Restaurant menus are dying and there is not much that can be done about it. It sounds dramatic, but it is true. Everything is constantly changing and evolving. Pre- COVID, technology was was already speeding things up in almost every facet of first-world countries, such as the US. Post COVID, technology sped things up by many times over what anyone would’ve expected. Things like remote work/school, online shopping and even leisure activities. Restaurant menus haven’t been an exception and have had no mercy.
There isn’t an exact historical record of food/restaurant menus or when they started, but earliest information dates back to the eighteenth century. To begin with, restaurant menus were not common or even a “thing” because eating out was very uncommon. Most people had kitchens and all prepared their own meals. There wasn’t many places to “eat out” at and those few places that were, were seen as low quality food. These places were usually for the drunk or people of very low class. Even when people traveled, eating out was not a favorable option. Most people would pack their own food to cook or wealthy people would have servant that made them food, rather than risk eating out. The places that did serve food were usually “Taverns” or “Inn’s” where people would lodge during travel, and thus part of the reason for low quality food.
Some of the more formal version of menus really start to date in the nineteenth century when restaurants started becoming more common. But even then the early version of “menus” were very different from what we have come to know. Menus were often simply chalkboards outside of a restaurant with a list of items. A menu could also consist of a waiter reading out items that were being served that day. Eventually when printing became more common, printed menus started to be seen more frequently.
Menus today, however, is something we have learned to expect. It’s almost a right of passage as you enter a restaurant and get seated. Receiving a menu when dining out is equivalent to getting your ticket at a concert or an amusement park. Once you receive that ticket (or menu in this case) you know that you are in and you’re ready to start your dining experience. These menus come in different size, shapes, colors and formats. But they all have the same goal, to inform and list out the different food items/options that are offered for patrons. This is great, except due to technology and now COVID, these physical menus that we are used to receiving are fading quicker than ever before.
In response to the COVID-19 virus, many restaurants have started adopting digital menus (over traditional physical menus). The idea behind digital menus has been that through avoiding contact of physical menus, restaurants and patrons can help spread the virus. Digital menus did not arise solemnly because of COVID, however, it did speed their adoption tremendously.
Now, most restaurants offer some version of digital menus. Whether its a PDF version of their physical menus, a list of food items on their website or even just a digital picture of their physical menu. The great news, is that most patrons are accepting these new digital menus and okay with leaving paper menus in the past. The bad news is that, these new digital menus may pose new challenges that restaurants may have not had before.
Some challenges that we are seeing with digital menus include:
- Some restaurants haven’t adopted the technology and/or don’t know how to implement a digital menu. — — This problem is very straight forward. Some restaurants are just a little more traditional or have been operated by the same families/owners for years. They have set practices and processes in place and they are just not familiar with these new technologies or how to adopt them. Some people may think that this shouldn't’ be a problem, but you would be surprised at how many restaurants/owners are still running restaurants the old fashioned way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with old fashioned and traditional ran restaurants. In fact, we need them so we can have a variety of different places and environments to dine out at. With a little help and support, however, they too can provide their customers the benefits of a digital menu.
- Formats and layouts on a digital menus are different than on physical menus and must be addressed accordingly. — Paper menus are great and easy because you have a physical paper that is laid out in front of you with all the items spread out across a large surface . Digital menus changes this, however, because most will be viewed on a mobile device with smaller screens than what a paper menu would offer. For this reason, restaurants must learn to optimize the difference in the real estate of a digital menu. For example, on paper menus, many restaurants place large boxes on items that they want customers eyes to be drawn to. On a digital menu this isn’t ideal, because it will take too much precious real estate on a smaller phone screen.
- Digital menus offer more benefits, but restaurants are not taking full advantage and missing out on valuable opportunities. — Digital menus differ from paper menus in the sense that they are almost limitless space. A paper menu confines you to a certain physical size and you must make it work. This includes adapting through finding things like the right front and font size that will help you make the most of your paper menu. In a digital menu on the other hand, there is no space limit because a digital version lets people swipe or flip through digital pages with no real consequences (such as costs to print large paper menus) or drawbacks (such as big bulky paper menus ). If done correctly, digital menus will offer many benefits that physical menus can’t!
Digital menus are quickly taking over and they are here to stay. Keep a look out for more of them as more restaurants continue to adopt them and make it their new normal.
If you are interested in creating digital menus, check out our platform, SeeFood. We work with restaurants all over California to provide them digital menus. We are different because we truly help restaurants showcase their menu and food, in a way that has never done before. We focus on visual picture menus that let restaurants show off their food, appeals and draws customers in and thus leads to a better dining experience that makes guests want to come in and order more every time.
Visit us at: www.SeeFoodApp.com and check out some of our content on our Instagram profile: @SeeFood_app. On our Instagram account, we highlight local restaurants we are partnering with to create them their digital visual menus as well as help promote them. Visit us to get your free digital visual menu.
