Do you make these mistakes in your menu

It would feel like a repeat of last months newsletter if I was to let you know how much fruit and vegetable prices have increased again this month!

If you are using Myrecipes you would see how much your recipe costs have increased in price already. If not, you can download the latest food price index from www.menu.co.nz.

I’ve decided instead to let you know how to increase profit and enhance your identity through your menu design.

It continues to amaze me the number of restaurant menus I still see with pricing in a big column on the right of a menu! Are these restaurant owners still in the dark wondering why people choose to dine there?

Displaying the price in this manner draws attention to it and encourages diners to compare pricing rather than the unique offering. Really, if a diner was concerned about price, would they be dining at your restaurant? Surely the takeaway down the road would be a better choice?

It seems to be a trend at the moment to have a fancy way of listing your price – leaving the zeros off, or enlarging the $ sign. Perhaps even printing it in bold. It’s almost like we’re competing for the funkiest way to present the price. You don’t walk into a store to find the prices 7.9, or 1.2. Why do it to a menu?

Some of the worst mistakes I see include:

Incorrect spelling

If you can’t spell an item, how can you be expected to be able to cook it? What makes this worse is when it is a culinary term. Some of the most common ones I see include mesclun (not mesculun) and Caesar (not ceasar).

Long, flowery descriptions

While these can be acceptable in an establishment where diners take their time and service is slow, this is very out of place in a lot of today’s establishments. Descriptions should be precise and give the diner a good idea of what they are ordering. Where is it from, how is it cooked/ prepared, what does it consist of?

Text too small

Who really is your clientele? I ate at one of the oldest restaurants in Auckland last week and watched as the elderly table of 8 all searched for their glasses to read the menu! If your menu really is your best in-house advertising, and you cater for all ages, why make it hard to read?

Poor print and finishing quality

With the inexpensive digital print and finishing available these days, it still amazes me the number of menus still printed on a low quality inkjet printer, usually in-house. The days of high cost setups for print are gone. Digital print involves no plates, bromides, and is therefore quick and cheap for small quantities.

The new matt lamination available stops glare and can be trimmed to the edges of the paper to ensure a professional look. Food and liquids can be easily wiped off.

Underlining

Underlining comes from the days of typewriters before we had bold, italics (and computers!). If you want to place emphasis on an item or heading, there’s much better ways of doing this!

Items listed in order of price

In a listing of items often the first one will be most popular. Is your cheapest item also the one you want to sell most of?

Background pictures

These usually make a menu very hard to read and are usually created by someone who does not know a lot about design. Put yourself in your diners shoes for a minute and try and read your menu under candle light.

Extras and add-ons

This is really bad terminology for items which increase your average check. Sometimes I even see them hidden down the bottom of a page!

Menu doesn’t fit the identity

Like anything, a menu can reinforce a theme and identity. Why is it that so many restaurant menus detract from the unique identity of an establishment?

I didn’t learn how to design a menu at school, or even during my culinary courses. Nicola Loeckmann, Menu Du Jour’s Creative Director didn’t either. This is something which has been well practiced and is very different to any other design.

Before joining Menu Du Jour in 2004 Nicola worked in various full-service advertising agencies in Europe specialising in event and architecture design. This experience in advertising, along with study in communication sciences involving marketing, statistics and research makes Nicola uniquely qualified for designing the innovative menu designs Menu Du Jour is famous for.

If you would like a free CD containing some of our favourite designs from the last year please let me know. I have 50 of these to give away. Its a real collectors edition!

I’m also providing free menu design appraisals until the end of August. Just send a copy of your menu and I’ll be in touch to let you know how to increase your gross profit, average check and enhance your identity at the same time.