Kulture Konnect Blog

In the 12 years of business... we have designed quite a few different menus in our time. Lots of clients come to us with ideas from the past that are no longer useful in today's restaurant consumer economy! Consumers these days have less patience, less time and they need immediate satisfaction. It's a tough crowd out there!

In the interest of education, we have outlined the below some of the most common restaurant menu design MYTHS! Please folks, do not try these at home!

1. Menu design doesn't matter: Menu design DOES matter! If the design is illegible or so unorganized that guests cannot find the appetizer list, then you will start to notice that you will not be having very many return guests. I know this sounds extreme, but my point is proven! In less drastic instances, menu design is important because it will convey the brand of your business. For a 5-star user experience, the restaurant brand will be unified from the interior decor to the napkins to the very menus your guests will be ordering from. Here are some very creative restaurant menu designs!
2. Menu item placement has little to do with profits: Wrong, wrong wrong! The top item in a column and the bottom item in a column tend to get the best movement. This comes from our consumers scanning the menu quickly to see what might jump out at them. Be sure to have your top menu items placed in these prime locations.
3. More menu items equals higher profits: Actually, more menu items equals more clutter. Focus your menu on what your team is good at. No need to try and please every single person walking by your restaurant.
4. Customers will eat whatever I put on the menu: Some chefs have tried the extremely eclectic-out-of-this-world dishes and some are outrageously popular, and others not so much. Get to know your guests' preferences and cater to your regulars.
5. I can ask for yelp reviews right on my menu: This is a big no-no especially for the Yelp execs. They have really been cracking down on restaurants building their yelp accounts with fluff and marshmallows. Even as far as to hide honest-to-goodness real reviews just because the reviewer does not have much experience reviewing. Shall we say extreme? But, if we want those good reviews to show up, we will have to play by the Yelp rules.
6. I do not have to do any cost analysis on my menu items: This is must do in order to decide where to place your menu items (refer to #2). There are specific places to put those start menu items to boost your profits to the stars and back. Make sure you do menu engineering to know which low-cost items will give you the high profits.
7. Online Menu Makers will save me money: This could be but most likely, as most DIY projects... it will take too long and in the end waste time and money. Leave the restaurant menu design to the professionals!

We hope that the list above helps to save a few headaches in the process of developing a successful menu. Below you will find our VERY SUCCESSFUL Ultimate Guide to Menu Design to get you started on really diving deep into your restaurant menu design. 

Seeking professional advice regarding your menu design? Contact us at (951) 479-5411 

Learn industry secrets in how to make your menu design improve your bottom line. Download here!