Creating your own menu is a great budget saver, but you want your menu to look professional because it's often the first contact a potential customer has with your business. Just think about how many people walk in and ask to see a menu. If it's not compelling to them, you have profits walk out the door. This guide will give you advice on how to create a compelling menu that grabs the taste buds of potential customers through design, copy and pricing.

Design Details

Design matters in your menu because you want your customers to find several things at first glance. Menu design is really a science because not only are you looking to please your customers, you're looking to sell them dishes that are two things: profitable and signature. This guide will bring you advice from the experts and restaurateurs on how to make your menu compelling (and profitable) through good design.

Copy Closes the Deal

The copy in your menu matters as much as your photography or design because some diners are hooked by the carefully crafted descriptions of dishes. Picky eaters are looking for ingredients and food connoisseurs are looking for the most succulent dish on the menu. It's important that your copy spell out the practical food descriptions while giving the customer a reason to pick the dish from your menu. We'll share tips and interviews from experts and restaurateurs on how crisp copy drives sales from your menu.

I Can't Read This!

What restaurant patron is going to order from a menu they can't read? Not many. That's why are offering a guide to making your menu more readable. We'll explore ways to simplify copy and give you tips on explain complicated dishes in enticing and readable terms. We'll bring you advice from menu writing experts on what works and what doesn't work in menu readability as well as case studies from restaurateurs who have revamped their menus for readability and increased sales as a result.

What About Menu Type?

This guide does not apply to the type of cuisine you serve, but the actual lettering you use to describe the food on your menu. The easier your menu is to read, the easier it is on your patrons. We'll look at which fonts are easiest to read and what size works best for diners to see them in lower restaurant light.

Psychological Sales--From Your Menu

What is menu psychology? It's suggestively selling to your customers from the pages of your menus. In this section, we'll cover how you can entice diners to buy more through categories, placement of menu items and merchandising on your menu (the use of photos and pricing to drive sales). We'll share success stories and information from menu psychology experts as well.

Price Pointers

Finally, this guide will give you advice on how to test pricing in your menu. While we know pricing depends on many factors, we'll bring you advice from industry experts on how price can help you move dishes out of the kitchen and dollars into your pocket.