Menu designs vary as much as the restaurants they serve. The chic downtown bistro spotlights its signature espressos and cappuccinos on a large single sheet punctuated by bold graphics and garnished with copper-foil trim. The family-style restaurant showcases its value-priced dinner entrees on a laminated trifold menu sprinkled with mouth-watering food photography. The popular theme restaurant highlights its specialty burgers and sandwiches on a die-cut, hand-lettered menu.

Every year, the National Restaurant Association recognizes some of the nation's most effective and creative menus in its Great Menu Contest. The hundreds of entries present a veritable smorgasbord of styles, but — outward appearances aside — all of the menus are designed to accomplish the same objectives, beyond simply listing the food available: define the concept and operation, align the customer's expectation with the experience, and perform as a powerful marketing tool. How well a restaurant's menu carries out those functions can determine customer satisfaction, a restaurant's profitability and even an operation's ultimate success or failure.

Nonetheless, what many menu-design-and-development specialists most often see when they visit restaurants are menus that don't quite make the grade, which translates into a multitude of missed marketing opportunities. "The average customer spends about three minutes with your menu," says Robert Welcher, president of Restaurant Consultants Inc., a fullservice consulting company based in Columbus, Ohio. "How much is comprehended during that three-minute contact with your in-house marketing tool depends on how well organized it is, how readable it is and how well it conveys the tone of the operation."

"The average person does not express disappointment with a menu, but a poorly designed menu does reduce a restaurant's opportunity to reinforce the idea that this is a special place and worthy of the customer's investment," says Ginger Parker Riley, director of graphic communication for Shook Design Group Inc., located in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Mixing it up

Obviously, the first step in putting together a winning menu is developing your food-and-drink offerings. The quality and variety of a restaurant's food certainly helps determine whether it is worthy of a customer's investment. To whet diners' appetites and keep quality standards high, restaurateurs and chefs search for that perfect menu mix that maintains the delicate balance between innovation and tradition, healthfulness and indulgence, delicacy and robustness — all the time keeping a close eye on America's fickle dining public with its constantly changing tastes and trends.

Naturally, the most successful restaurants are those that keep up with the current food trends and America's eating habits. For Welcher, the complex puzzle of menu development reduces to one uncomplicated principle: keep attuned to what's selling and what's not selling, and then make the necessary adjustments. He advocates running a detailed analysis of all menu items to track declining or increasing sales. Welcher recommends using focus groups to get a better handle on customer response to a restaurant's menu.

"Ask people what they want, what they like and what they don't like. Find out how much they're willing to spend, how large portion sizes should be and how value is perceived," says Welcher. "A good menu mix requires solid research and creativity. You have to have options for your guests — and by talking to them, you can achieve the proper mix." When items clearly appear to be poor sellers, unprofitable or unpopular with consumers, be ready to delete them promptly from your menu. Be equally ready to add new items that customers crave.

The trend toward trying to appeal to all customer tastes is one that troubles Welcher. "I'm disappointed and concerned by the homogenization of the American restaurant menu. Restaurants have the obligatory spaghetti, steak, stir-fry, pizza and burgers," says Welcher. "They want to be something to everybody, which is a hard thing to do. I think it's critically important that these restaurants find out what their segment wants. I look at a menu and wonder, "Did the chef develop this menu? Who did he talk to? And why does he think the guests like this menu?' " Specializing in certain styles and dishes can make your menu — and your restaurant — stand out in a crowded field.

For Mark Cupolo, chef at Victor Grilling Company in Victor, New York, finding a workable balance between old and new menu items to satisfy his customers' preferences and maintain the restaurant's profitability is a perpetual challenge that has required him to make some adjustments to his original concept. "I had intended my menu to be small — approximately eight to 10 main courses — and I found that from the start I was dedicating three or four of those main courses to beef to meet customer demand," he says. "That bothered me a little bit, and I tried to fight that tendency, but I finally gave in to it." Now, the menu at Victor Grilling Company features straightforward beef dishes supplemented by poultry, seafood and game meat.

Creating a successful menu can mean more than appealing to customer tastes, however. Chefs often face other factors that determine the desirability of certain dishes. Over time, Cupolo has refined his menu mix to rely on five ingredients: seasonal availability of produce, cooking methods, sales, price and labor. Even physical space can affect the items offered on a menu. For example, the limitations of the kitchen compelled Cupolo to rethink his concept and his menu. "A grilling restaurant wasn't what I wanted, but the setup of the kitchen dictated it," says Cupolo. "Grilling is faster, and more items can come off a grill than a saute station. There are a lot of dishes I want to do, but I know I can't because of the kitchen design. Your kitchen often dictates your menu mix."

Cupolo's menu mix — although not what he originally intended — effectively deals with the unique needs of his customers and the restaurant — and establishes the restaurant's identity by refusing to try to be all things to all people.

Menu moneymakers

Once you've discovered your customers' menu preferences, it's time to decide what to feature on your menu. An attractive menu with appealing dishes by itself will not automatically boost sales. To do that, you need to determine how much a menu item — for example, a grilled-cheese sandwich — costs to make. "You need to know how much those two pieces of cheese, those two pieces of bread and butter for that grilled cheese cost. So you have to count bread slices, cheese slices and tablespoons of butter. When you're finished, you'll know exactly what the butter in that grilled cheese costs," says Gregg Rapp, a Seattle-based menu consultant.

"I've found that 95 percent of independent and chain restaurants have not done their food costing because it takes so long to do," says Rapp. "But when you start guessing about food costs, there will be holes in your pricing" — holes that can cost you money. Once you know your restaurant's food costs, you can begin maximizing your menu's profit potential.

When working on a menu, Rapp begins by conducting a profitability-and-popularity analysis of each menu item. This rather sophisticated system divides the menu items into four categories: "stars," "puzzles," "plowhorses" and "dogs." "A star is a highly profitable, highly popular item. A puzzle is a highly profitable but not very popular item. A plowhorse is a highly popular but not very profitable item. And a dog is an unprofitable, unpopular item," explains Rapp. "Once you know the profitability of the items on your menu, you can design it to enhance puzzles or stars and downplay dogs or plowhorses."

Turning puzzles into stars and softening the bite of the dogs requires applying some basic principles of marketing and salesmanship as well as some crafty design tricks. "To draw attention to an item, put a box around it, include an illustration of it and write lengthy copy about it. Place the item in a menu `sweet spot' — either the top of a column or the top right-hand side of the menu. The more you bring attention to that item, the more important it looks and the more you sell," says Rapp.

Other subtle techniques restaurateurs can use to boost menu profitability include removing leader dots if your menu uses them to guide a guest's eyes to prices. Rapp says leader dots compromise a menu's profitability by encouraging customers to order solely on the basis of price. He recommends putting the price at the end of the copy instead.

Don't be too quick to shoot those less-profitable plowhorses or chase those dogs off your menu. Downplay them instead. "To minimize an item, remove boxes, remove copy and place it in a not-so-sweet spot," Rapp suggests. "The item is still on the menu, but the customer has to search for it. We don't want to take it off the menu, because we might lose that customer."

Quick-change artists

A quick response to changing seasons, fluctuating food prices and vacillating customer taste buds requires that menus themselves be flexible as well as the dishes they list. "To keep the attention of a trendy, capricious customer base, you have to keep the menu fresh and new," says Restaurant Consultants' Welcher. Thanks to the proliferation of personal computers, menu-making software and laser printers, flexibility is easier than ever to achieve.

Chef Mark Cupolo appreciates the freedom that in-house menu-making provides. "The Victor Grilling Company is a small restaurant and reflects my very personalized taste," he says. "We print our menus using a personal computer. I can change things overnight, and I often do." It's this quick-change aspect of in-house menus that appeals to many restaurateurs who are trying to stay ahead of the competition and satisfy fickle palates.

Professional menu designers, however, warn restaurateurs to proceed with caution. Even though do-it-yourself menu software can slash design and printing costs, it does not replace expert design advice. Inexpensive clip art, borders and spot color do not necessarily build a good foundation for an effective or professional menu, according to Welcher. "If you don't have an eye for design, a grasp of proper layout principles or an understanding of the psychology of a menu, software won't help you," he explains. "Use a professional designer to establish a basic design template, even if you want to keep the menu simple." A designer can offer invaluable guidance on paper color and weight, typefaces, and graphics — subtle adjustments that give any menu a professional look and boost its effectiveness.

Menus set the mood

Maximizing the impact of your menu during those three precious minutes that guests typically spend with it begins by understanding the greater function of a menu. A truly effective menu can sell much more than just the dishes you serve — it can promote your entire operation. Your menu is part of an ensemble of ambience-enhancing elements that act in concert to achieve the right atmosphere for a restaurant and draw customers in.

At a time when the typical household income has diminished and competition has intensified, all operators need to be looking for advantages in their marketplaces. One such advantage is giving restaurant customers more entertainment value for their dollar. A 1995 National Restaurant Association consumer survey indicated that 44 percent of adults agree that they like a restaurant environment that is stimulating and active. A well-designed menu can augment a stimulating and active atmosphere. "I think the most important function of a menu is to offer information in an entertaining manner," says Shook Design's Riley. "People are going to be very particular about how they spend their money. They are going to go to a restaurant where they can have an entertaining experience instead of just a meal."

Restaurant owners striving to create entertaining dining experiences begin their efforts by building customer anticipation even in the parking lot, observes Riley. Ideally, the architecture, the decor and the tabletop design continue this anticipatory build-up, which culminates in a menu that fully expresses the style of the restaurant. Because the menu is the first thing restaurateurs give customers that definitively says "This is what we are,' Riley cautions operators against doing anything on the menu that upsets the operation's self-congruity. "You want everything about the menu to relate to the restaurant and the environment you have created," she says. "You don't want to create an upscale restaurant, and then hand guests a plastic-sleeved menu."

Conversely, a gold-embossed, hand-lettered menu on fine linen paper would seem impractical and out of place at a midscale family-style spot — especially one frequented by tiny tots with messy fingers.

"Look at the menu as an extension of who you are and what you are about," says Welcher. "If the menu is not properly designed and developed, it can have a detrimental effect on the overall impression guests have of your restaurant."

Utilize the full power of the menu

Despite the power menus can have, Rapp says he is still dismayed by the laissez-faire approach many restaurateurs take toward menu engineering. "Most restaurateurs think, "Who cares about the menu? Guests have to order something anyway.' "

That may be true, but Rapp and other designers agree that every effort should be made to ensure that the item ordered is the most profitable one on the menu and that the menu itself shows your food — and your restaurant — in the best possible light. According to Rapp, "A good menu will sell, it will make patrons hungry, and if they can't decide among three different items, you have a better chance of getting them to return."

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