What is the Importance and Features of the Restaurant Food Menu?

Coordinator Executive Chef Ahmet Ozdemir

 

The restaurant food menu, from A to Z, is the reflection of the restaurant itself and its concept to the guests. I say guest because the word customer is not used in the food, beverage and accommodation sector. They welcome those who prefer them in their business understanding and basic principles, as if they were guests in their home. Every line, every word and every pattern on it almost reflects the restaurant itself to the guests.

 

The food menu plays a major role in the formation of the first reputation of the guest entering the restaurant. The guest's examination of the food menu is almost like walking around the restaurant and examining the surroundings. If the first judgment and reputation is positive for the guest, it will be good for the other thoughts to come true in a positive way.

 

What is the Importance of the Introduction and the Informative Section About the Restaurant Principles in the Restaurant Food Menu?

 

Simplicity is prioritized in restaurants with international standards. It is sufficient to have a logo in a size that will be noticed on the cover of the food menu. Front and back covers can be thin watermark plastered on cardboard covers or special menu covers can be used. The blank back of the cover page may indicate the starting symbols of simplicity and weight. The second page may include restaurant principles or guest understanding. This information should be readable from a distance of 30-40 cm and should be large enough to cover 30% of the page. 

 

What Features Should Be In The Food Menu?

 

The food menu reflects the concept of the restaurant. Today , in 2022 New Food Trends & Restaurant Trends , the concept of the restaurant and the menu design should complement each other. In other words, a classic restaurant cannot have a modern menu. It wouldn't be appropriate though. The fact that even the colors in the restaurant concept design are included in the food menu is an indication of the order and harmony in the restaurant. Some high-end restaurants do not write prices on their menus. There is no big problem with having prices on the food menu. This is a matter of restaurant management 's decision and principles. But daily prices or prices written with an unprinted pen are never acceptable. Guest satisfaction in these restaurant businessesendanger him in the first place as a first impression.

 

If I need to touch on a few issues about the size of the food menu, I will not give an example based on my professional experience. 350-400 gr. matte cellophane coated cleanable papers can be used. Restaurants using special menu containers can of course use lighter papers. If we take into account that the pages of the food menu are full, that they are not reflected in the eyes of the guests, and that the menu is disinfected and cleaned from time to time, it is of appropriate thickness and weight.

 

The breadth of the food menu is very important. When the guest or guests open the menu at round tables or rectangular tables, they must not physically disturb the other guest sitting next to them. This is so important that the person sitting next to it, even if it is a friend, will be referred to as a negative feature for the restaurant. Here, I can say that the page width is 25 cm as the largest dimension. It should not exceed. This is what happens when the menu is fully opened, the maximum is 50 cm. should be. As the smallest size, the page width is the smallest 15 cm. When opened, it is 30 cm. should not be less than 

 

If I have to comment on the size of the food menu, it is 40 cm at most. should be. At least 25 cm. should be. There are other reasons for this issue as well. I will also share more information when necessary in menu consultancy , which is one of my consultancy service areas .

 

Restaurant Food Menu How Many SectionsHow Many Sections Should a Restaurant Meal Menu Have?

 

I recommend that the food menu consists of at least 6 sections in restaurants that provide lounge, banquet menus and protocol services to upper-middle-class white-collar and high-class business people serving international standards . Of course, I would like to emphasize that the lounge menu is a different menu. 

 

So what should be the sections of the restaurant food menu?

 

Especially in the restaurant classes I mentioned, lunch and dinner are usually provided. The opening hours of such restaurants are after 10 at the earliest. However, guests can request breakfast and soup. If I briefly list the parts of the Yemeni menu:

 

* Breakfast And Soups,

* Cold Starts,

* Warm Starts,

* Salads,

* Our Special Meals

* Main Meals,

* Desserts...

 

It can consist of titles such as: These sections may be more depending on the characteristics of the restaurant, the number of product types and the concept. If I refer to the additional food menu sections; 

 

* From our Black Furnace,

* Our Special Meals,

* Pita Or Pizzas, 

* Pastas, 

* Fishes, 

* Pot Dishes, 

* Bakery Dishes, 

* Pastries, 

* Types of Ice Cream 

* Fruits,

 

Like etc. Menu sections can be created. In the design dimension, it is important that the page backgrounds are absolutely plain. For those who want to use an image, there can be only one image per page. The image design can also cover up to 50% of the page, which is faint and does not affect the text.

 

How Many Types of Items Should There Be in a Restaurant Meal Menu?

 

More product variety means less quality in the restaurant, more staff, more energy loss and more cost in the restaurant budget . The number of meals a restaurant can sell per day is determined. You won't be able to sell a lot of food just because you have too many dishes on your menu. For him, it may mean that the more you sell a food, the better quality you will sell. There is no loss of a best-selling dish. One of the most important issues here is that you should never say "no" to a type of food that you put on your menu. If you want to be one of the most successful restaurants in the city , do not fall into the Most Common Mistakes When Opening a New Restaurant .

 

As far as I have seen in the New Restaurant Projects , which have been successful in their own concept, my personal recommendation is that you do not write more than 40 kinds of products in the restaurant menu. In order to respond to the demands of the guests, do not fall under 20 kinds of products. In General Kitchen Planning While planning the menu of your product type , you should definitely consider the Kitchen Units , Cooking Equipments . In addition, one of the most important issues is Menu Analysis .Try not to put on the menu the dishes that you will not earn money on the menu or that you will sell very expensively. Customer satisfaction, focus on success, and offering a variety of dishes that everyone can enjoy in return for profit will increase your service quality and success target. 

 

Does Geography Matter in Restaurant Food Menu?

 

The richness of the supply chain, local production, product variety and local cuisine richness, original tastes are very important in order to have a permanent restaurant . Try to use the best quality products and always available food in the shortest distance. Since the food products you bring from far away will be reflected in the menu prices with high costs, they may not always be demanding, and the loss due to their economic life increases your costs. 

 

Of course, since these issues are related to the class and concept of the restaurant, it is a detail about the management circular of restaurant management . If local products are prepared in a standard way and tasty, they can be made into a restaurant-specific meal and if sustainable, you can become one of the flavor points in the long run.

 

What is the Importance of the Class and Quality of the Business in the Restaurant Food Menu, which is one of the most frequently asked questions by those who want to open a new restaurant ? 

 

This is purely a matter of preference regarding restaurant principles and business management principles. This preference emerges if the following questions are answered.

 

I have to ask a question here; 

Would you like to earn 1000 TL by making a turnover of 10.000 TL or would you like to earn 2.000 TL by making 5000 TL turnover? 

 

Now I change the direction of the question:

Would you like to earn 10.000 TL by serving 100 people or would you like to earn 10.000 TL by serving 20 people?

 

With another question;

Do you want to be a restaurant that everyone visits, or do you want to be a restaurant that accepts guests with reservations? One more point I should mention here is that if you build a restaurant where everyone can come for 10 liras, you will make the restaurant that few people will come to for 30 liras.

 

What is the Importance and Features of the Restaurant Food Menu?But the important thing is this. Being middle class is easy but being upper class is hard, it requires different virtues and characteristics. At the same time, to ensure the continuity of sustainability. Decisions made in the restaurant concept should be made once, considering at least 5 times. Once you have taken your decision and put it into practice, you must continue with determination. This may take time. If you try to change the concept after a few months, your investment will lose value and your reputation will be damaged. 

 

What is the Importance of the Guest Portfolio in the Restaurant Food Menu?

 

One of the most important issues here is the question of what should I pay attention to when opening a new restaurant . Who do you want to serve in your new restaurant? This issue should be well considered. If you want rich business people to come to your restaurant, you will design the Menu Planning accordingly. As this is a matter of Kitchen Planning , you should also consider the  Kitchen Types in the service areas of the restaurant.

 

If you have enough indoor and outdoor spaces, you can include Activity & Banquet Menus , Optional Menus in addition to your Sample Restaurant Menus in your restaurant concept . You can increase your guest portfolio not only with food sales but also with organizations. Of course, these options require strict control between the Characteristics of the Kitchen Staff and the characteristics of the service workers.

 

How should the options be reflected in the food menu as a winter menu or a summer menu?

 

If your restaurant is in a region where there are serious differences in seasonal characteristics, you should definitely make changes in the Menu Types as Winter Menu and Summer Menu. For this, you may need to make changes in Menu Management and Kitchen Management . If you do not have a kitchen chef who can do the necessary analysis in menu changes, you can get some help in this regard. At the same time, you can have your guests taste different flavors from time to time in the form of dishes of the day or special meals on some days. Such changes can bring you an unforgettable memory in the memories of your guests and you can win sincere regulars.

 

What Is The Connection Between The Restaurant Concept And The Restaurant Food Menu?

 

One of the most frequently asked questions on this subject is What is a Restaurant Concept and How is it Created? If your à la carte restaurant is a fish restaurant, you will serve fish varieties. If it is a restaurant on meat varieties, you have a meal menu consisting of meat varieties on the grill or in the oven. Here is the detail: The logo of a restaurant made on meat varieties does not consist of fish pictures. At the same time, there are no fish paintings on the wall of a steakhouse. 

 

If the concept of the restaurant is modern or classical, the same style is reflected in the menu design with the plates and seating groups. The same design includes connections such as interior decoration and exterior design. In short , the concept of the restaurant should be a whole, from the taste, product range and personnel to the clothes. To give another example, if you try to sell foie gras, pizza or ravioli in a restaurant you have opened with the concept of Ottoman and Turkish cuisine, you will be ridiculous. But selling lamb tandoori, ravioli or meat bread makes your concept more solid.

 

How Important Is It That The Restaurant Meal Menu Is Made Of Original And Rooted Meals?

 

If you have invested in a restaurant for Certain Success , you should also prepare its infrastructure. In fact, preparing Marka Restaurant infrastructure can keep you closer to success. One of the most important issues that I should mention here is that you should not put fake dishes on your restaurant menu that are not clear. If you include dishes that are rooted and have a source related to the restaurant concept, they will have regulars over time.

 

If you serve the dishes that belong to your geography or not but from sustainable sources with standard recipes, you are likely to be recognized with solid sources as soon as possible. Recognizing your restaurant's name among the public with Original and Rooted Foods will lead you to gain a more reliable and economically free guest portfolio in the 35+ age group. 

 

According to What Should the Pricing Policy Be Made in the Restaurant Meal Menu?

 

I will give information about this topic through the examples I have given above. A reliable restaurant food menu has rates of meal prices. These are prescribed with Cost-Cost Calculations in Restaurant Management . Although there is a connection between the cost of the meals and the sale of the meals in the upper middle and high restaurants, this issue is not taken into account. There are already price policies close to the standard in such restaurants. In short, if I had to give an example, chicken is not sold cheap because it is cheap.

 

The highest prices in restaurant meal menus are usually for main courses and dessert groups. At the same time, there are no gaps between the product types in the same food section. Even if the cost is low, it should have a pricing policy close to other varieties. For example, you can earn 3 liras from some dishes and 30 liras from others, but what needs to be taken into account here is that your total income and other product types and prices are close.

 

What is the Importance and Features of the Restaurant Food Menu?I wrote it taking into account the restaurants with high prices, which I have mentioned below. One of the points I should mention here is that the cost of a meal is not just about the products it contains.

 

* Breakfast (80-140-Tl) And Soups (60-80-Tl), 

* Cold Starts (60-85-Tl),

* Hot Starts (70-100-Tl),

* Salads (60-90-Tl),

* Main Meals (140-200-Tl),

* Desserts (100-170-Tl)...

 

How should a healthy diet be reflected in the restaurant food menu?

 

In a good restaurant menu, the wishes of the guests are very important. Today , one of the reasons why guests prefer restaurants is to include special requests in the food menu by the restaurant management. From another point of view, people do not want products that they will not eat on the dinner plates brought to their tables. They want to make their own choice. For example, you serve rice next to the grill, but this is your standard. The guest wants to eat the grill with steamed vegetables. Your guests should have this preference in terms of both healthy nutrition and guest satisfaction.

 

In addition, each restaurant menu must include a special diet meal option, a vegetarian meal, and a meal suitable for children. Again, if possible, the calorie values ​​in 100 grams of the food can be included in the restaurant menu. From another point of view, the content of the food types on the menu must be written, as well as the total calorie content can be specified.

 

How to Provide Guest Satisfaction in Restaurant Food Menu?

 

In every restaurant business, guest satisfaction is one of the most important tasks to be accomplished. Because the main purpose of businesses is focused on guest satisfaction. Sometimes there is a problem in the kitchen, sometimes in the service and sometimes in the restaurant rules from the restaurant management. Waiters who do not have enough menu experience can sometimes be in difficult situations in the face of guests' questions. As you know , I have a commercial job in gastronomy consultancy , so I will not go into too much detail on this subject. For more detailed information, you can contact me through my contact information.

 

According to what is the distribution of food types in total in the restaurant menu? What should their share in the total be?

 

If you are not just a fish restaurant or only a meat restaurant, taking into account the supply chain, the distribution of your dishes according to your restaurant concept is one of the issues that require expertise. For example, if there are 10 types in the main dishes, the distribution should be done well. The factors to be considered here are; your concept, meat, chicken, fish, oven dishes, pot dishes, steak, kebab or dishes consisting of minced meat can be taken into account. These choices should be well evaluated among their product counterparts in other product groups. For example, not all desserts are made with syrup. Some may consist of fruit pudding, pumpkin or special desserts with different products.

 

How Many Pages Should a Restaurant Food Menu Have?

 

My recommendation is that each food section should be one page. The inside of the front and back covers should be used empty. The use of simplicity and matte colors in the design, as well as the fact that the restaurant consists of the main colors used in general, will strengthen the claim of the concept.

 

***  You can contact me through my contact information for more information on the above-mentioned and other labeled topics in the article and to get support within  my service areas in the  field of gastronomy consultancy. ***

 

Has Chef Ahmet Ozdemir

Coordinator Executive Chef

International Restaurant and Cuisine Consultant