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August 28, 2020
Menu Design & Optimization

🍽️ Menu Design & Optimization: How to Create a High-Converting Restaurant Menu

Your menu is more than just a list of dishes—it’s a powerful marketing tool that influences customer decisions and boosts your restaurant's profitability. A well-designed and optimized menu can increase sales, improve customer experience, and enhance your brand identity.

In this post, we’ll explore how to design and optimize your restaurant menu to increase order value and customer satisfaction.

📖 Why Menu Design & Optimization Matter

🔥 1. Drives Customer Decisions

Customers decide what to order in less than two minutes. A clear, attractive menu helps them make decisions faster and encourages higher spending.

💡 2. Increases Average Order Value

Strategic menu design helps upsell high-margin items, increasing your overall revenue. Proper placement, pricing, and design can direct customers toward your most profitable dishes.

🏆 3. Enhances Customer Experience

A well-organized menu makes it easy for customers to find what they want, improving satisfaction and encouraging repeat business.

🎯 Key Elements of a High-Converting Menu

✅ 1. Keep It Simple and Organized

A cluttered menu confuses customers. Use a clean layout with clear sections for:

Starters
Mains
Sides
Drinks
Desserts

👉 Pro Tip: Limit your menu to 20–30 items to avoid overwhelming customers.

✅ 2. Use Strategic Pricing

Avoid whole numbers (e.g., £9.99 instead of £10)
Remove currency symbols to reduce the psychological impact of spending
Use “decoy pricing” by listing high-priced items to make other options look more reasonable

👉 Example: £14.99 for a specialty pizza makes a £10.99 pizza seem like a better deal.

✅ 3. Highlight High-Margin Items

Use visual cues to draw attention to your most profitable dishes:

Bold text or a different font color
Boxes or borders around high-margin items
Place high-profit items at the top right section of the menu

✅ 4. Add Mouth-Watering Descriptions

Descriptive language increases perceived value and makes dishes sound more appealing.
Example:

Instead of "Steak with mashed potatoes," try:
"Juicy sirloin steak, grilled to perfection, served with creamy, buttery mashed potatoes."

✅ 5. Include High-Quality Images

Visual appeal increases the likelihood of ordering. Include professional photos of your most attractive dishes.

Ensure images are consistent in style
Keep lighting natural and bright
Limit to 3–5 images to avoid clutter

✅ 6. Design for Readability

Use a clean, easy-to-read font:

Font size: 12–14 pt for body text
Font type: Sans-serif for modern, clean look
Line spacing: 1.5x for better readability

✅ 7. Include Dietary and Allergen Information

Make it easy for customers to choose based on dietary preferences:

Include symbols for vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and nut-free options
Highlight popular and signature dishes

🖥️ Optimizing Your Digital Menu

🌐 1. Make Your Menu Mobile-Friendly

Most customers browse menus on their phones. Ensure your online menu is:
✅ Mobile-responsive
✅ Fast-loading
✅ Easy to scroll and navigate

🔍 2. Optimize for SEO

Include search-friendly keywords in your menu descriptions and titles.
Example:

"Best homemade pasta in London"
"Authentic Mexican street tacos"

💳 3. Add Online Ordering

Make it easy for customers to order directly from your menu. Include a prominent "Order Now" button linked to your online ordering system.

📊 How to Test and Improve Your Menu

✅ 1. Track Sales Data

Identify:

Best-selling items
High-profit items
Low-performing items

👉 Remove underperforming items and focus on high-margin dishes.

✅ 2. Collect Customer Feedback

Ask customers about their experience:

Is the menu easy to read?
Are there enough choices?
Are the descriptions helpful?

✅ 3. A/B Test Menu Design

Test different layouts, pricing, and descriptions to see what works best:

Try bold fonts vs. standard fonts
Adjust placement of high-margin items
Change color schemes to test customer response

🚀 Why Tiger Eats Makes Menu Optimization Easy

Tiger Eats gives you all the tools to create and optimize your menu:
✅ Easy-to-use menu builder
✅ High-quality design templates
✅ Real-time updates and tracking
✅ Mobile-friendly and SEO-optimized

🌟 Final Thoughts

A well-designed and optimized menu is one of the easiest ways to increase revenue and improve customer experience. By focusing on strategic design, pricing, and descriptions, you can drive more sales and create a better dining experience.

💡 Ready to create a high-converting menu? Get started with Tiger Eats today!

👉 Create Your Professional Menu Now