Five restaurant menu design tips
If you are planning on starting a restaurant then creating a perfect restaurant menu design is necessary to gain the attention of your patrons.
But what should your menu look like? What design rules do you need to follow? Keep reading to learn five important design tips that will keep your customers happy.
1) Keep it simple
Your menu should have easy to read fonts and a simple amount of text. Too many items will overwhelm people and will become a turn-off before the food even arrives.
Keep the design simple and avoid the use of too much jargon, most people are not up to date on the latest culinary lingo and don’t want to take a gamble on what they are ordering. Simple descriptions of the course and ingredients are best.
2) Create a book
Traditionally, menus were created under the assumption that most people just scan the menu with the preferred spot located at the upper righthand corner. Restaurants would place their more profitable items in this location thinking that it would draw in more orders.
In reality, customers read the menu in a similar fashion as they would a book. Starting in the top left corner and then working towards the right. Assemble the courses in a similar fashion starting with appetizers on the top left, working through until desserts at the bottom right.
For more assistance, menu templates can be very helpful in determining the best way to arrange things.
3) Use groupings
Customers find it easier to read a menu when similar dishes are arranged together in appropriate groupings.
Using a few different typefaces to help distinguish between the names of the food items and their descriptions will also help your customer when reading through the menu.
These items should be placed in sequence in order of which course comes first. This makes it easier for the patron when placing their order.
4) Avoid photos of food
To give your restaurant a high-end feel, avoid placing pictures of food on the menu. This gives the food a cheap, big chain restaurant feeling and takes away from the quality.
If you would like to add a food picture on your menu, make sure it is of professional quality with an artistic flair. If possible, consider using illustrations instead. These are generally more appealing for different genres of people and can also set the tone of your restaurant’s personality.
5) Remove currency signs
When making note of the cost of the meal or dish, avoid using a currency sign. Studies have shown that most people don’t want to know how much they are spending, they just want to enjoy their meal and worry about it at the end.
When you have a currency sign on the menu it makes your patron more aware of what they are spending and they become less likely to indulge themselves.
Photo by Avi Richards
