Design Tips for Restaurant To-Go Menus

Design Tips for Restaurant To-Go Menus

To-go menus are more than an afterthought for restaurants. In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic drove home just how important to-go orders are for restaurants. Customers are likely to increasingly use to-go options in the post-pandemic world, as they have incorporated takeout ordering into their lifestyles. For these reasons, the design of your takeout menus is more important than ever. Before you take your to-go menus to your printing company, keep these design tips in mind. 

Make Your Design Easy to Scan

Customers don’t want to take a lot of time looking over menus. They typically spend less than two minutes trying to find what they want, so if your menu isn’t scannable, they may overlook dishes they would have otherwise ordered, or they may assume you don’t have anything that they want. Ensure your menu is broken into clearly labeled sections and that the names of dishes are in bold. It can also be helpful to use decorative framing to keep sections separate and easy to find. 

List Your Dishes Strategically

The eye tends to land in the upper-right corner of a menu first, so this is a good place to put your popular items with the highest margins. You can also use graphics and other design features to draw attention to other dishes you want to highlight. Although prices should be clear, you don’t want customers to choose dishes based on their prices. Common strategies used by successful restaurants include listing prices without using dollar signs and putting prices under the dish description or widely spaced from the description in smaller font. 

Highlight Your Logo and Branding

Your takeout menu should be easily identifiable as belonging to your restaurant. Make sure your logo is present and that you copy the font and colors you use in the rest of your branding. This makes it easier for your customers to recognize your menu, and hopefully, to start craving your food as soon as they see it. 

When your design is ready to go, let Reproductions, Inc. help you get the high-quality printing you need to finish the job. Find out how our printing company in Tucson can help you with all of your print work by calling (520) 622-7747.