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By Greg Garner
The art of menu making has now advanced to the point that our restaurant’s menu could mean the difference between a $10 burger and fries order to a $40 meal complete with desert and carry out order, not to mention and guarantee of return business. Yes, it has become that important. Take for instance, the money square. The traditional, laminated fold open menu has a point in the top corner of the right hand page that is the most natural place for the eyes to land. This spot, or money square, can be manipulated to lead a customer through a montage of top sellers and away from the center of the second column of the first, or left hand page of the menu. This center, inside column is the most overlooked spot on the menu and is where your $10 burger should be hiding.
The Money Square
Knowing this and other seemingly insignificant facts is what menu advertising is all about. The trick is all in the presentation of the money spots on a menu. We want the eye to linger and the napkin to touch the lips to prevent the drool from escaping, moments before the most expensive but well worth the money-items are ordered. A full color image of a dish so tempting that it simply cannot be resisted should occupy that square. We should also block that spot into a square in bold outline, as the eye is more prone to rest in a bold square than a borderless image.
Paint A Picture With Words
Another tactic that has emerged in menu manipulation is the use of colorful and creative language. The use of a good copywriter is money well spent. Why call a burger a burger when it can become a full quarter pound of juicy, corn-fed Iowa beef boldly covered with fresh garden tomato, Georgia sweet Vidalia onion, and crisp, iceberg lettuce, with our masterfully blended sauce from the chef’s secret recipe, on a sweet onion roll. The least expensive item on the menu, a plain burger with plain toppings has now become a mouth-watering temptress whose picture looks even better than the description sounds.
Tempting Suggestion
Suggestive selling used to a simple question of asking would you like cheese on that or would like fries with that. Now, however, our menus can also participate in the quest to please the paying customer. The higher priced items on our fare should include suggestions that would benefit the customer’s taste buds. While the hungry man considers his T-bone steak and potatoes, the suggestion below could remind him how wonderful the deluxe baked potato, with sour cream, chives, and melted butter would taste with his steak. Considering it is less than a dollar more, who would not want to know this?
Lose The Sign
Speaking of dollars, the dollar sign has become taboo on today’s menu. Why it was ever there in the first place is a mystery to today’s restaurant owner. The customer does not need to be reminded that he or she is spending money. The words only and under should, however, slip in if so desired. Try to avoid being to corny with your menu descriptions as this could backfire if taken to the extreme. A good for instance is a restaurant that had a two-sided menu. One side was called the manu and features theoretical manly food, while the other side, the womenu, had mostly salads. This kind of foolishness is only distracting and can be avoided at all cost.
Specialty Carry Out Deserts
The last thing the customer should see is the desert fare and while he or she is there, a nice advertisement of your specialty to go items, like a whole, freshly baked, apple pie, could be waiting for pick-up at the register on the way out. Many restaurants have made a name for themselves on this one, extra selling point alone.
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