Market Research Blog

Start With Data: Know Your Numbers
As you embark on your menu optimization journey, you’ll want to have key data on hand to help analyze your menu’s performance:

• Sales Mix Report: Shows which dishes are most and least popular.
• Food Cost, Contribution Margin & Current Menu Price (where applicable): Understand each item’s profitability.
• Operational Complexity: Identify items that slow down service or increase waste.

Pick the Right Mix of Menu Items
For menu optimization efforts, choice modeling is widely considered the gold standard. At its core, choice modeling is a statistical technique that analyzes how people make decisions from a set of alternatives. In the context of a restaurant, it’s a powerful tool for aligning menu offerings with customer preferences and improving profitability.

To collect data for choice modeling, consumers are typically asked to complete a choice exercise simulating real-world decisions (i.e., over several screens in an online survey, they view different menu scenarios and select what, if anything, they would order). Responses from the choice exercise are then modeled.

• For improved accuracy, the model can be calibrated using historical sales data.
• Model outputs include projected unit volume and impact on reach and margin. Cannibalization and item substitutability can also be explored.
• An optimal menu can then be determined using this data.

Of course, as an optimal mix of menu items is created and finalized, other considerations should and will come into play.

• For instance, the operational complexity of potential menu items can help break ties and refine decision-making.
• An interactive simulator tool created from the choice model lets you explore “what if” scenarios (i.e., addition and subtraction of specific menu items) among total consumers surveyed and specific subgroups of interest.

Optimize Menu Layout and Design
Once the optimal mix of menu items has been determined, it’s time for menu layout and design, which influence what customers order. Use menu psychology (a.k.a. “menu engineering”) techniques such as:

• Strategic Placement: Put high-margin items in "golden triangle" areas—top right, center, and top left.
• Highlight Techniques: Use boxes, icons, or callouts to draw attention to key dishes (but don’t overdo it).
• Descriptive Language: Make dishes sound appealing without being too wordy.
• Price Formatting: Remove dollar signs and avoid listing prices in a column to reduce price comparison.

Train Your Staff
Even the best-optimized menu won’t succeed if your team isn’t aligned. Ensure that:

• Servers understand which dishes to promote and why.
• Kitchen staff can efficiently execute new items.
• Everyone can communicate menu changes confidently to guests.