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Menu Analysis.

The Power of Menu Design

The Power of Menu Design

Restaurants often have beautifully designed menus created by designers, but they frequently overlook the psychological and behavioral aspects that influence guest decisions. The result is a visually appealing menu that isn’t necessarily effective.

Menu design is a crucial part of the dining experience and a key driver of restaurant performance. It defines most of the guest’s experience and determines their spending decisions at the very moment of ordering.

Restaurants often have beautifully designed menus created by designers, but they frequently overlook the psychological and behavioral aspects that influence guest decisions. The result is a visually appealing menu that isn’t necessarily effective.

Menu design is a crucial part of the dining experience and a key driver of restaurant performance. It defines most of the guest’s experience and determines their spending decisions at the very moment of ordering.

Restaurants often have beautifully designed menus created by designers, but they frequently overlook the psychological and behavioral aspects that influence guest decisions. The result is a visually appealing menu that isn’t necessarily effective.

Menu design is a crucial part of the dining experience and a key driver of restaurant performance. It defines most of the guest’s experience and determines their spending decisions at the very moment of ordering.

A well structured menu guides guests naturally, aligning their desires with the restaurant’s goals. By reducing cognitive load through clear layouts, concise descriptions, and thoughtful hierarchy, it adds an emotional layer that helps guests decide faster and more impulsively — driven by emotion rather than rationality, and it’s simply increase spend per head.

Aligning menu structure and strategy with waiter guidance can increase menu efficiency even further. Together, they form a powerful system that directs attention toward profitable and complementary dishes, ensuring that guests experience the restaurant at its best while enhancing both satisfaction and overall revenue.

A well structured menu guides guests naturally, aligning their desires with the restaurant’s goals. By reducing cognitive load through clear layouts, concise descriptions, and thoughtful hierarchy, it adds an emotional layer that helps guests decide faster and more impulsively — driven by emotion rather than rationality, and it’s simply increase spend per head.

Aligning menu structure and strategy with waiter guidance can increase menu efficiency even further. Together, they form a powerful system that directs attention toward profitable and complementary dishes, ensuring that guests experience the restaurant at its best while enhancing both satisfaction and overall revenue.

A well structured menu guides guests naturally, aligning their desires with the restaurant’s goals. By reducing cognitive load through clear layouts, concise descriptions, and thoughtful hierarchy, it adds an emotional layer that helps guests decide faster and more impulsively — driven by emotion rather than rationality, and it’s simply increase spend per head.

Aligning menu structure and strategy with waiter guidance can increase menu efficiency even further. Together, they form a powerful system that directs attention toward profitable and complementary dishes, ensuring that guests experience the restaurant at its best while enhancing both satisfaction and overall revenue.

Demonstration of Applying UX Principles to Restaurant Menus

An in-depth analysis of Grana’s menu, identifying visual and structural patterns that shape how guests read, choose, and spend — and showing how small design improvements can meaningfully enhance both guest satisfaction and business performance.

CURRENT MENU

Current menu problems

  1. Lack of clear distinction between starters and mains

Waitstaff need to explain where the starters and mains are located on the menu, which consumes a significant amount of time during service in an extremely busy restaurant.

Impact: This significantly increases the time required to introduce the menu and staff have less opportunity to recommend or promote specific dishes, which reduces spending.

  1. Menu structure not aligned with diners dinning flow

The current menu layout lacks logical sequencing and goes against the generally accepted dining flow (Starters → Mains → Desserts). Guests get confused and must invest additional effort to navigate it.

Impact: While deciding what to order, the menu demands greater cognitive effort, reducing spontaneous decision making and decreasing the likelihood of impulsive purchases.

  1. Poor menu scannability and readability

A noisy typographic layout, lack of alignment, and uneven line lengths reduce readability.

Impact: Reduced readability increases cognitive load and slows down decision making - all lowering overall menu efficiency.

  1. There is no clear distinction between premium and regular dishes.

Impact: Premium dishes don’t stand out as signature experiences, making them difficult to identify within the menu. As a result, customers miss higher value options or fail to perceive their elevated quality. 

IMPROVED MENU VERSION

Menu Redesign Improvements

  1. Menu Structure & Ordering Flow

Introduced clear “Starters” and “Mains” sections and reorganized all categories to follow the natural dining sequence at restaurant (Bread → Starters → Pasta → Mains → After). This makes the menu intuitive, clear, and self explanatory.

Impact: It reduces cognitive effort when making decisions, increase the likelihood of impulsive ordering and makes decision making faster. Additionally, the change saves waitstaff time, allowing them to focus more on recommendations, specials, or guiding customers to the desired direction, which improves upselling effectiveness and overall conversational flow at the table.

  1. Enhanced Readability and Scannability

Improved typographic hierarchy and content alignment to reduce visual noise and enhance scannability.

Impact: Improved readability under ambient restaurant lighting, enabling faster scanning and reducing cognitive load. Clear distinction of “add-ons” ensures they are easily noticed and not overlooked by customers.


* Prices were offset rather than perfectly aligned in order to encouraging guests to read dishes from name → description → price, instead of scanning numbers vertically. This layout helps diners form an emotional connection with the dishes before evaluating cost. 

  1. Better Distinction of Premium Dishes

Impact: Elevated perceived quality of premium dishes, making them easier to locate and more attractive for upselling.

Extras

UX Microcopy

The restaurant already applies this technique on a few items in the menu, like ciabatta and capelli, demonstrating its potential to enhance perception and stimulate appetite. Expanding UX copy across the entire menu would create a more cohesive brand voice and help guests visualize flavor, texture, and origin, strengthening emotional engagement and perceived value.

Anchoring pricing

In the Pasta sections, prices were arranged using anchoring principles as an example of how layout can influence guest choices. The higher priced dishes are positioned first, making surrounding options appear more affordable. This leads guests to subconsciously compare and often choose the “reasonable” mid option, and it’s typically neither the most expensive nor the cheapest. This kind of menu items placement helps increase conversions on high margin dishes.

Final thoughts

Every restaurant has its own identity, but the principles of good menu design remain universal. A menu isn’t just a list of dishes — it’s a behavioral tool that shapes how guests explore, choose, and spend. When structured with intention, it becomes an extension of service itself — guiding decisions subtly, supporting upselling naturally, and creating a smoother dining flow.

Designing with UX principles allows restaurants to connect guest psychology with business strategy. It ensures the experience feels effortless while driving measurable performance outcomes. The most effective menus are not only beautiful but smart — balancing aesthetics, clarity, and strategy to serve both the guest and the restaurant’s goals.

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