Christmas Menu Design Tips

Give your customers a special holiday experience

Want to provide a special Christmas menu for the holidays? Follow these tips to create a festive design that will warm up the cold winter months at your restaurant. Whether you want a menu that’s subtle and tasteful, or one that’s garish and fun, MustHaveMenus has the tools to help you get there.

Set a special tone from the jump

Your customers came to you for a special holiday meal, and you want it to feel that way. This isn’t just another night out. It may end with your food, but it starts with your menu. Set your tone from the start with a holiday design that conveys your desired atmosphere.

Want to be fun and upbeat? Pepper in colorful graphics of Christmas trees and little Santas. Looking for a more elegant feel? Combine golden ribbons with simple backgrounds for an elevated look. Either way, make sure your menu begins your meal on the right foot. Whatever look you want, browse these gorgeous templates from MustHaveMenus to get started.

Don’t be afraid to be yourself

Keep elements of your restaurant’s branding -- logos, colorschemes, fonts -- in your new Christmas Menu for visual brand continuity. While a Christmas specials menu is a fun reason to deviate and mix up your usual look, it should bear some resemblance to what your customers are used to seeing from your restaurant.

This applies to the food you choose to put on your menu as well. If you’re a Mexican restaurant, there’s no need to bend over backwards to offer Christmas fare. Instead, get creative with how you tailor what you do best to fit the holidays.

Engineer your menu

Even for specialty menus, you should follow the tenets of Menu Engineering, like spotlighting key items, to ensure that you’re optimizing your design and text. A big part of engineering your menu is creating a smart pricing strategy. With specialty menus, you can hike your prices to a certain degree because customers know you’re not putting out the usual dishes with their finely-calibrated margins.

Include seasonal drinks

Now it doesn’t make sense for every restaurant, but you should consider adding specialty drinks at the bottom of your Christmas menu. Cocktails are some of the highest-margin items on a menu, and customers are more prone to splurge during a specialty meal. Fun Christmas drinks like spiked eggnog provide a nice little boost to your bottom line.