Food safety regulations: Tips & Tricks for Building a Profitable Restaurant Menu
A restaurant’s menu is more than just a list of food items—it’s one of the most critical sales tools. Studies show that the average customer spends only 109 seconds glancing at a menu before deciding what to order. That’s less than two minutes for your menu to make an impact! During this brief moment, customers scan and compare prices and read descriptions.
To make the most of those 109 seconds, crafting a concise, well-organized, and profit-driven menu is essential. Every dish and drink should not only delight your guests but also contribute to your restaurant’s bottom line. This is where menu engineering comes into play—a strategic approach to designing menus that boost profitability while guiding customer choices.
In this blog, we’ll dive into practical tips and tricks for building a profitable menu that works for both sit-down dining and delivery, all while keeping your customers’ experience at the forefront.
What is Menu Engineering?
Menu engineering is a strategic process used to evaluate and optimize a restaurant’s menu by analyzing food costs, sales data, and customer preferences. The goal is to categorize menu items based on their profitability and popularity, guiding restaurant owners to make informed decisions about which items to feature, reprice, or remove. This involves analyzing each dish’s food cost per serving, contribution margin, and sales volume, creating a balance between profit and customer satisfaction.
What’s the Purpose of Menu Engineering?
The main goal of menu engineering is to maximize profitability by using data to optimize the menu. Restaurateurs can strategically highlight high-margin and popular dishes, adjust pricing, and streamline offerings to influence customer decisions. With a firm grasp on food costs and customer behavior, menu engineering can boost revenue while improving the dining experience.
What are the Benefits of Menu Engineering?
Maximize Profitability
Menu engineering identifies high-margin items and promotes them through strategic placement and compelling descriptions. This increases the likelihood that customers will choose profitable dishes, maximizing revenue per transaction.
Cost Management
By understanding the cost of each dish, restaurants can pinpoint items with low profit margins and adjust pricing or recipes to improve profitability. This helps maintain a healthy gross profit margin even as food costs fluctuate.
Improved Customer Experience
Streamlining the menu helps customers make quicker, more satisfying decisions. By showcasing popular and well-liked dishes, restaurants can reduce menu confusion and increase customer satisfaction.
Reduction of Food Waste
With a refined menu, restaurants can manage ingredients more efficiently, reducing the amount of unsold food. This not only cuts waste but also lowers food costs.
Innovation
Menu engineering encourages regular updates to the menu based on performance data, which leads to more opportunities for experimentation. Restaurants can introduce seasonal or innovative dishes while keeping their offerings fresh and exciting.
Drawbacks to Menu Engineering
Although menu engineering has many advantages, it’s not without challenges. Overemphasizing profitability can lead to reduced menu variety or compromise on quality, which could hurt customer satisfaction. Additionally, frequent menu changes may confuse regular diners. Striking the right balance between profitability and variety while maintaining customer trust is essential.
How to Engineer a Menu and Maximize Profits
Here’s a step-by-step guide to engineering a menu effectively:
- Choose a Time Period: Decide on the time frame for your analysis. Seasonal menus should align with seasonal changes, while more stable menus can be reviewed less frequently. Regular updates are essential to keep pace with fluctuating food costs.
- Cost Your Menu: Calculate food cost per serving and contribution margin for each menu item. Use these formulas:
- Food Cost per Serving: Total cost of ingredients per serving.
- Contribution Margin: Sales price – Food cost per serving.
- For instance, if a hamburger costs $3.65 to make and sells for $14.40, its contribution margin is $10.75.
- Categorize Menu Items Based on Profit and Popularity: Use a menu matrix to categorize items into:
- Plowhorses: Popular but low-profit items. Improve profitability by adjusting prices or portion sizes.
- Stars: High-profit and high-popularity items. Promote and feature prominently.
- Puzzles: High-profit but low-popularity items. Experiment with promotions or adjustments to increase appeal.
- Duds: Low-profit and low-popularity items. Consider removing or reworking them.
- Redesign Your Menu: Use the insights from your menu matrix to craft a new menu layout. Incorporate both quantitative data and qualitative feedback from staff and customers to make informed decisions.
What is Menu Psychology?
Menu psychology studies how customers interact with menus and how menu design can guide their choices. Elements such as layout, colors, pricing, and even the way items are described can influence a customer’s decision to order specific dishes, potentially increasing sales of high-profit items.
Why Should Restaurants Leverage Menu Psychology?
Choose the Ideal Menu Configuration
Menu layout plays a crucial role in guiding customer choices. A two-panel menu is often the most effective, giving customers a sense of choice without overwhelming them. For larger menus, a three-panel design may be necessary, but simplicity often leads to better results.
Write Awesome Menu Descriptions
A well-written description can increase sales by up to 27%. Focus on vivid language, highlighting the origin, preparation, and texture of dishes without being verbose. A compelling story behind each dish enhances its appeal.
Emphasize Your Stars and Puzzles
Use eye magnets—like bold fonts, icons, or splashes of color—sparingly to spotlight your most profitable menu items. Overuse can dilute the impact, but a single graphic element per page can boost sales by up to 30%. Keep it simple to make sure your stars and puzzles shine.
Consider Eye Movement Patterns
Customers tend to focus on specific areas of a menu. Placing high-profit items in those key areas, such as the top right corner, can drive higher sales.
Beware of the Burden of Choice
Offering too many options can overwhelm customers. Keep your menu concise, and consider splitting large menus by meal type or daypart (breakfast, lunch, dinner) to streamline decision-making.
Train Your Staff
Train your staff to guide customers toward ordering high-profit items by making suggestions and highlighting daily specials. Servers are often the final influence on customer choices, so training them on your menu engineering goals is essential.
Measure Your New Menu’s Impact
After a month of your new menu being live, dive into your sales data to gauge its impact. Check if sales of high-margin items like puzzles and stars increased and if profits improved. Evaluate if food costs decreased and identify any trends. Based on these insights, adjust and refine your menu further. Remember, menu optimization is an ongoing process—track results meticulously to understand what resonates with your customers and continue evolving for better performance.
The Science Behind a Profitable Menu
Menu engineering is both an art and a science. By selecting a timeframe, calculating costs, categorizing dishes, redesigning the layout, and measuring impact, you can create a menu that not only satisfies customers but also boosts profitability.
With over 35 years of experience in food handling, safety, and management, AAA Food Handler is dedicated to supporting restaurants in creating successful, profitable menus. For expert advice and cutting-edge solutions, reach out to us and let’s transform your menu into a revenue-generating machine.
Ready to optimize your menu? Contact us at AAA Food Handler for expert guidance and solutions tailored to your restaurant’s needs.
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Food Handler Reviews
4.9
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Great course. Very informative. Necessary to handle food to public.
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good
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Me gustó
Me gustó hacer esta prueba porque me dejó mucho conocimiento que yo no sabía gracias a esto ahora me mantendré más atento
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NA
Food Handler
muy buena informacion
El curso es bueno he interesante ayuda mucho a tender conocimientos de la manipulscion de alimentos que una persona puede tender y para tener un mejor control en Las temperaturas es muy bueno ya que muchos pueden pensar que es muy facil pero aqui nos aclaran muchas dudas gracias en lo personal vi en El curso muchas cosas que no tenia en cuenta esto me hace mas conciente de como debo hacer las cosas para dar un mejor servicio a los consumidores de nuestros alimentos y muy bien explicados cortos y precisos
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Gracias
Muchas gracias por la información tan completa y accesible
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Es insteresante y mucha ayuda.
Este entrenamiento me resultó informativo e interesante.
Entertaining
I find it very entertaining and interesting
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5
Excelente
5
Excelente
food handler
ESTA muy interesante se aprenden cosas que una no sabe
Food Handler Reviews
4.9
No Title
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Great course. Very informative. Necessary to handle food to public.
No Title
good
good
No Title
Me gustó
Me gustó hacer esta prueba porque me dejó mucho conocimiento que yo no sabía gracias a esto ahora me mantendré más atento
Food Handler
NA
Food Handler
muy buena informacion
El curso es bueno he interesante ayuda mucho a tender conocimientos de la manipulscion de alimentos que una persona puede tender y para tener un mejor control en Las temperaturas es muy bueno ya que muchos pueden pensar que es muy facil pero aqui nos aclaran muchas dudas gracias en lo personal vi en El curso muchas cosas que no tenia en cuenta esto me hace mas conciente de como debo hacer las cosas para dar un mejor servicio a los consumidores de nuestros alimentos y muy bien explicados cortos y precisos
No Title
Gracias
Muchas gracias por la información tan completa y accesible
No Title
Es insteresante y mucha ayuda.
Este entrenamiento me resultó informativo e interesante.
Entertaining
I find it very entertaining and interesting
No Title
5
Excelente
5
Excelente
food handler
ESTA muy interesante se aprenden cosas que una no sabe
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Food Manager Reviews
4.9
Understanding the importance of keeping health and safety of our customers, as a general manager priority number one should be our customer's safety, step number one would be to make sure we provide our customer with fresh and quality food from a official and approved source.
My overall view of handling food to people is that we should take it very serious knowing that you are responsible as a store manager for the safety of many people. mainly focus on key concepts like personal hygiene, proper food handling. temperature control, and common foodborne illnesses,
cross-contamination:
learn to prevent cross-contamination, temperature control: food storage: foodborne illnesses.
muy buen curso
la verdad este curso fue bastante simple y no tan complicando de entender.
gracias por hacer de estos cursos muy fáciles de entender.
Good easy to understand
very educational, easy to understand. There is a small problem, Sometimes the sounds doesn’t come out though
Good easy to understand
very educational, easy to understand. There is a small problem, Sometimes the sounds doesn’t come out though
The course was visually appealing, voice pleasant, and content clear
I found this course to be visually appealing, the moderator’s voice pleasant, the content clear and useful
information
This course was very informative. it covers many critical things that should be known and practiced in the food service industry.
Great course
Informative!
Very informative!
A very informative course. I recommend this course. It was made easy to understand and follow.
No Title
No Title
Great course
Easy to understand while also very detailed
Exceeded My Expectations/ Supero mis expectativas
Tarde mas de lo que debia en tomar el curso porque pense que seria dificil y complicado y estaba equibocada fue muy facil entender todas las fotos y graficas las explicaciones detalladas todo fue muy cuidado para poder entender a cualquier nivel de estudio.
I took longer than I should have to take the course because I thought it would be difficult and complicated, and I was wrong. It was very easy to understand all the photos and graphics, the explanations were detailed, and everything was very carefully thought out so that anyone of any level of study could understand it.
review
clear and concise. i would recommend
Buena experencia
La clase esta muy bien organizada, esto facilito mi aprendizaje.
Very informative
This training was very helpful
very good
this course es escencial for the peopel intersting to open a restaurant.
Wonderful course.
i learned a lot from this course. this will help me to do my more effectively.
No Title
Very easy to understand and folliw
This course was very easy to follow and understand each section. Everything was clear and precise. The flow of each section was smooth and kept my attention. Overall it was a great experience.
No Title
very informative. I learn a lot
Food Manager Reviews
4.9
Understanding the importance of keeping health and safety of our customers, as a general manager priority number one should be our customer's safety, step number one would be to make sure we provide our customer with fresh and quality food from a official and approved source.
My overall view of handling food to people is that we should take it very serious knowing that you are responsible as a store manager for the safety of many people. mainly focus on key concepts like personal hygiene, proper food handling. temperature control, and common foodborne illnesses,
cross-contamination:
learn to prevent cross-contamination, temperature control: food storage: foodborne illnesses.
muy buen curso
la verdad este curso fue bastante simple y no tan complicando de entender.
gracias por hacer de estos cursos muy fáciles de entender.
Good easy to understand
very educational, easy to understand. There is a small problem, Sometimes the sounds doesn’t come out though
Good easy to understand
very educational, easy to understand. There is a small problem, Sometimes the sounds doesn’t come out though
The course was visually appealing, voice pleasant, and content clear
I found this course to be visually appealing, the moderator’s voice pleasant, the content clear and useful
information
This course was very informative. it covers many critical things that should be known and practiced in the food service industry.
Great course
Informative!
Very informative!
A very informative course. I recommend this course. It was made easy to understand and follow.
No Title
No Title
Great course
Easy to understand while also very detailed
Exceeded My Expectations/ Supero mis expectativas
Tarde mas de lo que debia en tomar el curso porque pense que seria dificil y complicado y estaba equibocada fue muy facil entender todas las fotos y graficas las explicaciones detalladas todo fue muy cuidado para poder entender a cualquier nivel de estudio.
I took longer than I should have to take the course because I thought it would be difficult and complicated, and I was wrong. It was very easy to understand all the photos and graphics, the explanations were detailed, and everything was very carefully thought out so that anyone of any level of study could understand it.
review
clear and concise. i would recommend
Buena experencia
La clase esta muy bien organizada, esto facilito mi aprendizaje.
Very informative
This training was very helpful
very good
this course es escencial for the peopel intersting to open a restaurant.
Wonderful course.
i learned a lot from this course. this will help me to do my more effectively.
No Title
Very easy to understand and folliw
This course was very easy to follow and understand each section. Everything was clear and precise. The flow of each section was smooth and kept my attention. Overall it was a great experience.
No Title
very informative. I learn a lot
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Overly time consuming for amount of information
This course would be more effective if information & videos were streamlined into important bullet points of information. Videos are drawn out and overly time consuming
Pretty informative and easy to complete
There are practically no complaints from me. Definitely recommend 🙂
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Very informative!
Good class
Solid class and learned a lot.
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Easy study
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Simple Course
This review is simple with necessary information & offers mini quizzes in between courses to allow you to remember the information better.
Very time consuming
My review is for a working professional and full-time mother; student this was a very timely process,
long exam
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The training was very thorough and perfect amount of information.
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Very well designed and bite sized modules – excellent course for the money.
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great info
great information
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easy going
Very easy to navigate and understand, would highly recommend this course.
Alcohol Training Reviews
4.8
No Title
Overly time consuming for amount of information
This course would be more effective if information & videos were streamlined into important bullet points of information. Videos are drawn out and overly time consuming
Pretty informative and easy to complete
There are practically no complaints from me. Definitely recommend 🙂
No Title
Great!
Very informative!
Good class
Solid class and learned a lot.
No Title
No Title
AAA RBS Certificate Path
Interesting and a good experience to learn as I get older.
Easy study
Informative and easy
Simple Course
This review is simple with necessary information & offers mini quizzes in between courses to allow you to remember the information better.
Very time consuming
My review is for a working professional and full-time mother; student this was a very timely process,
long exam
It was a really really long exam.
Very thorough training
The training was very thorough and perfect amount of information.
Excellent Training
Very well designed and bite sized modules – excellent course for the money.
No Title
Gracias por todo
Estuve un poco nerviosa porque creía que estaba mucho más difícil pero no gracias por todo
great info
great information
Fantastic Facts
Really enjoyed the content and details of the course. It was in depth and informative.
easy going
Very easy to navigate and understand, would highly recommend this course.
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