A food menu is simply a list of foods that are presented to a group of people. It could be family food menu, fast food menu, restaurants food menu and others. Foods menu can also be applicable to targeted individuals. There could be food menu for weight loss, diabetic patients, local food menus and foreign food menu. The food menu will indirectly indicate what food ingredients are to be purchased, if customers will be satisfied and return and whether the eatery will make profit. In a food eatery, the food menu template is expected to show the prices of the foods available. This will help the customers to make a choice of what to eat and how affordable it is.
Food menu is beneficial especially when you have a busy lifestyle because all your food decisions have been taken in advance. While the food menu can take different formats, a simple food menu lists all the foods required for a particular group of people or a person. For example, a food menu will list the appetizer, entrée, desserts and all the foods which fall under these categories.
An effective food menu is descriptive, well organized and current. A good food menu will help reduce unnecessary questions and limit the amount of food that would be returned to the kitchen. The following steps will help you create a well arranged food menu that will entice the people you serve.
Step1
You have to plan the content of your menu. The most basic type of restaurant food menu will contain the list of dishes with their corresponding prices while the advanced type will include descriptions and photographs. You are at liberty to decide the size of the document.
Step2
Type out a basic food menu format by using any desktop publishing application. You can create headings for beverages, appetizer, soups, main course and desserts.
Step3
If the food menu will be used at a food eatery, select an easy to read font that would reflect the style of your eatery.
Step4
Start filling each section with dish titles and full descriptions which may include ingredients. If possible, you may add some pictures of food to make it clearer and attractive.
Step5
You can align the names of the food towards the left with the prices on the right, if the food menu will be used in a fast food, therefore, leaving a line between categories and making your subheadings in italics, bold and underlining format. You can add two lines of dishes description but avoid making it cluttered. For home service, your food menu should not include prices.
Step6
Create the food menu to be editable in order to update with any changes, specials or promotions. However, you must ensure that the food menu describes the offerings accurately. Ensure there is no ambiguity on the food menu in order to avoid confusion for the people it is expected to serve.
Step7
Proofread your created document and correct where there are errors before the final printing.
1
To make your food menu reflect the style and message on the food, you can use some unwritten rules. Change the color of the entrees titles to have a reflection of the protein. For example, you can use red color to print beef dishes, use yellow for chicken, seafood in blue and use green for vegetarian dishes.
2
It is also important to add drinking pair suggestions under the entrée description in order to help people in making their decision easily.
3
To make your food menu much more attractive to people, you can add some very descriptive phrases when finalizing the food choices. For example, for hamburger, you can write the phrase, “ eat our high quality hamburger meet perfectly cooked and topped with freshly cut lettuce” instead of something unappetizing like “ A really nice hamburger”
4
It is important to make the food name distinguishable from the description. Note that not everyone will have the patience of reading long descriptions, therefore, capture the food name first in a clear manner before adding the description of the food.
5
When creating your food menu, do not forget to consider vegetarians, vegans and those with gluten and other recognizable food allergies.
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