How to Design a Great Takeout Menu or Restaurant Brochure

Positioning a quality brochure holder stocked with takeaway menus at your restaurant entrance, coupled with in-store sign holders, can be an effective strategy to amplify orders and boost your restaurant's revenue. Many eateries, coffee shops, and other food service establishments don't give much thought to the design of their takeaway menus, focusing instead on their regular menu design. This can be a mistaken approach given that the takeaway menu will be a prominent presence in your customers' homes. It's vital that the takeaway menu grabs attention, inspires them to order frequently, and stands out amidst competition. Much like an in-house menu, a well-designed home menu or restaurant brochure can also drive customers to order more often. Here are five steps you can follow to create a takeaway menu or restaurant brochure that’s both attractive and effective.

Enlist a Professional Menu and Brochure Designer’s Help

Many restaurants falter by designing their takeaway menu single-handedly. This usually results in unexciting, lackluster menus that simply list available items without incorporating appealing design elements. Hiring a professional brochure designer can give you optimal results. Expert designers can structure your menu effectively, guiding your customers towards the dishes they seek and facilitating successful order placement. The quality of your menu influences the perception of your restaurant. Designing an outstanding, professional-looking menu helps you garner respect and attention, often leading to an increase in orders.

Incorporate Your Restaurant’s Color Scheme

A takeaway menu isn’t merely a tool for facilitating orders. It can also serve as a useful marketing asset. An attractive menu can inspire customers, influencing them to visit your restaurant physically. Strengthening the branding aspect of your menu could be as simple as incorporating your restaurant’s color scheme. A color-rich menu can include various brand elements such as your logo, and images of your restaurant’s interiors and exteriors. This might not seem very significant, but it can have a substantial effect on how many customers choose to dine in after becoming familiar with your menu or brochure and associating it with your brand.

Use Images of Your Dishes

If your food is as visually appealing as it is delicious, it must be part of your takeaway menu. Adding images of your dishes can trigger desire and hunger in customers, prompting them to order more frequently. Imagine being a customer presented with two menus: one with text only and another with high-quality, full-color images of available dishes. Which one would you be inclined towards? Images are crucial in marketing. Featuring your delectable dishes prominently on your takeaway menu can captivate more customers, increase order volume, and thus, enhance your earnings.

Highlight Your Unique Selling Propositions

Another effective strategy to surge takeaway and delivery orders is to highlight your restaurant’s unique selling points in your menu. Is your restaurant known for sourcing local produce to prepare dishes? Mention it. Does your establishment use traditional recipes from the origin country of your dishes? Don't hesitate to inform your customers that your offerings are 100% authentic. Customers typically collect takeaway menus from various restaurants, leaving them with several choices. Encapsulating your unique selling points in your menu can make your restaurant stand out as a superior option, bringing in more orders.

Market Your Menu via Direct Mail

In addition to superb design, a key factor in having an effective takeaway menu is getting it to your target customers' homes. If your brochure holders aren’t resulting in enough pickups of menus, consider direct mail as a powerful alternative. Direct mail campaigns targeted at neighborhoods in your restaurant’s vicinity can expand your customer base, enhancing your visibility not only for takeaway and delivery, but also as a dine-in option. While in-store menu displays can boost loyalty by encouraging repeat visits from existing customers, adding direct mail to the mix can help you tap into a new customer base, often without burning a hole in your pocket.