To prepare an informative and appealing menu for the restaurant, act consistently. You can plan a list of dishes in several steps:
Give a complete list of items. Cold and hot appetizers, main courses, desserts, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Divide them into several categories to keep the menu structured. Sometimes the beverage list is a separate section altogether.
Take care of the layout of the compiled blocks. Every establishment has specialties that the owners put special emphasis on. These positions can be placed in the upper area – the most visible area of the menu. When doing so, it is important to consider fashion trends. When the audience’s preferences change, the list of offerings should be updated regularly. Snack photos, promotional slogans and promotions also influence the design of the composition.
Analyze the popularity of the dishes. It is important that the assortment is up to date, otherwise the institution will not pay for itself. You can research the position for profitability on the Internet by studying the menus of competing restaurants. About this explained below.
Conduct a test tasting of the stated dishes. Based on the results of the samples, it is easy to choose the main positions that will become a signature for the restaurant.
Perform these steps without professional help is difficult. Do not skimp on the services of professionals. The investment is sure to pay off.
Sections in the restaurant menu
At first glance it seems that it is enough to arrange the categories of the menu in any order. But this is fundamentally wrong. The correct grouping of sections makes it informative. The easier it is for a visitor to navigate in the proposed range, the more he will order.
The menu for the cafe must be clearly divided by category and method of preparation. If the theme of the institution allows, it is better to offer clients the best combinations of dishes, drinks. This, too, contributes to the growth of sales.
Restaurants, bars and cafes, even in spite of the different specifics, list categories approximately in the same sequence:
Signature dishes (cold and hot appetizers, soups, hot dishes, drinks and desserts).
Cold dishes (fish, meat appetizers, vegetable and other salads).
Hot appetizers (same categories as cold appetizers).
Hot dishes (dressing, cream, dairy, sweet soups, meat, fish).
Desserts and confectionery – hot, cold, fresh (from berries and fruits).
Hot drinks (various kinds of coffee, tea, hot chocolate).
Cold drinks (water, juices, morses, cocktails).
During the drawing up of the menu for the cafe, tastes of the food are taken into account. Items are distributed in sequence from less spicy dishes to spicier ones. In order to leave the client with a pleasant experience, it is important to achieve a perfect taste harmony of food. For example, chefs know that meat is best supplemented with vegetables and fruits, fish – with lemon.
Another important factor is seasonality. In summertime the list of soups is enriched with, for example, okroshka, and among drinks popular kvass. But in winter visitors more often order heavy meat dishes, snacks of pickled and sour vegetables.