A menu is read in about 90 seconds. In that time, the words have to do as much work as the design. Most café and restaurant menus we audit have decent design and unhelpful writing — vague names, descriptions that don't help, sections that don't guide.
Here's how to write a menu that actually sells.
Name Items by What They Are, Not What You Call Them
Internal names ("The Founder", "The 8am", "The Original") are charming on the wall but unhelpful at the point of decision. A customer reading "The Founder" still has to ask what's in it. A customer reading "The Founder — house blend espresso, oat milk, brown sugar" can decide immediately.
The fix is simple: every item name should answer "what is this?" without requiring the customer to ask. You can keep the charming names — just add a one-line answer next to them.
Descriptions Should Help, Not Decorate
The most common mistake on menu descriptions is writing about how the dish makes the chef feel. "A celebration of our morning routine, lovingly crafted with..." doesn't help the customer order. What helps:
- Key ingredients. Especially the ones that differentiate the dish.
- Texture or temperature cues. "Crispy", "warm", "chilled", "creamy".
- Heat level. Where relevant. Customers ask anyway.
- Allergens or dietary signals. "Vegan", "contains nuts", "GF available". Save staff time and reduce mistakes.
A useful test: would a tired customer on a Friday evening read this description and know whether they want it? If not, rewrite.
Order Items by What You Want Sold
The first item in each section gets read most often. The last item gets read second most. The middle items get scanned. This is consistent across every eye-tracking study on menus.
Most SMEs order items by "the order we added them to the menu", which is essentially random from a sales perspective. The fix is to lead each section with the item you most want to sell, end with a strong secondary option, and let the rest sit in the middle.
Use Sections Customers Recognise
Cute section names work in casual cafés but cost you sales in restaurants. "Things from the garden" sounds nice; "Salads" tells customers what they're choosing. If your category names need a second to decode, every customer pays that tax.
That said, a touch of personality in section names is fine — just make sure the category type is still obvious.
Be Specific About Quantities
"Small/Medium/Large" without volumes is unhelpful. "8oz / 12oz / 16oz" is more useful, especially for SEA customers used to chains that label clearly. The same applies to sharing plates: "serves 2" or "serves 3-4" removes a question that staff get asked dozens of times a day.
Trim Ruthlessly
Long menus look like more choice but actually reduce ordering confidence. Customers facing 47 options take longer to decide, ask more questions, and often default to the safe choice. The best menus we work on usually end up 20-30% shorter than the version we started with. Pull items that don't sell, simplify variations into clear options, and let the remaining items do more work.
The Test
Hand your menu to a friend who's never been to your café. Ask them to choose. Time them. Watch where they hesitate, what they ask about, what they skip past. The places they slow down are the places the writing isn't doing its job.
A menu is a sales document with a typography problem. Get the words right and the design has less work to do.
- #F&B
- #Menu Design
- #Cafés
- #Restaurants
- #Conversion
- #Guide
