Your menu is the first impression of your business. We share six easy steps to create a menu that looks good, sells well, and keeps customers coming back.
A menu is a fundamental part of running a restaurant business, and it’s not just about listing your items.
Your menu is your ultimate marketing tool, as it showcases what makes your establishment special, guides customers toward the dishes you really want to sell, and makes the whole dining experience smoother.
However, knowing what makes a good menu can be challenging at first, as you learn to balance customer appeal, pricing, and profitability.
That’s why we’re going to guide you through the key steps of designing a menu, from understanding your customers and pricing your items, to writing descriptions and choosing a design that truly catches the eye.
- Design your menu with your customers in mind, including pricing, style, and dish choices.
- You can organise your menu by grouping items into categories (e.g. starters, mains, desserts), and with separate menus for specials or set meals.
- To price your dishes correctly, factor in food costs, overheads, popularity, and demand.
- A well-designed menu should have engaging descriptions and visually appealing elements, including high-quality images, readable fonts, and consistent colours.
- You should offer both paper and digital menus to cater to all customers, ensuring inclusivity and a better customer experience.
- Your menu must include allergen information, VAT and service charges, and calorie information if you have 250 or more employees.
How to design a menu in six steps
Your menu is one of the first impressions your customers will have of your business, so it’s important to get it right.
A good menu should clearly list its offerings, appeal to customers with expressive descriptions and designs, and be a true reflection of your restaurant, coffee shop, pub, or cafe.
To help you get started, we’ve listed six key steps you can follow to design a menu that attracts diners, boosts sales, and maintains good customer retention.
1. Consider your target audience
Your menu should be designed with your target market in mind. Think about who’s walking through your doors — be it families, students, office workers, or fine-dining guests — and make sure the style, pricing, and food choices match their expectations.
One way to do this is to base your design on the type of cuisine you’re offering. An Italian restaurant, for example, might highlight pasta and pizza options, while a trendy cafe could focus on vegan dishes and speciality coffee.
Additionally, consider pricing. For example, if you’re targeting budget-conscious diners, it’s best to keep prices low. On the other hand, if you’re aiming to offer high-end meals for wealthier consumers, you can price dishes higher to reflect premium ingredients and presentation.
In short, it’s all about carrying out some basic market research to understand who your customers are, what they’re willing to pay, and how your menu can meet their expectations.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, more restaurant businesses have opted for digital-only menus and QR codes, with 72% of establishments planning to invest in QR menus, orders, and payment systems by 2025.
But while going fully digital can have its benefits, like being cost-effective and sustainable, it isn’t fully accessible to all customers. For example, older customers or those without smartphone devices will have trouble ordering.
For this reason, you should offer both printed and digital menus. That way, you can get the efficiency of QR codes, while still ensuring inclusivity and a better customer experience for everyone.
2. Organise your menu items
Next, you’ll need to think about where to place your items.
This can be a little tricky, but a good practice is to write down every food and drink item you offer and separate them into categories (e.g., starters, mains, desserts, vegetarian/vegan options, etc.). You can do this on paper or digitally, using an Excel spreadsheet or a simple Word document.
However, keep in mind that you don’t have to include every single item on your menu. For example, set menus, lunch deals, or seasonal specials can be given their own dedicated menu. Having separate menus helps prevent your main menu from getting cluttered (and overwhelming customers), and lets you showcase special dishes or limited-time offers that might be extra profitable.
3. Price your items
It’s essential to keep your target audience in mind when pricing your items. You’ll need to be careful not to overcharge or undercharge your customers.
Finding that balance can be tricky. Here are a few useful practices to help you price your items adequately:
- Know your food costs: Add up the cost of every ingredient in a dish, including small things like garnishes or sauces. This will give you an idea of how much it costs to make the dishes and how you should price them to make up the cost.
- Factor in overheads: To keep your business profitable, ensure your prices account for expenses like rent, staff wages, utilities, and point of sale (POS) systems.
- Use a simple formula: A common approach is Cost ÷ Desired Food Cost% = Menu Price. For example, if a pasta dish costs £4 to make and you want the food cost to be 30%, then your formula would be: £4 ÷ +0.3 = around £13.
- Consider popularity and demand: High-demand or signature dishes can be priced slightly higher, while less popular dishes might need to be cheaper.
4. Draft your menu descriptions
This is where good copywriting skills will come into play, as the words you choose can make a big difference in what customers order.
Below are some practical tips to help you write descriptions that are clear, enticing, and true to your brand:
- Be descriptive: Use appealing and sensory language. For example, words like “crispy”, “melt-in-your-mouth”, “zesty”, and “rich” can help customers imagine the taste and texture.
- Keep it short and simple: Try to keep your descriptions to just one or two lines per dish. Too much information can overwhelm diners and make your menu look cluttered.
- Highlight key ingredients and selling points: Mention fresh, high-quality, or unique ingredients. For example, instead of “chicken pasta”, try “Grilled chicken with sun-dried tomatoes and creamy basil sauce.”
- Be honest: Don’t exaggerate or make claims that aren’t true. Customers notice when a dish doesn’t live up to its description, and this will harm your reputation.
5. Start designing your visual menu
Now, it’s time to get creative by designing the visual elements of your menu.
The good news is you don’t have to spend a fortune on software like Adobe Photoshop to create an attractive menu. Free tools like Canva and Fotor can be just as effective, letting you design your menu with easy drag-and-drop features, ready-made templates, and even built-in photos and icons.
But whichever way you decide to design your menu, here are a few practices to use and common pitfalls to avoid:
- Use good-quality images: Only include images that are of high quality and look good on both digital and paper menus. Blurry or pixelated photos can put customers off.
- Use easy-to-read font: Don’t opt for tiny or overly fancy fonts for the sake of aesthetics. Keep the font clear and legible, and use no more than two fonts.
- Proofread the copy: It’s easy to make spelling and grammatical mistakes, so proofread your menu’s copy thoroughly before putting it out. Misspelt words or poor use of grammar can come across as unprofessional.
- Make good use of white space: Don’t clutter your menu with too many images or text. White space makes your menu easier to read, giving it a cleaner and more professional look.
- Keep colours consistent with your brand: Colour is an important part of your brand, so make sure you stick with your chosen colour palette for consistency. Avoid using too many clashing colours.
- Consider layout and flow: Place the most profitable or popular item where eyes naturally land (e.g., at the top right of a page or in a highlighted box), and group sections logically (e.g., starters, mains, desserts, drinks, specials).
Your menu isn’t set in stone and should evolve with your restaurant, customer needs, and even the seasons. Here’s what you should do:
- Check your main dishes every 6-12 months to see what’s popular and what isn’t selling so well.
- Swap dishes based on seasonal ingredients to keep your offerings fresh. Specials and limited-time offers are great for adding variety without overhauling the main menu.
- Update the look and layout of your menu every 1-2 years, or sooner if you decide to rebrand your business.
- Use customer feedback to tweak descriptions, remove unpopular items, or introduce new dishes.
6. Market your new menu
Now that your menu is drafted and ready to go, it’s time to market it towards customers.
This is where you’ll need to use strong digital marketing practices to ensure it gets noticed and drives sales.
Leveraging social media
Use your social media platforms — such as TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook — to announce your menu or share photos of new dishes, weekly specials, or seasonal menus. You could also encourage customers to share their meals online with a branded hashtag.
Using email and loyalty programmes
Promote your menu through email marketing, such as sending updates about new menu items, special offers, or limited-time dishes. You could also reward repeat customers with early access to specials or discounts to help boost customer loyalty.
Adding it to your website
Having your menu on your business website makes it easier for diners to see your offerings before visiting. You should also include downloadable PDFs or an interactive menu, allowing customers to easily browse on any device and see what you have to offer before visiting the establishment.
What information must be included on a menu?
Under the UK’s rules and regulations for food businesses, there is certain information that you are legally required to include in your menu.
By law, your menu must include allergen information. You must clearly indicate if any of the 14 major allergens are in your dishes, such as peanuts, milk, gluten, or eggs.
You can include allergen information directly on the menu or provide a clear reference to where customers can find the information, such as a separate allergen guide. Also, make sure that the waiting staff ask customers about allergies before taking any orders.
Additionally, your menu must display accurate pricing, including value-added tax (VAT) or service charges, so that customers know exactly what they’re going to pay.
If you’re a larger establishment (250+ employees), you’re also required to show calorie information on items sold for immediate consumption.
Why are menus important for your business?
Menus are important for hospitality businesses because they act as a communication tool for informing customers about your main dishes and pricing. It’s also a key part of your branding, customer experience, and profitability.
All in all, it’s about having a good understanding of your target audience, so that your offerings resonate with them.
Good menu organisation, careful pricing, effective use of item descriptions and an appealing visual design can help you create a menu that truly draws attention and gets the sales you deserve.
With a little planning and creativity, your menu can become one of your best tools in attracting customers, showing off your best dishes, and keeping people coming back for more.
