Your menu has twenty-eight items and customers take five minutes to decide what to order. I've analyzed sales data for restaurants before and after menu redesigns, and the pattern is clear—too many choices kills sales velocity and margins. Here's how to build a menu that actually makes money.
Limit your menu to twelve to sixteen items maximum unless you're a diner. Every additional item increases inventory costs, slows kitchen production, and dilutes your identity. Restaurants with focused menus have higher check averages because customers order faster and confidently. When you offer everything, people assume you're mediocre at everything.
Put your highest-margin items in the top-right corner of the menu—that's where eyes go first. Studies show people scan menus in a Z-pattern or focus on the top-right quadrant. If your profitable pasta dish is buried at the bottom of page two, nobody's ordering it. Strategic placement matters more than descriptions.
Remove dollar signs and decimals from prices. Write "$24" as "24" because the dollar sign triggers pain receptors that make people more price-sensitive. This tiny change increases spending by three to eight percent according to Cornell research. Every psychological detail compounds.
Group items into five to seven per section maximum. More than seven items in a category overwhelms decision-making. If your appetizer section has fourteen choices, break it into "Small Plates" and "Shareable Starters" with six to seven each. Smaller groupings feel manageable and increase ordering speed.
Use strategic price anchoring with one expensive item per section. That $48 steak makes your $32 salmon look reasonable by comparison. You don't need to sell many anchor items—they exist to make everything else feel like good value. This is why high-end restaurants list market-price items prominently.
Describe dishes with sensory language but keep it under fifteen words. "Grilled salmon with seasonal vegetables" sells less than "Pan-seared salmon with roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato puree, and lemon-caper butter." Be specific about preparation and ingredients, but don't write paragraphs. Brevity with detail wins.
Avoid listing dishes vertically with prices in a right-aligned column—customers compare prices instead of reading descriptions. Integrate prices into the text block naturally so people read the description before seeing cost. This reduces price-shopping behavior and increases orders based on appeal.
Highlight two to three signature dishes per section with boxes, icons, or "Chef's Favorite" callouts. These should be high-margin items that define your brand. Most customers want guidance on what to order—give it to them while steering toward profitable choices.
Test your menu's readability by having someone unfamiliar read it and order within sixty seconds. If they struggle to decide or ask clarifying questions, your menu is too complex. Customers in your restaurant won't ask—they'll just order something safe and cheap or leave feeling frustrated.
Update your menu seasonally or when ingredient costs change significantly. Static menus lock you into pricing that may not reflect current costs. Seasonal updates also give you marketing opportunities and signal freshness to regulars who've seen your menu twenty times.
Design matters as much as content. Cheap-looking menus signal cheap food. Invest in professional design, quality paper or materials, and clean typography. Your menu is your silent salesperson—if it looks amateurish, customers assume your food is too.
Managing menu engineering, pricing strategy, and continuous optimization while running daily operations is why most restaurants never update their menus strategically. RestaurantDestinations.com directories ensure customers find your restaurant and can view your current offerings, but a well-engineered menu maximizes what they spend once they arrive.
Quick Action Checklist
Menu Structure:
- Reduce total items to 12-16 (or 5-7 per section if larger menu)
- Group items into categories of 5-7 maximum
- Place highest-margin items in top-right corner
- Add one expensive anchor item per section
Pricing & Psychology:
- Remove dollar signs and decimals (write "24" not "$24.00")
- Integrate prices into description text, not right-aligned column
- Price high-margin items $2-3 below psychological barriers ($28 not $30)
- Add strategic high-price anchor items to make others seem reasonable
Descriptions:
- Keep descriptions under 15 words
- Use specific sensory language (pan-seared, roasted, house-made)
- Mention preparation method and key ingredients
- Remove generic words ("delicious," "amazing," "fresh")
Design & Highlighting:
- Highlight 2-3 signature items per section with boxes/icons
- Use professional design with clean typography
- Ensure readability (test with someone unfamiliar)
- Quality materials (not laminated paper that looks cheap)
Testing & Updates:
- Have someone read menu and order within 60 seconds
- Track sales data to identify low performers
- Update seasonally or when costs change significantly
- Remove items that sell less than 3% of category orders