blog

date

March 14, 2025

blog

reading time

6 min

How to Make a Restaurant Menu: Step-by-Step Guide

One might say that the restaurant menu is the single most important aspect of a well designed and functioning restaurant.

Without it, customers wouldn't know what to order, how to order, or what they can order.

A chef in a white uniform pointing at a large menu board with bold text that reads "The Restaurant Menu - A Step-by-Step Guide."

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But, a complicated menu can be a restaurants demise.

A successful restaurant menu is more than just a list of dishes—it’s a powerful sales tool that can enhance the dining experience, influence customer choices, and maximize profits.

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Restaurant owners can often design the menu with their team, but having a designated menu designer is helpful to simplify the menu engineering process and create a near perfect menu.

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3 Tips Before Getting Started

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1. The process of menu creation varies depending on the type of restaurant, as each has unique needs, target audiences, and pricing strategies to enhance performance.

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2. In today's world, online restaurant menus are now becoming more prevalent, but paper menus are still the norm so designing them still needs lots of considerations. That being said, online menus also need custom menu designs so that the dishes are clearly listed, but still has the brand identity in the design as a whole.

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3. It is important to consider the menu types which all require different menu layouts. Examples of menu types include paper menus, menu books, online menus, whiteboard menus, and poster menus. These all require different menu engineering principles such as spacing, layout, and menu content.

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Below is a detailed step-by-step guide on how to make a restaurant paper menu tailored to various different restaurant types.

Scroll to the very bottom for a menu template you can follow!

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Step 1: Define Your Restaurant Concept and Target Audience

Before jumping into menu design, make sure to have a solid business plan and restaurant branding to build your menu around so that it creates a cohesive brand image.

Before selecting menu items, it’s essential to understand your restaurant’s theme, cuisine, and customer preferences. Whether you’re running a fine dining establishment, a casual eatery, or a fast-casual spot, aligning your menu with your brand identity and market demand is the foundation for long-term success.

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Your menu should align with your restaurant’s brand, theme, and customer expectation, along with the key menu engineering principles.

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A beautifully plated fine dining dish placed next to a printed restaurant menu on a wooden board, enhancing the elegant dining experience.

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For example, a fine dining restaurant would usually serve high end dishes with premium ingredients and elegant presentation so customers would expect a more elegant and oftentimes more minimal approach to the menu design.

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On the other hand, a casual or fast casual dining establishment might want to focus on more eye catching menu layouts that meet the current design trends, or menus that adjusts based on the menu offerings or seasonal dishes.

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For a fast food spot, speed and affordability are key so a simple, easy-to-read menu with minimal customization works best. If you focus on one particular product such as burgers, make sure it stands out and is easily legible to minimize confusion and miscommunication.

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A café or drinks shop often serves a combination of signature drinks, pastries, and light meals so the cafe menu design should reflect the theme of the cafe and be well formatted into menu categories with menu headers such as food, pastries, coffee, and tea.

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Step 2: Curate Your Menu Items & Categorization

Categorization can change your menu from just a good looking one to a profitable restaurant menu.

When your menu is both visually appealing and easy to comprehend, sales will be instantly boosted while customers feel more at ease when ordering.

If your food menu design is too hectic, food establishments that offer counter ordering might cause customers to feel rushed, with slower order processing and long wait times.

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A vintage black-and-white chalkboard menu displaying sandwich, soup, and salad options with handwritten-style text.

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Tips for Different Restaurant Types

Fine dining restaurants should focus on quality over quantity. Menus here come in the form of smaller, often personalized menu with either the date of the meal or the customer's name. This type of menu uses descriptive language and will mention specific ingredients such as 'Truffle-Infused Lobster Bisque'.

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Casual dining spots often offer a menu with simple design elements. There are usually a balanced mix of appetizers, mains, and desserts with menu item descriptions below, as well as icons to signify best sellers, gluten free, vegan, nuts, etc.

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Fast casual & fast food menus should be streamlined for efficiency. By only listing high-demand items and keeping the rest as a part of a secret menu is a smart move to keep customers focused yet entertained. Remember to keep choices simple, and prioritize combos or meal deals.

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Cafés and coffee shops often have a main menu along with a rotating menu of daily specials and seasonal drinks which is often updated. This gives the cafe the opportunity to have a more curated main menu, as well as a more design forward changing menu to cater to all types of customers. A key point of coffee menu design is to categorize items clearly so that on the go customers are able to quickly understand the menu and find their drink of choice when in a hurry. Menu headers can look like: Hot Coffee, Cold Brews, Teas, Pastries, Breakfast Specials, etc. It's important to have logical sections that most people can understand.

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Step 3: Focus on Menu Engineering & Pricing Strategy

The menu engineering process is detailed and has many key points that we, as normal customers, might not think of.

By using menu psychology techniques food establishments can create a profitable restaurant menu that increases both staff and customer efficiency, while giving a positive customer experience.

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Top Menu Engineering Principles:

1. Highlight High-Profit Items

- Place the most profitable dishes at the top-right corner of the menu, where the eyes naturally focus to increase profitability over time.
- Fine dining and casual dining menus can use chef’s recommendations or house specials to draw attention.
- Fast-food and fast-casual restaurants should include combo deals and add-ons (e.g., “Make it a Meal” options) as a way to help simplify the ordering process while increasing the overall customer order size.

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2. Use Price Anchoring

- Fine dining: Place premium dishes first, followed by mid-priced options to make them seem more affordable.
- Casual dining: Use mid-range pricing to make customers feel they’re getting good value.
- Fast food & quick service: Offer bundle pricing and value deals to encourage upselling.

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3. Offer Customization Where Needed

- Fast-casual & cafés: Customers often enjoy the ability to customize meals or drinks making it a great place to give many add on options to increase order size. Examples of customization can be various milk options or additional ingredients in a premade bowl.
- Fine Dining: Provide chef-curated tasting menus or premium add-ons for upselling.

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4. Select menu colors that are associated with food and appetite

- Colours such as red, orange, and yellow are often associated with stimulating hunger while colours like blue and purple usually suppress appetites.

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Step 4: Design Your Menu for Readability & Aesthetic Appeal

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A modern coffee shop menu with wooden slats displaying coffee options and prices in a minimalist design.

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Key Design Considerations for Different Restaurant Types

Fine Dining & Upscale Restaurants
- Use premium fonts, minimalistic layouts, and high-quality menu materials.
- Avoid using dollar signs ($) to reduce price sensitivity.
- Include detailed dish descriptions with sophisticated wording (e.g., "Grass-Fed Wagyu with Red Wine Reduction").
- If there are photos, make sure they are high quality photos without photo filters.

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Casual Dining & Fast-Casual
- Have clear section headers, organized categories, and bold fonts for featured items.
- Use clear, well lit photos sparingly to avoid looking too cluttered.

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Fast Food & Quick Service
- Online menus or overhead boards work best with minimal menu item descriptions
- A neat menu layout, bright colors, and large fonts will improve readability
- Having clear, well lit photos can help customers avoid any menu confusion
- Pricing should be bold and easy to read

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Café & Coffee Shops
- Chalkboard menus or digital screens work well with the often seasonal menus and changing menu items.
- Artistic fonts and illustrations add personality and enhances the brand image

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Buffet & All-You-Can-Eat
- Ensure clear labels for food stations, including dietary symbols for vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free options to avoid any miscommunication.
- If offering an à la carte option, simplify pricing and highlight the most premium items.

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Food Trucks
- Large, visible menu boards with a simple list of menu items are essential.
- Use fun, engaging branding elements to stand out.

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Step 5: Leverage Technology for a Modern Menu Experience

A digital POS-integrated online menu system can streamline restaurant operations and improve customer satisfaction.

A sleek white self-service kiosk with a digital touchscreen menu, designed for fast and efficient ordering in restaurants.

MenuSifu’s E-Menu & POS Solutions

- For fine dining & casual restaurants: Integrate an interactive menu with QR codes for digital ordering.
- For fast food & fast casual: Self-service kiosks reduce wait times and improve efficiency.
- For cafés & coffee shops: Use a loyalty system integrated with your POS to track favorite orders and offer promotions.
- For buffets & food trucks: A simplified POS system allows for easy handling, simple updates, and straightforward menu adjustments.
- For all restaurant types, having an online ordering system, as well as a 3rd party delivery integration such as MenuSifu's Central is a key addition to your menu building journey.

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Step 6: Test & Update Your Menu Regularly

A menu is not static.

It should evolve based on customer feedback and sales performance.

Fine Dining: Update seasonally with new ingredients.
Casual Dining & Fast-Casual: Rotate special items and test pricing strategies.
Fast Food: Optimize based on best-selling items and promotional trends.
Café & Coffee Shops: Adjust based on seasonal trends (pumpkin spice, summer refreshers, holiday drinks).
Buffet: Monitor high-cost, low-demand items to reduce waste and maintain profitability.
Food Truck: Keep up with trends and adjust flavors based on customer preferences.

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Menu Template

Canva is a great place to find various menu templates, as well as a space to start your menu design.

Canva Pro is great if you want to use their more special tools and canva teams is beneficial when you want your entire team to participate in the menu design.

Canva gives users a blank canvas to design from, as well as templates if needed.

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Below is a burger menu design template that you can use to begin your own menu design journey!