The Menu – the most important communication factor in the restaurant business.
A menu tells the price, the description and gets your mouth watering. Menus are important because besides the server themselves, it’s what sells a restaurant’s food. Whether you are a sit down or take out restaurant, it’s important to look your best. We here at Harvest Printing want to help you look your best and we specialize in menu printing.
Is there a Need for Disposable Menus?
The answer is yes. With everything changing day by day, the need for a single use menu is here.
Did you know that over 30% of the people are scared to eat out? If you haven’t had the chance to read the article from QSR magazine, it’s extremely informative on how frightened people are to eat out. https://www.qsrmagazine.com/exclusives/nearly-30-percent-people-are-afraid-eat-out-study-says
The job of a restaurant owner is to make the customers feel at ease. You can do that by starting with disposable menus.
Here’s my favorite part of the article that stood out to me the most:
What’s bothering people?
Basically, consumers are worried about touching everything inside a restaurant—countertops, napkin dispenses, chairs, cash, and countless other surfaces. “Restaurants should look to shift to a touch-free environment; eliminate as many contact points as possible, while also using gloves and other protective measures to minimize the potential for transmission,” Datassential said.
- Touching things others have touched: 38 percent
- Being near other people: 28 percent
- Staff preparing/handling food: 15 percent
- Being served from large containers: 9 percent
- Interacting with restaurant staff: 7 percent
A single-use menu falls dramatically in the 1st and highest category of 38%. The good news is by adjusting and conforming to a few minor changes, customers can feel at ease again to dine out. Let Harvest help you create a fresh, never touched menu to offer your guests.
Menu Designs
Creating a menu that easy to read is important. There are a few aspects to consider – layout, color, order of menu options as well as size of menu, etc.
A traditional disposable menu can offer the following choices –
- 8.5×11 or 11×17 in size
- Black & White or Color
- Single or Double Sided
- Flat or Folded
- If folded – Folded in half or tri-fold
If you need assistance with layout, we have designers that can help! Don’t like the options you see here? Harvest is flexible. We have over 35 years of experience in designing and printing so we have seen just about everything!
If you have doubts of designing something in a size or format that is different than what’s above or in other words, non-traditional – don’t second guess yourself! Those creative thoughts are what makes you stand out from your competitors and what might make it “fun” for your guests to dine in your restaurant. It’s important to keep your branding while making your restaurant have a personal touch. Keep those creative juices flowing!
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do Disposable Menus look Cheap?
Answer: No. At Harvest Printing, we can work with you to make sure you end up with a paper stock that is perfect. We can print on anything from a matte to a high gloss and it can be as thin or thick as you prefer it to be. Getting your menus professionally printed verses printing them on a home computer will make a big difference and leave your customers still walking away feeling like they’ve had an excellent dining experience.
- If I change my menu weekly, can I print a small batch of menus at a time? In other words, can I change my design every time I print with you?
Answer: Yes. We can customize your order and print as little or as much as you want. We understand that this is a time of uncertainty and things are changing daily. We expect that everywhere and will work with you through this.
- How do I make a restaurant menu?
Answer: Start with organization – write down all of your menu items with descriptions and separate them into different sections like appetizers, main courses, desserts, etc. Then add the pricing. The more you can do at home, the less money it will cost you in design time as well as it will increase your satisfaction of the end product! And of course, we are always here to help.
Overall, we know it’s a scary time and we want to make your life as a business owner or operator easy. Printing is what we do. It’s why we have 35 years of experience in it. It’s why Harvest has a staff with over 350 combined years of experience. Trust your instinct and make it easy – Let Harvest help.