From our vast library of ready-made menu templates, you can find a design that best suits your business and then customize it to fit. This guide will help you learn how to do that in easy steps and identify what kind of menu fits your business in the first place. Let’s get started.

Different Kinds of Menus

There are different types of menus. To optimize the usefulness of one for your brand, it is essential to know them and what makes each different.

A la carte menu

An a la carte menu lists a separate price for each meal item, giving customers the flexibility to create different meal combinations. A la carte means ‘from the card’ or ‘from the menu’ in French.

Du Jour Menu

Du Jour menus also have origins from French. Du jour means of the day’, so these menus contain options available only for that day. Du jour menus change daily, depending on what is available for each day.

Fixed Menu

Fixed menus are also called set menus. They offer a few options per course, but all at a fixed price. A customer may get to choose between two entrees or appetizers, but the total cost of the meal would still be the same.

Static Menu

Static menus sound like they may be similar to fixed menus, but they are not. A static menu is a more extensive menu, usually divided into food and drink categories, and it doesn’t change very often. It’s the most popular kind of menu on this list, and it is probably the mental image you have when you think of menus.

Usually, static menus provide the best customer experience because of the number of choices they provide, their consistency, and ease of navigation.

Cyclic Menu

Know how some cafes have Taco Tuesdays and Smoothie Mondays? That means they have a cyclic menu. Cyclic menus feature specials that are only served on particular days.

How To Create A Menu

Now that you know the different kinds of menus and what they represent, let’s dive into how to create a menu for your business.

1. Make a list of all your menu items.

2. Sort the items according to categories, e.g., sauces, drinks, pasta, etc.

3. Find a menu template with a layout that suits your needs.

4. Place the most important items in vantage points. Menu engineers call this the ‘Golden Triangle.’ Use the middle, top left, or top right corners of the menu to display the items that are selling fast or that you want to get noticed more.

5. Print out a test menu page.

6. If the test page is fine, print out enough menus for your customers.

7. If you want a digital version of your menu, upload the design online or encode it in a QR code that your customers can scan to access.

Check out our menu templates library for unique, creative menu templates that will make it easy for your diners to select from your delicious offerings. The templates are super easy to customize; all you have to do is change the colors to suit your brand and replace the text with the meals you intend to serve.

How To Choose A Menu Template

You most likely would be spoilt for choice when you see the templates in our menu library. We know how tricky it is to pick only one out of a myriad of creative menus, so here are a few tips to help you find a suitable menu design quickly.

Choose A Style That Reflects Your Company’s Identity

Go with designs that accurately depict your brand’s direction. If you’re a family-friendly restaurant, go with fun, boisterous designs. If you’re a traditional steakhouse, pick out vintage, rustic menu designs, and so on. This makes for less editing later on and will save you some time.

Pick suitable colors

Coloring is an important part of the message that your menu conveys about your brand. Although you can customize a template’s colors to suit your preferences, some designs have colors that are already optimized to tell a particular story or create a certain brand image. For example, changing the tropical colors on a cocktail bar’s menu will ruin the design because the colors are part of the theme. So, skim for a menu template with the closest colors to your brands, and then you can change the shades to suit your needs.

We hope you create mouthwatering menu designs with these tips and build a delicious customer experience with them. Get cookin’!