea of what the food tastes like? Do the descriptions sound so tantalising that they are already starting to drool just thinking about the food? Make sure that your menu descriptions are well written and that they accurately paint a picture of what the guest can expect to have served to them. For example, use words like “homemade”, “crispy”, “smoked”, “sautéed”, “fresh”, “juicy” and other adjectives to make your customer’s mouths water.
2. A Beautiful Menu Cover
Another way you can make your profile look more professional and appealing is to invest in a beautiful and stylish menu cover. If you are trying to create the atmosphere of a beautiful and luxurious restaurant, you don’t want to be handing your customers a menu that is simply a flimsy piece of paper.
A menu cover is a sturdy folder that will keep your menu protected and make it look much more professional. Smart Hospitality offers a range of different menu covers, from bright and vibrant ones to subtle and elegant ones, so that you can choose the cover that fits best with the décor of your restaurant.
3. Classy Photographs
Why write about how wonderful your food is when you can show your customers with a photograph? Take some high quality, Professional Photographs of your food items and incorporate them elegantly into your menu design. These photos can really get your customers drooling over your delicious dishes and they can also help clear up confusion so the guest knows what the dish they are ordering will look like. However, make sure the photos are good quality – poorly lit and badly focused photos in which your food looks bad will turn off your guests instead.
4. Place the Items in the Right Places
Another important factor in how appealing your menu is, will be where your items are placed. Make sure that all of the menu items are organised into logical and easy to understand columns and that they are written with a simple font that is easy to read.
Place your signature dishes at the beginning or the end of the list – customers are more likely to remember the first and last items. If you have a tri-fold style menu most people will glance at the top of the centre page first then continue to look counter-clockwise around the page – so keep this in mind when you are deciding where to place your items.
Also, if you want to draw attention to exciting high profit items or new items that you want customers to try, use an insert to draw attention to it.
5. Tell a Story
Last but not least, to really make your menu appealing and ensure your customers remember your restaurant you can tell a captivating story. Tell the story of how the ingredients come from local farms and the menu items change according to what is seasonal. Or, tell the story of how the chef’s family came over from Italy when she was 7 years old and she learned to make pasta from her grandmother.
Identify what makes your restaurant special and tell the story in an interesting and captivating way. It will make your restaurant stand out from the rest and it will help your diners to develop an emotional connection to you.
These are five ways that you can make your menu more appealing so that it will have a bigger impact on your restaurant guests. Your menus are important and every guest will look at it when they visit your restaurant, so make sure that they are beautiful works of art that create a superb impression for your dining establishment.