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Robin Garr

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11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by Robin Garr » Mon Jul 14, 2014 8:39 am

Yeah, it's another clickbait listicle. But this one's interesting. What do you all think of their comments on menus and how they work?

The 11 untold secrets of menu design
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Carla G

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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by Carla G » Mon Jul 14, 2014 8:51 am

Pretty interesting. I think more restaurants are adding more vegetarian options because of the increased demand and they help boost profit margins.
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by TimT » Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:17 am

A lot of restaurants in Louisville have read this article or the advice of the CIA. Very interesting.
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by Dan Thomas » Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:05 am

I would also add that list.
I try not to have hard to pronounce or unfamiliar words as a menu item descriptor.
For example "Braciola" is pronounced BrAH-Zule not Bracky-Ola. Not the most well known word unless you're Italian.
I don't think it's the best way to start of a diner's experience for them to be embarrassed by getting corrected by their server for not knowing how to pronounce something. It might even keep them form ordering that dish at all. :oops:
Instead I might go for something like Tuscan Beef Roulade, which might be unfamiliar, but much easier to pronounce. :D
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by Robin Garr » Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:13 am

Dan Thomas wrote:"Braciola" is pronounced BrAH-Zule

Did you learn your Italian from a Sicilian guy, Dan? :mrgreen: That's really deep Southern Italian dialect, Sicily or Calabria (where a lot of Ellis Island immigrants came from.)

Make it "Brah-cho-la" if you're north of Naples. Either way, though, it'll get ya fed. :)
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by Leah S » Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:33 pm

What's even worse is to know and use the correct pronounciation and be "corrected" by the server, using the wrong pronouncation.
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by RonnieD » Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:38 pm

10 APPS? Jeez! Apps should NEVER equal the mains. Never. It's the influence of those damn tapas!

My rule has always been apps and desserts less than or equal to half the mains. And no menu should have more than 15 mains, ever. My ideal menu is 12 mains, 4 starters and 3 desserts. A huge menu says to me: "We can't possibly sell one of everything every day, so something is not fresh, which one is it?" Let's hope it's not the fish. It also says, "we lack focus and speciality." Keep your menu short and amazing. Supplement with daily specials.

Here are a few other tips from my recent trip to Landry's in St. Louis:

NEVER, EVER use garbage words to describe your food. Landry's has an app called "Oyster Bar Trash." No.

Please don't pretend that tilapia is anything other than bargain basement trash fish and never use it in an ethnic dish. Landry's had a dish called "Fresh Catch Pontchartrain." No tilapia ever graced the waters of Lake Pontchartrain.

Finally, don't print your "daily" specials on your everyday menu, otherwise it's not really "daily" or "special" is it? Landry's has a small box in the bottom left corner that says "Daily Specials" and features two dishes that never seem to rotate. Either that or they have LOTS of menus with different boxes.
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by Robin Garr » Mon Jul 14, 2014 2:24 pm

RonnieD wrote:Landry's in St. Louis.

Sounds pretty franchisey! Remember when Louisville was up in arms because we thought Landry's was destined for the riverfront, but we got Joe's Crap Shack instead? Sounds like maybe we should have been careful what we wished for. :mrgreen:
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by RonnieD » Mon Jul 14, 2014 2:48 pm

It is. It's part of the Morton's Family. But that's no excuse for poor menu execution. It's actually a better reason to be on your game.
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by Jay M. » Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:25 pm

RonnieD wrote:... Landry's had a dish called "Fresh Catch Pontchartrain." No tilapia ever graced the waters of Lake Pontchartrain.

There is a Landry's on Lake Pontchartrain. I went there several times while working in New Orleans but always primarily for the view, gorgeous sunsets, and proximity to my apartment; I was never impressed with the food. New Orleans is noticeably devoid of the volume of franchises you see in most other cities, and the locals like it that way. One of my co-workers, a NOLA native, said he just could not understand how someone could go to Red Lobster with all of the local seafood places available.
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by Andrew Mellman » Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:02 pm

RonnieD wrote:It is. It's part of the Morton's Family. .


I think you got it backwards . . . Landry's recently bought Morton's.

Landry's also owns such places as Charlie's Crab, Oceanaire, McCornick & Schmick's, Morton's, Rusty Pelican, Big Fish, and maybe 20 others (not including the Golden Nuggett and other hotels and Rainforest and T-Rex Cafe's).

They are definitely a chain, but even with Bubba Gumps among their stable they tend to concentrate more on the higher end of restaurants.
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by RonnieD » Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:15 pm

apologies, Andrew, I am too poor and too far down on the totem pole to keep track of who owns who! :D
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by Mark R. » Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:01 pm

I think a few local restaurants (or should I say rather chains that have local restaurants) need to read this article and abide by it! Cheesecake Factory definitely comes to mind about the idea of size of menu and whoever heard of having paid advertising in your menu? There certainly are several others that fall into the same category but this is certainly the worst offender.
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by Carla G » Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:17 pm

Remember when menus were abbreviated enough that Victoria Station could put theirs on a plank of wood and Cork and Cleaver put theirs on a ...well...cleaver! Maybe 20 items tops.
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Re: 11 untold secrets of menu planning?

by Robin Garr » Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:29 pm

Carla G wrote:Victoria Station could put theirs on a plank of wood and Cork and Cleaver put theirs on a ...well...cleaver!

Oh, damn, I remember both of those things! :lol:

But weren't they really about the drinking? :)
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