Menu Revision Techniques

MENU ENGINEERING: HUNT FOR YOUR MARGIN HEROES If 80 % of your profit comes from 20 % of the menu, why do we spend 80 % of our time arguing about the other 80 %? Because we love our “signature” dishes, even when the P&L hates them. I run a simple 2-axis exercise with the team monthly: Sales Volume vs Contribution Margin. Old-school “Star–Dog” grid. Takes seconds when generated by the system. Saves thousands. Below is how we do it in Gastronomica and why it works in GCC markets that juggle VAT, fluctuating protein prices, and five delivery apps fighting for your margin. STEP 1 – PLOT THE GRID • Pull the last 30 days of data from the POS + cost sheet.   • High/Low split is the median; don’t overthink stats.   • Colour-code: ⭐ Stars, 🍔 Plowhorses, 🥣 Puzzles, 🌭 Dogs. STEP 2 – INTERROGATE EACH QUADRANT  ⭐ Stars – high sales, high margin. Give them hero photography, bundle them on delivery apps, and never discount them.   🍔 Plowhorses – high sales, low margin. Shrink the portion by 10 g, substitute a cheaper garnish, or raise the price by 0.500 AED and watch COGS calm down.   🥣 Puzzles – low sales, high margin. Usually premium items (truffle fries) that guests can’t “find.” Move to prime real estate on the menu or turn into an LTO.   🌭 Dogs – low sales, low margin. Sentimental favourites your chefs defend with tears. Test a 30-day LTO; if volume stays flat, retire with honours. STEP 3 – ACTION BOARD & OWNER We print the report, slap it on the kitchen whiteboard, and write ONE action per dish with an owner and a date. No action? The dish isn’t worth debating. GCC-SPECIFIC TACTICS • VAT Buffer Pricing – Always round up in 0.500 AED/KD increments; keeps receipt totals psychologically tidy and protects margin from future VAT hikes.   • Protein Swap Rule – When beef prices spike (Eid demand), try a chicken variant in the same sauce. 60 % of guests pick price over protein.   • Aggregator-Only Combos – Bundle a Star + Puzzle and list as “Delivery Exclusive.” Basket value jumps, commission stays flat.   • Pictures Talk – In markets with mixed Arabic/English literacy, a glam shot boosts Puzzle sales better than copywriting ever will. REAL-WORLD WINS • Kuwait burger brand: retired two Dogs, upsold Stars, food, cost dropped 1.2 pts in a single period.   • Riyadh casual dining: renamed a Puzzle steak as “Wagyu Express,” added table-side sizzle video, sales up 44 %, moved to Star status.   • Doha casual dining: halved Plowhorse portion by 15 g, added micro-greens for height; guest satisfaction unchanged, margin up 9 % on that SKU. Menu engineering isn’t a fancy spreadsheet; it’s a conversation starter between finance, ops, and chefs. Run the grid, make one brave decision per dish, and watch hidden profit walk back onto the P&L. #MenuEngineering #RestaurantFinance #GCCFandB #MarginHeroes #OperationalExcellence

Designing Better Context Menus (https://lnkd.in/eVbyTUhU), a practical guide of UX considerations and techniques to avoid usability problems in nested navigation. Helpful for applications but also for any complex drop-down menus. Kindly put together by Michael Villar. Key takeaways: 🚫 Don’t use hamburger icons or gear icons for context menus. 🚫 Avoid multiple sub-menus within context-menus (2 levels max). ✅ Limit the number of items in a context menu (10 items max). ✅ For hidden menus, show hints and provide alternative paths. ✅ List features in the frequency-of-use order, not by alphabet. ✅ Always highlight what the context menu is attached to. ✅ Align menu’s top-left corner to the bottom-left of the cursor. ✅ Flip the position of the menu when running out of space. ✅ Disable irrelevant menu items instead of removing them. 🚫 Avoid hover delays and use safe triangle technique instead. ✅ Listen for keystrokes and automatically select the first match. ✅ Support keyboard navigation via Enter, ↓, ↑, ←, →, Esc. ✅ Cycle through the menu when reaching the end of the options. ✅ Separate menu items with dividers, based on their similarity. ✅ Upon click, confirm it with a subtle animation for feedback. ✅ For long menus, add a scrollbar to hint at hidden items. Context menus always appear on user interaction, and they always show features that directly relate to that interaction. They are designed for speed and productivity, and can be especially helpful for expert users — along with keyboard shortcuts and command palettes. Often context menus have fade-in and fade-out transitions, yet in practice this is rarely helpful nor necessary as it slows users down. As Michael suggests, briefly animate primary menu, but disable it for all submenu animations. And: show a hint for context menu as many users will never learn that it’s there. Useful resources: Action Menu Pattern, by Primer Design System https://lnkd.in/eifmS4js Command Menu Component, Nord Health https://lnkd.in/e_ycmz5k Context Menu, Carbon Design System https://lnkd.in/e_Dxp6mc Better Context Menus With Safe Triangles, by Costa Alexoglou https://lnkd.in/eMftt4jF Contextual Menus: Delivering Relevant Tools for Tasks, by Anna Kaley https://lnkd.in/e7EMrR5J Context Menu Best Practices, by Apple https://lnkd.in/ewH6cPRX Using Swipe to Trigger Contextual Actions, by Angie Li https://lnkd.in/epWeCwjA UX Guidelines for Command Names, by Anna Kaley https://lnkd.in/eZTum8SK Designing Retool’s Command Palette (Case Study), by Andrew Shen https://lnkd.in/esRZWiVd Command Palette Interfaces, by Philip Davis https://lnkd.in/eTMRjyYk #ux #design

In a recent podcast I watched, Mark Hix lamented that most modern menus read like ingredient receipts now. Here’s my take. A good menu descriptor has one job - to make me pick it. It does that with a hierarchy of desire, backed by a hierarchy of information. And the hierarchy that tends to work best for me is:- 1. Hero (what it is) 2. Technique (only if it changes the decision) 3. Signature flavour / sauce (the “why this one”) 4. Key supporting elements (the bits people recognize) 5. Finishing notes (optional, only if distinctive) A menu line should do two things: help someone choose, and make them want it. Some more tips I’ve learnt along the way - Lead with the noun. People skim for what they want: lamb, seabass, rigatoni, hope, redemption. Use technique as a differentiator, not menu filler. “Charcoal-grilled” earns its place. “Oven baked?” – Meh. Be consistent. Pick a house style and stick to it (comma rhythm, capitalization, use of “with”, use of parentheses). Avoid the “resume line.” If it reads like someones Linkedin profile, it won’t sell. One vivid detail beats five beige ones. “Brown butter” tells me more than “herbs, parmesan, garlic, lemon, oil.” Don’t over-credential. Provenance (Aged Comté, Amalfi lemon, Hokkaido scallop) is powerful but only when it’s truly felt in the dish. Limited-edition Maldon salt flakes is a bit much. Keep it readable at arm’s length. Short lines, strong nouns, minimal clutter. Also, your lighting guy and your menu designer really need to align.

Why Menu Mix Analysis Is the Hidden Driver of Catering Profitability In catering and multi-unit F&B operations, menu engineering is not a marketing exercise it is a financial and operational strategy that directly determines long-term profitability. Many leaders still evaluate menus only on sales volume, while the real impact lies in margin analysis, demand behavior, and cost dynamics. Step 1: Define the Financial Framework Contribution Margin (CM): Selling Price Food Cost per portion. Example: Dish A sells for $12, costs $4 to produce → CM = $8. Menu Mix % (MM%): (Units sold ÷ Total units sold) × 100. Example: Dish A sold 800 units out of 4,000 total → MM% = 20%. Weighted Contribution (WC): CM × Units Sold. This reveals the actual cash profit per dish, not just the margin percentage. Step 2: Build the Menu Engineering Matrix Each dish is placed into a quadrant: Stars (High CM, High MM%): Protect and promote. These are your anchors. Ensure consistency, availability, and marketing visibility. Plow Horses (Low CM, High MM%): Manage carefully. They generate volume but erode profit. Solutions include portion adjustments, supplier negotiations, or introducing premium versions. Puzzles (High CM, Low MM%): Push strategically. Often overlooked by guests but financially attractive. Improve through placement on the menu, staff upselling, or bundling with popular items. Dogs (Low CM, Low MM%): Rationalize. They consume resources without return. Remove or repurpose ingredients into higher-margin dishes. Step 3: Operational Insights Beyond Finance 1. Procurement: Menu engineering drives smarter purchasing. For example, knowing “Dish A” consumes 35% of chicken stock allows procurement to negotiate better contracts. 2. Labor Efficiency: Low margin, labor intensive dishes create “hidden costs.” Measuring prep time per dish ensures labor impact is factored into menu decisions. 3. Waste Management: Engineering highlights slow-moving items that tie up inventory and increase spoilage. 4. Menu Design Psychology: Placement, description, and pricing strategy (decoys, bundle pricing, anchoring) can shift guest demand toward profitable items. 5. Seasonality & Volatility: Quarterly reviews adjust menus for raw material price swings (meat, dairy, seafood) to safeguard margins. Step 4: Link to the P&L Outlet-Level P&L: Contribution analysis per dish rolls up into unit-level profitability. Multi-Unit Consolidation: Comparing the same dish across outlets reveals performance gaps (why a dish is a “Star” in Outlet A but a “Plow Horse” in Outlet B). Strategic Reporting: Menu engineering results should be presented alongside labor cost and overhead allocation to give leadership a full view of financial health. A disciplined menu engineering review every quarter transforms the menu into a strategic profit tool. Instead of chasing revenue, leaders focus on balancing sales mix, contribution, and operational impact.

You are an F&B operator who spent years defending your menu size. I did too. I ran a kitchen with 52 items. The chef in me wanted to show range. The operator in me knew something was breaking. Every service felt like controlled chaos. Cooks rushing between stations. Tickets backing up during peak. Prep lists that never ended. My food cost sat at 38%. I blamed suppliers. I blamed portion control. I blamed waste. The truth was simpler and harder to accept. I was asking my team to be excellent at too many things. You cannot master 52 dishes. You survive them. The National Restaurant Association reports 40% of restaurant revenue goes to COGS now. Up from 33% five years ago. Every extra dish makes that number worse. In 2024, 53% of operators removed menu items to control costs. The smart ones did it before the crisis. Most waited until survival forced the decision. I cut my menu to 28 items. Same kitchen. Same team. Different result. Food cost dropped to 31% in 90 days. Consistency improved because cooks stopped juggling. Training time for new hires cut in half. The math is brutal but clear. Most restaurants generate 70% of sales from 30% of menu items. You are paying operational cost for dishes nobody orders. Your inventory complexity multiplies with menu size. More SKUs. More suppliers. More spoilage. Less purchasing power per ingredient. Restaurants that streamline see profit margins increase 10 to 15%. Not from raising prices. From operational clarity. The hardest part was letting go. I thought customers wanted variety. They wanted consistency. Nobody missed the dishes that sold 6 times per week. My team thanked me for the focus. The P&L told me I should have done it two years earlier. You are not Cheesecake Factory. They have systems refined over decades for 200 items. They are the exception that proves the rule. When independent operators copy that playbook, they guarantee failure through inconsistency. Cut to 25 to 35 items total. Track profit per dish, not just revenue. Remove anything under 10 sales per week. Double down on what your kitchen executes perfectly. Run this analysis every 90 days. Menu engineering is not a project. It is continuous optimization. The operator who cuts first wins. The one who waits loses slowly, then all at once. Every Monday, I send one email to F&B leaders on turning operational chaos into profit systems. 3 minutes to read. Free. Join: https://lnkd.in/dggXQDK3 #RestaurantOperations #MenuEngineering #GCCHospitality

If customers are walking out after spending only ₹180 on one pizza, it is not a food problem. It is a design problem. I saw this in a small pizzeria café in Chennai. Nice place, good pizzas, but sales stayed flat. Most guests came in, ordered one 9-inch pizza, shared it, and left. The founder was making the classic first-time mistake. Changing the menu every week. New SKUs added, old ones removed. No consistency for customers, no rhythm for staff. Even the few items that could have worked were always missing. The change came when we stopped looking at items and started designing meals. - Pizza as the anchor. - Paneer or Chicken Strips as the side that stayed crisp. - A light iced tea to cut the heaviness. Not the fanciest combo, but we kept it steady. We framed it clearly as “For One” and “For Two.” Customers saw it, trusted it, and ordered it. Within a month, the average order value crossed ₹300. That extra hundred per order was the difference between scraping by and covering rent. Here’s the real lesson: menu engineering is not about clever ideas. It is about discipline. A bundle only works when you keep it long enough for customers to form a habit. That’s why I call it the Nod Bundle, when the meal feels complete, the guest doesn’t think twice. They simply nod yes. And the numbers only hold if the costing does: Anchor → 30–35% COGS (clear portion, protein forward). Side → 20–25% COGS (adds crunch or satiety, travels well). Drink → 15–20% COGS (light, batchable, no sugar bomb). I’ve seen this simple formula change the numbers for cafés and QSRs again and again.

Menu engineering is the strategic process of designing and optimizing a restaurant's menu to maximize profitability and enhance customer satisfaction. This involves several steps, including analyzing menu item performance, pricing strategies, layout design, and promotional tactics. Here are some key concepts and steps involved in menu engineering: #Key Concepts 1.Menu Categories: Items are often classified into four categories based on their popularity and profitability: -Stars:High in popularity and high in profitability. These are the items you want to promote. -Plowhorses:High in popularity but low in profitability. These might need reevaluation for pricing or portion size. -Puzzles:Low in popularity but high in profitability. These could be promoted more actively or repositioned on the menu to attract attention. -Dogs:Low in both popularity and profitability. Consider removing these from the menu. 2.Food Cost Percentage:This is the cost of the ingredient divided by the menu price. It's crucial to ensure that food costs remain manageable while still providing quality. 3.Perceived Value:The way a customer views the quality and price of an item can influence their purchasing decision. Effective descriptions and presentation can increase perceived value. 4.Pricing Strategies: - Psychological Pricing: Pricing items just below a whole number (e.g., $9.99 instead of $10.00) can make a cost appear more appealing. -Bundling:Offering combos or meals that provide perceived savings can encourage larger orders. 5.Menu Layout and Design: The visual presentation of the menu can impact sales. Highlighting specific items using boxes, icons, or special formatting can draw attention and influence decisions. #Steps in Menu Engineering 1.Data Collection:Gather sales data for each menu item over a specific period to assess performance based on sales and profitability. 2.Categorization:Analyze each menu item using a grid that plots popularity against profitability to identify where they fall (Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles, Dogs). 3.Adjustments:Based on analysis, make strategic changes. This can include adjusting prices, changing portion sizes, enhancing descriptions, redesigning the menu layout, or removing underperforming items. 4.Testing and Feedback:Implement changes and test their impact on sales. Gather customer feedback to understand their perceptions. 5.Continuous Monitoring:Menu engineering is not a one-time process. Continuously monitor sales and customer feedback to refine the menu as needed. #Importance of Menu Engineering - Profit Maximization: Well-engineered menus can significantly increase profitability by promoting high-margin items and reducing waste. -Customer Satisfaction:A thoughtfully designed menu can enhance the dining experience, leading to repeat customers and positive word-of-mouth. -Operational Efficiency:Streamlined menus can simplify inventory management and kitchen operations, leading to improved efficiency.

I ran burger restaurants for years with menus full of plowhorses. What the hell is a plow horse? It’s a menu optimisation term. Popular dishes. High sales. Terrible margins. Halloumi fries were the perfect example for us. Guests loved them. We sold them constantly. And they made us virtually nothing. That’s my great regret; keeping too many plowhorses on the menu for too long, thinking popularity meant success. Now I consult for golf clubs, and I see the same trap everywhere. You see, golf club menus come with expectations. You can’t just remove the bacon roll or all day breakfast because the margin’s tight. Members expect certain items, and rightly so. However, that doesn’t mean you ignore menu optimisation. In fact, given your cost base heading into 2026, it’s never been more important. The industry uses four standard categories to classify menu items: STARS – High sales, high GP%. Items like Mac & Cheese or Fish & Chips. These are what you’re aiming for. PLOWHORSES – High sales, low GP%. Your halloumi fries, bacon rolls, protein-heavy breakfasts. Popular but margin-thin. PUZZLES – Low sales, high GP%. Corn ribs, seasonal salads. Great margin when they sell, but they don’t move enough. DOGS – Low sales, low GP%. Granola bowls, prawn cocktails. Nobody orders them, and when they do, you make nothing. Get rid of these. Look at your current menu. Map each dish against sales volume and gross profit percentage. Be brutally honest about which quadrant they sit in. You’ll likely find you’re heavy on plowhorses; it’s the nature of golf club F&B. The question is… what can you do about it? Can you tweak recipes to improve margins? Promote your puzzles so they become stars? Remove your dogs entirely? Introduce new items that sit firmly in the stars quadrant? Don’t make my mistake. Don’t let popularity blind you to profitability. When costs rise and margins tighten further, you’ll wish you’d optimised your menu today.

Your menu prices aren't the problem. Your menu strategy is. Last night was supposed to be just another Friday. Instead, this struggling restaurant did $4,200. Last Friday? $2,600. What changed? We relaunched their menu Thursday night. The old menu was bleeding them dry: • Prices based on fear, not value • Everything priced to "compete" • Random placement, no strategy • Descriptions that undersold • Money left on every table The new approach: Step 1: Found the profit leaks 8 items were actually losing money. 12 items underpriced by $3-5. Fixed them all. Zero complaints. Step 2: Added strategic anchors Put a $62 seafood platter at the top. Added $48 shareable in the middle. Suddenly the $32 entrées looked reasonable. Step 3: Rewrote descriptions to sell "Grilled salmon with vegetables" became "Atlantic salmon, char-grilled and miso glazed, market vegetables" Same dish. $4 more. Sells better. Step 4: Engineered the layout Your eyes go where we want them. To the items that pay the bills. Not the ones that just fill seats. The psychology that matters: When guests see $62 first, $32 feels like value. When descriptions tell a story, Price becomes secondary. When you price with confidence, Guests trust your quality. Results from opening weekend: • Friday: $4,200 (was $2,600) • Saturday: $4,800 (was $3,100) • Check average: $38 → $46 • Same kitchen, same covers Here's what kills me: They almost closed last month. Thought they needed more customers. They just needed better math. The owner texted me Saturday night: "First time we've both smiled after service in months." Your menu is your profit engine. Is yours running on all cylinders? P.S. That $62 seafood platter we added as an anchor? Sold exactly one all weekend. Did its job perfectly - made everything else look like a deal.

When does a dish stop being a signature and start being dead weight? Many hotel GMs and F&B managers wrestle with the question. It’s tough to let go of a beautifully crafted dish—especially one that the team takes pride in. I recently spoke with a hotel F&B Manager who faced this exact dilemma. One of their signature dishes—a premium seafood platter—was beautifully crafted, but barely selling. Instead of guessing, they turned to data to find the answers: ▶The insight? Guests loved seafood, but the price felt too steep. ▶ The pivot? They introduced a smaller portion at a lower price. ▶ The result? Sales doubled, and guest satisfaction soared. This is the power of data-driven creativity. It’s not about eliminating artistic vision—it’s about making smarter, more confident decisions based on what guests actually want. Here are 6 ways F&B Managers can refine their menus: ✦ Take Guest Feedback: Do guest reviews & surveys to reveal why a dish isn’t selling (portion size? price? presentation?). Attribute reasons to low sales numbers of dishes through surveys. ✦ Apply the 80/20 Rule: Focus on the top 20% of dishes that generate 80% of revenue and cut or tweak the underperformers. Keeping a lean menu prevents guests from just ordering something cheap due to decision fatigue. ✦ Optimize for Speed & Consistency: If a dish slows down service at peak hours, it’s hurting both guest experience & revenue. Track "time to delivery" for your dishes and weed out the really slow ones. ✦ Upsell with Smart Pairings: Recommend high-margin add-ons to boost check size like: * a perfect wine pairing with a steak * chocolate milk with a kids breakfast. Introducing digital menus at your hotel (if not using already), can make this process super easy, and you can test with new pairings every week. ✦ Experiment with Limited-Time Offerings: Test new dishes without committing—if it sells, keep it; if not, rotate it out. ✦ Use Psychological Pricing & Menu Engineering: $19.99 instead of $20, bolding high-margin items, or placing key dishes in the top-right section of the menu can subtly drive sales. Digital menus—like the one we’ve built at Haven—make it easier for hotels to test new dishes, adjust pricing, and refine offerings in real time. Instead of waiting months to see what works, GMs and F&B teams can experiment dynamically and make data-backed decisions faster. I hope these ideas inspire you to experiment with your menu next month! How do you approach menu decisions—do you rely purely on data, or does intuition still play a role? #Hospitality #DataDriven #FoodAndBeverage #HotelManagement