The menu is the most important commercial document in a restaurant and the worst managed. Most restaurateurs design their menu by intuition: they add dishes they like, copy prices from the competition, and never eliminate anything. The result is a menu with 50+ references where the best-selling dishes are the least profitable, prices don't cover costs, and visual design doesn't guide the customer. A poorly designed menu can cost more than €30,000 per year in lost margin.
- Your menu has over 40 items and you haven't removed any in over a year
- You set your prices based on the competition, not by calculating your cost + target margin
- You don't know which your 5 most profitable dishes are, nor the 5 that lose money
- The physical menu (printed or digital) does not highlight the dishes you're most interested in selling
- When an ingredient goes up in price, you don't adjust the selling price of the dish
- Los camareros recomiendan los platos que les gustan, no los más rentables
If you recognize 2 or more of these situations, your restaurant needs a professional diagnosis.
