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Menu Item Naming Tips
From VANEEpedia
“Succulent,” “legendary,” “hearty-wholesome” and other words that incite favorable associations with food will boost restaurant sales by 27 percent, according to two University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers Wansink and Painter.
Over a period of six weeks, Wansink and Painter compared the reaction of students to menu items that had plain labels (for example, “seafood filet” and “grilled chicken”), while other foods had fanciful names such as “succulent Italian seafood filet” and “traditional Cajun red beans with rice”, according to an article by Mark Reutter.
Reutter reported that labels that bring to mind the foods and flavors of specific regions – such as “Iowa pork chops” or “Southwestern Tex-Mex salad” – sold well. So did labels that triggered happy memories of bygone days and family traditions. Examples included “Nana’s favorite chicken soup” and “ye old potato bread.” Descriptions such as “snappy” carrots and “buttery” pasta that referred to the texture, taste or smell of a menu item were popular. And the fancifully-named items were not only bought more frequently, but they were described by customers as being a better value and higher quality than the plain-named items.
Based on this study, as well as the experience of thousands of restaurant owners and operators, the names and descriptions on your menu make a difference in your bottom line.
The first step in building successful menu descriptions is to answer the question, “What am I selling?” Are you selling unique recipes made of the highest-quality ingredients in an elegant atmosphere? Large portions of low priced traditional American cuisine? A themed environment with a region-specific menu? A barbeque shack will do better choosing “Sweet Texas Rack ‘o Ribs” for a rib feature rather than “Opulent Honey-Smoked Ribs”. Your descriptions should support your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) – the reason customers come to your restaurant over others. Item Names
If customers are looking for something specific, play that up in the name. Focus on portion size, ingredients, value, region, theme, and flavor. “Jumbo Chili Dog”, “Hungry Man’s Hamburger” or “Macaroni Cheese Mountain” will appeal to value-minded diners. A western-themed barbeque restaurant will want to highlight the flavor, region and culture in the descriptions and names. “Cowboy Baked Beans”, “Hickory Smoked Ribs” or “Outlaw ‘Hot’ Oatmeal” are some examples. If customers use a dispaly board rather than a menu to make selections, item names should be straightforward and obvious.
Menu Descriptions
Your menu description should be a brief description of the item. Some things to keep in mind in coming up with a description:
- Avoid making descriptions too long. A sentence or two is fine.
- Use sensory language to make the guests mouth water. (How does it taste/smell/look/feel?)
- Avoid too much technical jargon. Before you start throwing around a lot of culinary terms the masses may not understand, consider your audience. Even if your restaurant is an upscale fine dining establishment, your menu descriptions should still be understandable.
- Avoid saying exactly how many pieces of food come in a dish. For example, don’t say “seven buffalo wings ” when describing an appetizer. Simply saying “a basket of buffalo wings” will suffice. This way, you can adjust portion control to keep your food costs in line.
- Several years ago, Gallup reported that most customers will spend an average of 109 seconds reading a menu. Make sure the little time customers spend looking at a menu is used to your advantage. Customers can always ask questions. Make sure your staff knows the menu offerings like their ABCs.
- Grandiose and hyperbolic names should be avoided, lest they raise customer expectations too high. “Beware of the temptation to label yesterday’s goulash as ‘Royal Hungarian Top Sirloin Blend.’ It will generate first-time sales, but they may be the last,” said so and so,” warned Warsink and Painter.