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Do Restaurant Menus Influence What You Order?

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As you sit down at your table, the waiter hands you your menu.  You scan the pages with your eyes darting here and there. Where do they land?

Menus are one way a restaurant attempts to build trust with you and if the menu you’re looking at has a well thought out design, psychology is playing a major role.

The Menu Is Part Of The Brand

A restaurant’s menu is part of its brand and how it looks sends out subtle signals to the customer. A dirty menu may send a message that the kitchen is dirty. A bright, clean, well-designed menu probably means a clean, well-designed operation.

Menu design affects the bottom line, too. Thoughtful menu redesign can improve sales by an average of 2 to 10% — by subtly directing customers to order higher profit margin items.

Is It Your Decision What To Order?

Customers don’t really decide — on their own — what to order. If done right (from the restaurant’s point of view), a menu should lead customers to what the restaurant wants them to order. The trick is where the menu items are placed, the graphics, and the descriptions. For a four-page menu (including the front and back covers) the “position of power ” is above the center on the inside right page.

A menu item’s position on a list also affects sales. Human tendency is to remember the top two and the bottom item on a list. High profit margin and high appeal items get high profile spots.  Logic plays a role, too, like putting appetizers in the top left panel — a high-profile position the eyes get to first since appetizers are usually the first things people eat.

The font, the print size, boxes, and shading all help draw attention to an item. Menus need to be graphically exciting, but people have to be able to read them. Things like borders, illustrations, symbols and bold type also focus attention.

Although the same item may sell differently when it’s put in a different spot on the menu, servers play a major role in determining what customers ultimately order. A well-designed menu helps to steer people in the direction the restaurant wants them to go but it’s the servers who close the deal.


The Importance Of Words

Some words have more selling power than others.  “Roasted” or “cooked in our wood-fire oven” are more attractive than “fried.”  If the item actually is fried, describing it as hand-battered, which tells customers the item is fried without saying it’s fried, sounds better.  Making the descriptions of high-profit, high-quality items more appealing than others directs customers to them.

There’s most likely a continuum of appeal. What the restaurant really wants to sell should sound as delicious as possible. The other items should sound good and taste good —just not as good as the signature dishes.

Where Do The Numbers Go?

There’s an art behind the placement of prices on the menu and that placement is critical. Aligning prices in a straight column on the right leads customers to “shop-by-price” because despite mouth-watering descriptions, the eye tends to go straight to the prices.

Customers are savvy and listing menu items with the prices from most expensive to least expensive is something they quickly figure out. Experts recommend positioning the item’s price at the end of the description, in the same type and boldness, and without a dollar sign (even the dollar sign makes the customer a little more aware of the price) — an approach that helps the customer focus on the product rather than the price.

 

 

 

Prep For Your Big Event And Snag An A . . .

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A  for Awesome, because that’s how you’ll feel.

Don’t you hate it: you’ve been so much attention to what you eat and your healthy eating habits are really getting grooved.  You’re starting to feel and look great, but, oh boy, you have to go to something big.  It could be a wedding, a dinner party, or dinner at a fabulous restaurant.

First thought: I’m going shopping for something great to wear.

Second thought: The food is going to be awesome.  Is this going to make me blow my careful eating and, then, forget it — it’s all down hill from there.

The Dilemma

You want to enjoy yourself and be able to have some of the restaurant’s “specialty of the house” or a bunch of hors d’ oeuvres followed by a delicious piece of cake at your friend’s wedding.

What To Do?

Prep like your final exam is tomorrow.

Remember cramming for finals?  Hit the books and collect some information.  Research the menu of the restaurant you will be going to or call your host or event planner to find out what will be served at your event.

Many restaurants have their menus online – or you can stop in for a preview.  If you nicely give your host, the caterer, or the event planner a solid reason for wanting to know the menu, you’ll be surprised at how accommodating most can be.

After you’ve researched what can be ordered and/or what will be served, you can then come up with your plan.   If you want that fantastic dessert perhaps you decide to keep your hand out of the breadbasket.  Do you want to have wine with dinner?  Maybe forego a cocktail (or two) – and its calories – before dinner.  Want the very special hors d’oeuvre?   Maybe dessert gets jettisoned.

The point is:  You are in control and can choose what you want to do.  But planning is important.  Make up your mind what you’re going to do ahead of time and commit to it.

A game time decision means that you’re making decisions when too many enticements are already in front of you.  That’s not easy to do.  So, do your research, come up with a plan, and stick to it.  Allow yourself something special – don’t take that away.  But, maybe stick to one or two special treats, not an ongoing feast.  You’ll feel fantastic, in control, and tremendously proud of yourself.  You’ll have had something delicious -– and your new clothes will still look just as great.  Most importantly, those new healthy eating habits are still intact and have and will continue to serve you well.

Have You Noticed That Some Well-Known Chefs Are Shrinking?

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In girth that is.  The chef’s weight loss is frequently motivated by a health scare – although sometimes just by vanity or wanting to be more mobile and agile in the kitchen — many star chefs have devised their own plans for losing weight.

Fortunately, for them, they have knowledge and their skill in the kitchen at their disposal to make food more flavorful, perhaps downright delicious, while cutting back on the use of sugar, fat, and salt.

What The Slimmed Down Chefs Do

According to an article in The Daily News, what they do is:

  • Reengineer their palates:  Richard Blais of Top Chef fame followed a vegan diet for 30 days to jump start his 60 pound weight loss.  He says it was a palate cleanser that made him aware of how sweet, fatty, and salty his food was.  Art Smith, Oprah’s former chef, lost 95 pounds by changing the way he ate – incorporating more whole foods, eating six meals a day, and making uncomplicated food, often following the same menu most days of the week.
  • Eat smaller portions:  Aside from eating smaller meals more frequently, some chefs like Houston’s Ronnie Killen, who lost 215 pounds, eats four ounces of a 16 ounce steak and saves the rest for another meal.
  • Find new ways to add flavor and devise new ways to add taste but not tons of calories:  New York City’s Michael Psilakis poaches garlic in olive oil and then adds the garlic to various foods to really punch up the flavor of lower calorie items like mussels and gigante beans.  Many of the chefs use onion, garlic, and many herbs and spices for flavor.
  • Indulge occasionally (or have a planned cheat day):  Many of the chefs, like Art Smith, build in a cheat day or leave room in their calorie budget for the occasional indulgence by eating lighter meals and fewer calories in anticipation of the indulgence.
  • Exercise:  almost all of the chefs move around more than they did.  New York’s Rocco Dispirito became a triathlete, but Art Smith, who has a rigorous workout routine, says he sometimes just blasts music and dances.

 

The Bottom Line

Whatever routine a chef follows, they all seem to have become aware of  portion sizes.  They’ve learned about calories and the overabundance of sugar, fat, and salt in many recipes.  And, they move more.  They do not deprive themselves.  They may restrict the amount of food that they eat – but they are eating whole food with good flavor and they’re making room for the occasional, not daily, indulgence.

Art Smith cautions that dessert is a treat. As he says, “If you have dessert every day, then it’s no longer a treat.”

Try following their strategies when you’re cooking at home – or even when ordering in a restaurant.

If we could just get more chefs to offer smaller portions of delicious and healthy whole foods in their restaurants and food companies to do the same with their prepared products it would be a whole lot easier to lose and/or maintain weight and to be mindful of portion size.

Other People May Make You Eat More

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Reservations for eight? You might eat 96% more! No kidding.  We tend to continue eating for a longer period of time when we’re with people compared to when we eat alone.  Maybe it’s because we mindlessly nibble while someone else talks, or the good manners we learned in fifth grade, or because we’re just having fun and enjoying great food. We do tend to stay at the table longer when we’re with others and the longer you stay at the table, the more you eat.

Losing Track

Friends and family also influence how much you eat. Sometimes you can get so involved in conversation that all the monitoring of what pops into your mouth goes out the window.  Have you ever looked down at your plate and wondered where all the cookies went or how you managed to work your way through the mile high dish of pasta or the four pieces of pizza?  How many tastes did you take of everyone else’s meal and dessert?  Those tastes aren’t like invisible ink.  Those calories count, too.

Who Sets the Pace?

You tend to mimic your table companions. They eat fast, you eat fast.  They eat a lot, you eat a lot.  Ever wonder why you look at some families or couples and they’re both either heavy or slender?  As Brian Wansink, PhD says in his book, Mindless Eating, “birds of a feather eat together.”

How Much More?

Wansink reports on a study that shows how strong the tendency is to increase how much you eat when you eat with others.  Compared to eating alone, you eat, on average:

  • 35% more if you eat with one other person
  • 75% more with four at the table
  • 96% more with a group of seven or more

Why?

The pattern of eating more when we’re in larger groups than when we’re eating alone is common in adults. One reason is a phenomenon called “social facilitation,” or the actions that stem from the stimuli coming from the sight and sound of other people doing the same that that you’re doing. When you’re eating in groups, social facilitation can help override the brain’s normal signals of satiety.

Some Helpful Tips:

  • Think about who you are eating with – and why.  If you want to have a blast and don’t care about how much you eat – eat with a big group and chow down.
  • If you want to be careful about what and how much you eat, think about eating lunch with your salad (dressing on the side, please) friends rather than the pepperoni pizza group.
  • You tend to adjust your eating pace to that of your companions.  So, sit next to the slow eaters rather than the gobblers if you’re trying to control how much goes into your mouth.

Table For 8? You Might Eat 96% More!

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No kidding.  You tend to eat for a longer amount of time — and eat more — when you’re with people you like compared to when you eat alone.  It could be because you mindlessly nibble while someone else talks, you’re using the good manners you were taught in fifth grade about not letting someone else eat alone, or you’re just having fun and enjoying your food. Most of us tend to stay at the table longer when we’re with others.   Bottom line:  The longer you stay at the table, the more you eat.

Losing Track

Here’s the other thing:  friends and family influence what you eat.  Sometimes, it’s so easy to get involved with the conversation (or argument) that all the monitoring of what goes into your mouth goes out the window.  Look down at your plate.  Did you ever wonder where all the cookies went or how you managed to work your way through the mile high dish of pasta or the four pieces of pizza?  How many tastes did you take of everyone else’s meal and dessert?  Those tastes aren’t like invisible ink.  Those calories count, too.

Who Sets the Pace?

You tend to mimic your table companions.  They eat fast, you eat fast. They eat a lot, you eat a lot. Ever wonder why you look at some families or couples and they’re both either heavy or slender?  As Brian Wansink, PhD says in his book, Mindless Eating, “birds of a feather eat together.”

96% More

Wansink reports on a study that shows how strong the tendency is to increase the amount that you eat when you eat with others.  Compared to eating alone, you eat, on average:

  • 35% more if you eat with one other person
  • 75% more with four at the table
  • 96% more with a group of seven or more.

SocialDieter Tip:

Think about who you are eating with – and why you’re eating with them.  If you want to have a blast and don’t care about how much you eat – eat with a big group and chow down.  But, if you want to be careful about what and how much you eat, think about eating lunch with a salad (dressing on the side, please) friend rather than the large pepperoni pizza group.  Remember, without thinking about it, you tend to adjust your eating pace to that of your companions.  So, sit next to the slow eaters rather than the gobblers if you are trying to control how much goes into your mouth.