If you are looking to have a successful restaurant business, you cannot ignore the food menu. It is the prime reason why people visit your food shop and so, you should be very particular when creating the menu. While too few food items may not address the varied preferences of the customers, too many food items in the menu list may make it difficult for them to make a choice. This ultimately creates a negative image of your restaurant in their subconscious mind.
So how to ensure that you have the right mix of dishes in the restaurant menu? Here are some top tips for you:
How To Ensure Right Mix Of Dishes In A Restaurant Menu
Table of Contents
Type Of Restaurant
Are you a fast food centre, coffee shop, or a restaurant? Yes, your type of food business is the prime decision point for the menu selection. If you are a fast food centre, then people will visit for quick to serve food items like chow mein, momo, pasta, or burgers. If it is a coffee shop, people will expect more types of coffee, pastries, and cookies. If it is a restaurant, you may keep a four-course meal as people will mostly visit here to have their lunch or dinner at leisure.
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As Per Location
Now, your location will also decide the food menu. If you are located in an office area, people may be interested in just having the main meal items like rice, lentils, chapati, and curries. They have little time to relish a complete meal with starters, soups, and desserts. If it is within a shopping mall or near movie halls, people may visit it to have a complete meal with friends and family. So, it is necessary to have the right mix of the main course, snacks, sweets, and soups on the menu.
Also Read: Tips For Becoming A Good South Indian Restaurant
Depending On Feedback
You can also consider customer feedback when creating a food menu. You may collect suggestions from the visitors about what they will want to eat and add the most preferred items to the menu. If this requires some more funds, you can get business loans from banks and financial institutes. There are special schemes like the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme For Micro And Small Enterprises (CGMSE). This is specially meant to meet the working capital needs and is also collateral-free.
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As Per Orders
This is another effective way to get the right mix of dishes on the restaurant menu. Your food menu should be profitable and popular. So if your customers prefer non- vegetarian dishes more than vegetarian dishes, then add more types of meat and fish items to the menu. You can also add food items that complement these dishes.
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As Per Season
For winter k more types of soup and sizzlers instead of ice creams and cold desserts. For summer do not forget to add cold coffee and the most popular ice cream of the year to the menu. Similarly, if it is the season of holidays and parties, you should maintain more inventory than normal days to meet the high demand. Keep enough equipment and tools handy to keep the food fresh and tasty for long hours. For this, if you need to invest more, there are multiple business loans available for micro and medium scale industries to help you out.
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Food Cost Percentage
Calculate the cost of each ingredient used in a dish and the price you can keep for it. Perform a menu audit and ensure that the cost is lower than the price. If not, there is no point in keeping such food items on the menu.
According to a survey, customers just spend 109 seconds on reading a menu, so ensure that you put the best mix of food items on it to impress them. A menu card is like a CV for your restaurant and hence, besides adding the right mix of food items, it is also advisable that you spend some amount on the design. If this calls for some additional funding, consult a good financial institute.
Also Read: Top 5 Ingredients To Cook Up A Successful Restaurant Business
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