Proven Way to a Profitable Menu - Part 5- Create Menu Diversity

This market is flooded with "me too" menus that are loaded with such "standards" as chicken Caesar salad, fried cheese sticks and grilled chicken breast.


The only options most of us consider when trying to be different are 1) discount our items, 2) provide noticeable larger portions or 3) add cute little names to our dishes and claim that they have originality. None of these is particularly appealing to our bottom lines and none produces W.O.W. with your guests.


Ther is a better option which I call menu diversity - providing customers with choices that no one else can offer them. It sounds easy but it takes a lot of effort. As with any W.O.W. program you implement in your business, menu diversity requires that you be Watchful. Open and Willing. Here is how:

Be Watchful

Look around your dining room to see what your guests are eating. What are they asking for that you don't serve? What accompaniments are they adding to their main course on their own? Guests gives us clues all the time, and we usually ignore them. Watch other restaurants also, especially the small places which attract swarms of locals. We flock to the newest and most expensive restaurants for a taste of what's chic, but it is often the small independents who have their fingers on the pulde of the market.

Be Open 

For decades, Lawry's Prime Rib prided itself on selling only one entree: prime rib. But today, that's simply not realistic. Too many costumers want a healthful alternative. So now Lawry's serves fish. We could all be more open to serving new dishes, or even old ones in more innovative ways. Allow your chefs room to be creative within a strict set of cost and supply parameters. That's what they are paid for more than anything else! If you've hired the right people, they should be eager to bring new ideas to the menu and additional sales to your tables. If you treat your menu as a closed book, you are confining yourself to mediocrity and ultimately to obsolescence.

Be Willing

If you are going to create an innovative menu, you've got to be willing to have faith in your chefs. Behind every success like fajitas, frozen Margarita or wraps, there were chefs who were allowed to take some risks and owners who were willing to invest some faith in them.

When we try to appeal to the greatest number  of people, we tend not to strive for W.O.W., but settle for the lowest common denominator instead. That is a recipe for disaster, not for delighted diners.