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Menu Think, the process of creative menu design

A menu can do many things for a restaurant.  It can help customers understand a concept, increase profits and be an important characteristic of a restaurant's personality. 

October 22, 2005

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A menu can do many things for a restaurant.  It can help customers understand a concept, increase profits and be an important characteristic of a restaurant's personality.
If done incorrectly menus can confuse and detract customers leaving restaurants less profitable, unclear of their image and struggling to keep up with competition."Mistakes that many operators make with menus is having them feel too similar," says CEO/Founder of Quantified Marketing Group, Aaron Allen.  Quantified – a strategic marketing and public relations firm focuses solely on the restaurant industry with everything from creating concepts to marketing them. Founded in 2001 Allen works with regional chain restaurants and high volume independents, helping to increase sales and decrease overall ad spending."Restaurants are the last to adopt change – they're copycats by nature," says Allen.So when change does come - What do operators need to think about when it comes to their menu?  Three chains offer their take.Atlanta Bread Company:Senior Director of Marketing for Atlanta Bread Company Chris Campagna believes the menu isthe most important statement madeby a restaurant.  "It sets the tone for the atmosphere, service and the clientele of a restaurant - we want the statement made by our menu to be "fresh, quality and flavorful."Creating NewWhen Atlanta Bread Company looks at creating new and exciting menu items they rely on experts like Peter Teimori, VP of Research and Development for the company.  A certified chef Teimori looks at current flavor trends and consumer demand when developing new menu items, in addition to consumer feedback through research and limited time offerings."When developing the menu, you need to think about your concept – and make sure it is aligned with brand personality and positioning strategy," says Allen.  "With your brand personality – think about how you would describe yourself?  "With positioning – think about finding and leveraging that which makes you unique."For Atlanta Bread Company the menu reflects the image of the company by providing a variety of options – including traditional and new. "We usually try to focus our LTOs on items that are innovative with a focus on sophistication and bold flavor," says Campagna.When it comes time to change menu items the company considers several things.  "We review the sales mix of items both in the product category and as an overall percentage of sales, in addition to listening to franchisee and consumer feedback," says Campagna."We also look at our promotional and limited time offerings to see if they prove to be sustainable enough to add to our permanent menu."The goal of Atlanta Bread Company's menu is to provide an appetizing option for guests with their soups, salads and sandwiches. "We also want to appeal to all day all day parts through our menu- breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as the snack time periods," says Campagna.Looking at Competition"Following the leaders and not being innovative is another common problem," explains Allen."We certainly pay attention to what other players in our category are doing, but prefer positioning ourselves as leaders of the category rather than follow what our competition is doing," says Campagna.  "We utilize all of the research available to us through our own private means as well as what our vendors provide to us to determine the direction of our menu.Allen also suggests doing a competitive analysis using 4 or 5 benchmarks and comparing them.  "Think about other restaurant concepts as well – drop in extras that are not competitors for comparisons."Future Menus"Atlanta Bread Company is not necessarily driven to determine what the next big thing is - we would rather focus our attention on developing superior products that continually meet the taste profiles of our guests," says Campagna."We always want to provide customers with bold, unique flavors for our segment. We try to stay ahead of the curve by looking at current and upcoming flavor trends and utilize ingredients that meet our customer's changing palate.""Restaurants are easy indulgences –people can enjoy it and feel good about it – they buy brands that are reflective of themselves – one's they find comfort in," adds Allen.Tin Star Restaurants"From branding and imaging perspectives our menu is our most powerful tool in communicating the Tin Star experience to our guests," says Director of Development Barry Newberg.  "To us there is nothing more important than the food – and why our guests choose us to give us their loyalty."Tin Star opened its first location in downtown Dallas in 1999 with a Southwestern style menu and the flavors of Texas.  Menu items include Tempura Shrimp Tacos, Fire-Grilled Salmon and Pico-Pasta, among others- with each item made from scratch on site using fresh ingredients.Guests order at a service counter and while waiting to have their entrees delivered they snack on fire roasted salsa and fresh, made-in house chips. When lines get long Tin Star offers a quesadilla sampler to those waiting in line to order.The company's commitment - "If it's not Exceptional, its Unacceptable.""The menu has to communicate clarity and appeal," says Newberg.  "Our guests need to be able to find their favorites quickly and explore the menu categorically to potentially try something new," he adds."For new guests it's imperative that the menu is use-friendly.  In a quick casual environment guests need to find what they want quickly – even though the depth of our menu is very comparable to the menus of casual dining players."Allan adds the need to keep menus exciting with the idea of 'trading up,'  "People are not looking for the cheapest thing out there anymore. For example – if you have a Tex Mex restaurant think about what the 'Cadillac of burritos' is and have that on your menu as an option for guests as well."Tin Star asks for feedback from guests, operators and partners when it comes to planning and designing their menus.  "We brainstorm," says Newberg.  "There are no bad ideas – only bad final decisions."  He offers this advice, "Test menu items for viability with your own concept – and test them in a single unit long enough to gauge real guest feedback to see how it affects your product mix."According to Newberg menu mistakes can also include trying to be too many things to too many people – where you can potentially lose your identity with things like adding too many items.  "Menu additions must fit operationally given labor and physical storage limitations."Nature's Table CaféFounded in 1977 Nature's Table Café originally opened at the Altamonte Mall in Orlando, Florida.  It was the first place to offer smoothies in Florida as well as healthy menu options including light salads, homemade soups, frozen yogurt and healthful sandwiches.Recently the company re-evaluated their menu and sales have grown ever since. "We wanted to avoid menu fatigue," says Vice-president Richard Wagner.  "We wanted to keep the menu fresh, new and exciting for our customers and to expand the recent introduction of global and ethnic flavors."New menu items include Jasmine Rice, Grilled Portabella, Napa Cabbage, Sesame Thai Aioli, among others."The menu board gives our customers a greater Nature's Table Café experience, which reinforces our commitment to continue to find effective ways to drive store traffic," explains Wagner.The menu focuses on detailed descriptions of menu items.  "By showing the customer all the exciting ingredients in the menu items and less emphasis on photography – we feel we are engaging the customer more," says Wagner.The changes started after attending an ACF (American Culinary Federation) show and sampling great flavors.   Corporate Chef Elena Manfredi then started experimenting with samples.  "We sampled over 25 different wraps and Panini melts before deciding on the 8 we offer now," says Wagner.This process started in September 2004 and they rolled out their first menu at the Melbourne location on May 19. 2005 - Since then they watched sales increase 9% in June, 13% in July and 11% in August.  Double digit sales increases were also reported at their Suntree and Orlando locations.

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