Engineer Your Menu for Maximum Profitability

6”
Engineer
Your Menu
for Maximum
Profitability
11”
By Mary Lou Santovec
W
hen customers step into the Pine Lodge Restaurant at the Heartwood
Conference Center and Retreat in Trego, they select their meal from a solid
oak, laser-engraved menu. At $50 apiece, Zac Benson, the executive chef,
describes the menu as “contemporary, unique, clean and elegant.”
The year-old restaurant, part of a former Boy Scout camp, has morphed into a
destination place because of its emphasis on “approachable fine dining.” Selections are
limited but diverse with weekly specials “to keep our regular guests coming back on
Fridays and Saturdays.”
A restaurant’s menu gives customers the clearest hint as to what will eventually
appear on their plate. It defines your culture and sets your place apart. The menu is often
the unsung hero of the restaurant and it deserves significant attention.
“Restaurant owners, managers and their chefs work very hard developing the
menu items, purchasing the freshest and highest quality of ingredients, and creating a
beautifully plated presentation,” said Phyllis Weege of Menu Masters, a Pewaukee-based
company that offers design services, printed menus, menu covers and marketing services.
“The in-hand menu… is the diner’s first impression representing the work happening
behind the scenes and what is to come.”
36
Wisconsin
WR
“The in-hand menu…
is the diner’s first
impression representing
the work happening
behind the scenes and
what is to come.”
Restaurateur • First Quarter 13
– Phyllis Weege
Menu Masters
“A menu is the
heart and soul of a
restaurant.”
– Greg Rapp
Menu Magician
Gregg Rapp
has spent 31
years in the
restaurant
industry. The
Palm Springs,
California-based
menu expert is
called the “menu
magician” for
his ability to
transform a
ho-hum list
of dishes into
a successful sales tool. “A menu is the
heart and soul of a restaurant,”according
to Rapp.
But a menu is only as good as its
ability to sell food. That’s where menu
engineering comes in—to help the
customer navigate the choices. If they
can choose an entrée quickly, they have
more time to look at the appetizer or
dessert sections. “They will add on more
food if the decision is easy to make,” said
Rapp. More food translates into more
profits for the restaurant and ultimately,
a happier waitstaff.
“The biggest mistake made is to
simply look at the menu as printing a list
of items in ink on paper,” said Weege.
“A poorly designed menu results in lost
revenue each and every day.”
Kathy Reading of A La Carte
Restaurant Marketing in Waukesha,
offering marketing strategies alongside
printed menus, menu covers and inserts,
e-mail marketing and on-line menus,
added, “On the most basic level, a welldesigned restaurant menu can steer
choices towards more high-profit items.”
The menu can also “set the mood of
the restaurant, allowing guests to be
more comfortable with the overall
dining experience.”
The science of design
Studies have found that people don’t
read a whole menu but rather look for
what they want to have for the current
meal. “This is why I always break out
items into a section so you don’t have
continued on page 38
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Restaurateur
37
continued from page 37
Menu Masters’ design for Joey Gerard’s – a Bartolotta Restaurant group supper club
located in Mequon and Greendale
to read everything,” said Rapp. “Layout
becomes expected and important.”
Your customers read menus in a
“predictable manner,” said A La Carte’s
Reading. “Following best practices for
menu design can transform your menu
into a ‘silent salesperson’ and contribute
to increased check totals.”
Designing a successful menu starts
with knowing what your food costs are.
“Even a professionally engineered menu
will not help profits if the operator
hasn’t done the required homework
analyzing the costs of each item and
pricing it correctly,” said Weege.
“Successful operators identify and
remove low profit items and low profit/
low sales items from their menu.”
“What goes on the menu is
determined by profitability and
popularity,” said Rapp. “A successful
menu takes items and describes them
so they’re different and better than the
competitors’.”
There is a science to designing a
successful menu. “Menu items should
generally be presented in the order of
the meal, with beverages listed last,”
said Reading. “This allows guests to
most easily picture their meal and make
38
Wisconsin
The Blue Bayou Inn’s menu featuring original art from
Floyd Sonnier
their choices.”
The first and the last spots on the
menu are where you should put your
best sellers. Highlighted items or those
in boxes “push people in the right
direction you want them to go,” said
Pine Lodge’s Benson.
“Following best
practices for menu
design can transform
your menu into a ‘silent
salesperson’ and
contribute to increased
check totals.”
– Kathy Reading
A La Carte Restaurant Marketing
Because customers read a menu much
like a newspaper or magazine, what you
place in the upper-left side will position
WR
the restaurant and its priorities. Each
item should be the very best of its kind.
Some experts say that each category
should contain a maximum of seven
choices. Five is optimal. Why seven?
Research shows that seven numbers,
the length of a phone number, is the
maximum a person can retain.
Descriptions drive sales. A plate
of nachos is a plate of nachos unless,
of course, yours are covered with
organically grown tomatoes and peppers
and topped with shredded aged Cheddar.
“The more we can talk about them as
being better and different, the more
successful they will be,” said Rapp.
The very idea of writing a menu
sends most chefs reeling. But Rapp eases
the tension, saying: “I teach chefs that if
they’re not a good writer, to grab a tape
recorder and describe the dishes. You can
transcribe the descriptions and then go
back and edit it. Editing is much easier
than writing from scratch.”
Uniqueness sells
If your restaurant is located in an historic
location, the menu can also serve as a
history lesson. Maxsells Restaurant and
Bed and Breakfast in Florence utilizes a
Restaurateur • First Quarter 13
“Our guests like the
menu, it flows with
the theme of our
restaurant.”
– Rita Mazur
Blue Bayou Inn
one-page menu
printed on
parchment paper
with a history of
the 1904 home
on the flip side.
“I believe
in a one-page
offering of
quality choices
instead of a book
of mediocrity,”
said Rachel
Egelseer, owner.
“The parchment works well with our
one-page offerings, we can print them
often to be sure they’re clean and nice
appearing. People are always asking
about the historic property so this
gives them the information they are
wondering about.” A dry erase board at
the entrance lists the weekly specials,
which servers reinforce when taking
drink orders.
Blue Bayou Inn is big on the
“lagniappe,” a little something extra
on their menu. That something extra
is a drawing by Floyd Sonnier, a Cajun
pen and ink artist based in Scott, La.
Owners Rita and the late Walter Mazur
commissioned Sonnier to graphically
design the oversized menu cover, which
is placed in a dark blue leather folder.
“Our guests like the menu,” said Rita
Mazur. “It flows with the theme of our
restaurant.”
Located in Manitowish Waters,
Blue Bayou is a seasonal, fine-dining
restaurant offering Creole/Cajun cooking
and American fare. The menu is divided
into sections with whimsical headlines
such as Appetizers to Appreciate, Soups
to Warm the Cockles of One’s Heart and
Duck Lovers Only. It’s changed every
season with adjustments made during the
summer depending upon the availability
of products and customer requests.
The restaurant links Sonnier’s art
to its branding efforts. They offer giveaway menus that are a smaller replica
of the larger one. The restaurant has
T-shirts imprinted with the menu cover.
continued on page 40
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ur state-of-the-art menus are
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First Quarter 13 • Wisconsin
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Restaurateur
39
continued from page 39
A cookbook of Chef Walter’s recipes is
decorated with Sonnier’s prints.
Michael Franzen took over Deanos
Steakhouse in Belgium in February 2012.
Although he reduced the portion size as
well as the price of some of the items, he
kept the menu the same. “This is a steak
house,” he said. “Fifty percent or more of
the menu is steaks.”
Deanos’ menu includes several blue
standout boxes featuring the most
popular items that are still available from
its 2008 opening. The menu is organized
by meats and seafood
and customers will find
house specialties all in
one place. A chalkboard
lists the specials. Franzen
also printed extra menus
to give away with takeout
orders, gift cards and for
distribution to the wider
Sheboygan area.
Bayou’s Mazur.
Most of the time a verbal description
of a dish or an explanation of its
preparation or ingredients will sell an
appetizer, soup, salad or entrée. But
dessert is where a server’s description
can really shine. “Often times you are
full at the end of a meal, but if you
explain desserts as you are clearing
dishes, it’s like having a conversation,”
added Mazur. “You will entice an order
rather than hand them a menu to read
the selections.”
end with $.00.
If the price has just one or two
digits following the dollar sign ($10),
that represents significant attitude,
something that’s popular at on-trend
restaurants. Pine Lodge’s Benson noted:
“In a higher end restaurant a plain
dollar amount looks cleaner.” No matter
what you choose, make sure that you
stick to the same format throughout the
entire menu.
“We always encourage our clients
to change pricing to $.99,” said Menu
Masters’ Weege. “It
may not seem like a
lot initially, but over
time the added 4 cents
really impacts their
bottom line. We also
like rounding up and
dropping the cents.”
That dollar sign can
be a deal breaker. “We
prefer to drop all dollar
signs and definitely
discourage clients
from using leader lines
directing diners right
to a lineup of prices,”
she said. “Diners will
simply scan down the
page and select the
cheapest item.”
Avoiding sticker shock
Embrace technology
Printed vs. verbal
“Traditionally, verbal
menus are occasionally
used with very high-end
restaurants as a means to
save the cost associated
with daily changes in
their menu offerings,”
said A La Carte’s
Reading. But there are
exceptions.
Shaffer’s Supper Club has no
printed menu. Established in 1939, the
restaurant serves Grandma Shaffer’s fried
chicken and fish, as well as livers and
gizzards, with the occasional chopped
sirloin and hamburger for the committed
carnivore.
“Our verbal menu is about
personalizing and talking with our
customers,” said Amy Shaffer, owner of
the Crivitz restaurant. “Our servers are
able to explain our menu and answer
our customers’ questions.” The regulars
already know what they want when they
walk in.
“You can read a menu, but when
someone describes a dish with feeling
and passion like you can taste it, your
guest wants to order it,” said Blue
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Wisconsin
It does no good to have the best items
with mouthwatering descriptions if your
pricing is off. Pricing a menu is a key
part of your concept.
Prices ending in $.88 say “discount.”
That may be fine at Wal-Mart, but
“it doesn’t feel good in the restaurant
world,” said Rapp. Prices ending
with $.95 are friendly and have a
neighborhood feel while $.99 are still
friendly, but “cheesier.”
Prices ending in $.00 have more
attitude. It’s almost like saying to the
customer that if you can’t afford it
don’t be here, although a study by
Cornell University and the Culinary
Institute refers to the “halo effect” where
customers think that the food is a little
better and of higher quality when prices
WR
Although the research isn’t yet
complete, young people today may read
less than previous generations. To get
their attention, technology “is showing
up in an abundance of applications,”
said Reading. “Most of us have seen
restaurants using iPads for easily updated
wine lists and specialty menu items.”
QR codes are also making an
appearance. “We think that when used
thoughtfully, a QR code on a menu
can help tell the restaurant’s story,” she
said. “We like to see technology used
to improve the experience and build a
closer connection with your diner.”
Touch screen menus are popular
especially for “restaurants that offer an
extensive beverage and wine menu,
feature menu items at special times
Restaurateur • First Quarter 13
“Digital signage was
once the wave of the
future, but is now
the wave of
the present.”
– Sam Mobely
Lodgevision
throughout the
day or have
entertainment or
sports venues,”
said Weege.
Servers report
that touch
screen menus
have improved
their earnings.
“Customers
can enter the
order for the
second glass of
wine or after dinner drink, even if their
server is busy with another table,” she
said. “Check totals go up and tips go up
proportionately.” And tables turn
around faster.
“Digital signage was once the wave
of the future, but is now the wave of
the present,” said Sam Mobely, general
manager of Lodgevision, a Wisconsin
Dells based company that provides
media solutions including digital signage.
Digital signage is the “umbrella” from
which words and pictures are displayed
on a screen, similar to the electronic
billboards found along the highways.
Using digital for your menu board
has several advantages. With a few
keystrokes, an operator can institute
quick menu changes between meals. An
operator “doesn’t have to climb on the
counter to manually change the menu,”
he said. For big franchises, corporate can
change the boards from afar.
Digital is easy to use and update.
Your digital menu can contain moving
and constantly changing pictures. You
can have multiple products filling that
same slot.
Whether you provide print or
digital, verbal or hard copy, menus
are a critical part of the restaurant’s
success. “Understand what pushes your
customers’ buttons and then help them
push the buttons” with a well-engineered
menu, said Rapp. WR
Service is at the center of everything we do.
It’s not just what we deliver, it’s how we deliver it.
In our 110+ years of operation, we’ve learned a thing or two about what constitutes
great service. That’s why our service goes far beyond delivering products, to delivering
ideas and solutions that help our customers succeed. It’s also why we treat every customer with
courtesy, respect, and genuine appreciation—an attitude that makes every delivery special.
To learn more call (800) 968-6515 or visit gfs.com.
For a list of our Spring Food, Tabletop & Supplies events, please visit gfsfoodshow.com.
First Quarter 13 • Wisconsin
WR
Restaurateur
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