As this article is about writing, let’s quote one of the great: Mr. William Shakespeare. In Romeo and Juliet, you may have heard Juliet wail the famous line “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.”

You may think similarly when it comes to writing your menu. What’s in a menu anyway? Isn’t it all the same and won’t the food speak for itself?

The writing of your menu is almost as important as the food you plan on serving in your restaurant. The menu is your customer’s first impression. Many potential patrons will scope out your website to see what you have to offer, to see if it fits into their budget or their diet. Even if it does, if it looks like a lazy construction, it could make them consider the attention you give to your food.

Plus, if you remember Romeo and Juliet, there was a lot in a name. So much that the play ended with blood and disarray.

We don’t expect that your restaurant menu writing will be the thing that defines your life as a tragedy or comedy…but it could mean great things for your restaurant. Expand your passion to creative writing and you will have your future patrons salivating before they even set foot in your restaurant.

We have divided your menu tasks into three categories: price, layout and description. Depending on how interested you are in each category, you could also consider them your tragedy, comedy and history. Life (and owning a business) is always a combination of the first two and hopefully your restaurant will thrive enough to give it a long history.

Description

Proofreading

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The amazing thing about writing is that you may have read it over 100 times, you may know it like the back of your hand, yet somehow you missed something simple like how to spell the word “bacon.” Spelling errors look sloppy. No matter how short the menu is, it is important to get a second pair of eyes at the bare minimum to make sure that it isn’t riddled with mistakes. Proofreading is the last step of the editing process. Spellcheck doesn’t find everything (thank goodness we can’t be totally replaced by machines yet!).

Write For Your Audience

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You have an idea of who your customers will be once you know the food that will be served and the prices that will be offered. There are templates for different demographics, like a Family Menu that is easy for children to understand. Make your future patrons feel special and understood from the get-go.

Short and Simple

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Complex and wordy sentences are the kinds that sound great in your head, yet when you read them aloud, no one quite gets what you mean. Take a page from the expert of short and expertly crafted sentences: Ernest Hemingway. He says, “The laws of prose writing are as immutable as those of flight, of mathematics, of physics.” Keep it short and true.

Describe the Ingredients

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This is the easiest way to keep it short and sweet. Your customers don’t have the pleasure of seeing the restaurant ingredients in their raw form. Take them on the journey by mentioning the earthy mushrooms and the local onions that went into the dish. When you mention every ingredient in the dish, this is known as “traffic jamming” and it can satisfy finicky customers. It can also keep you from fielding calls all day that ask if you have any egg free/nut free/lactose free dishes.

Write To Create Hunger

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You don’t have to be Shakespeare to do this. You merely have to have a stomach that has rumbled on occasion. That being said, note the difference between the following two sentences: “Fresh artichokes and creamy cheese. Served with crisp tortilla chips.” or “Tender artichoke hearts sumptuously melded between spinach and five Italian cheeses. Served with fresh out the oven, crispy tortilla chips.” Get your reader excited for more.

Price

Food cost

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This is the aspect of your menu that you have to be loyal to once you put your menu out in public, unless you want to make menu editing your occupation. Restaurants thrive with food cost loyalty. Determine the cost of each menu item down to the very last detail. Lemons may grow on trees, but money does not, so even if you use a spritz of lemon, that is part of the food cost. Type out each ingredient on the spreadsheet and divide by the percentage of food cost to get your menu price. If you want more information on this, check out our article on menu pricing.

Portion control

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How much you put on each plate will be the difference between your customers viewing you as gluttonous or miserly. Finding that in between point depends on many factors, including how you like a plate to look. Definitely go easy on the expensive ingredients. Giving someone a plate full of top sirloin is going to cost big bucks, and if you keep the food cost, it will price most customers out of the game. Expensive ingredients should be made to shine rather than overpower the dish.

Limiting market price items

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Market price items are listed where a regular menu price would be. It certainly makes sense for items that are only relevant seasonally. This protects your food cost, but you certainly don’t want it to be the norm. Your customers should be able to budget accordingly and too many unanswered question may alienate them. Don’t be a stranger…especially when it comes to your business.

Layout

Colors

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The color of your restaurant may set the theme or tone, but you also want to be cohesive. Draw the palate of your experience into the menu itself. People may enjoy their mismatched plates at home, but they come to you to get a more united experience. If you have a theme or a nationality that you are drawing from, consider incorporating some of those traditional colors into the colors that make up your menu. Different colors have different psychological effects and ideally this is intentional.

Font

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Font isn’t exactly a topic that gets people’s motors revving, but a good restaurant owner knows that every detail counts. Typefaces have a hidden world of their own and fancy typefaces can get away with fancy prices. If you want to play it safe, Helvetica is the way to go. It’s not too showy but it will present the information nicely. It is kind of how you feel about your best blue jeans. Using more than one type of typeface may help to make the menu more readable in different sections.

Easy Reading

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We’re not talking See Spot Run, but rather details like placing boxes over different categories, or promoting different menu items with bold. You don’t want your menu to look busy, but you do want it to be understandable. Note that most customers’ eyes are drawn to the upper right corner. This is what is known as the “sweet spot”. Be very selective what you place here (said in Elmer Fudd’s voice).

Logical order

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Arrange items sequentially and in logical groups. Start with the appetizers. There are many times in life to exercise your creative soul, but there are times when it makes sense to follow the pack.