4 Stats to Keep in Mind When Reviewing Your Restaurant's Menu

We talk a lot about various aspects of running a restaurant – everything from inventory management to hiring/retention, from kitchen equipment maintenance to email marketing. But we shouldn’t forget about the primary reason guests show up to visit your restaurant – your menu!

In this infographic, we look at a few stats to keep in mind when building or evaluating your restaurant’s menu, so you can give the people what they want.

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Guests Want Try Something New

While it’s good to have signature items on your menu and leaning into the cuisine that you do best and are best known for, there’s still sometimes room for experimenting.

The good news is a that is exactly what a lot of restaurant guests are looking for.

Younger Demographics Want to Try New Menu Items

According to a Global Data study, 79% of Millennials say that they “enjoy experimenting with products from different cultures or countries” -- and this includes food and cuisine. Gen X (78%) is also a big fan of trying out various items from different cultures. However, these numbers drops dramatically with older generations – Boomers (70%) and Silent Generation (57%).

The takeaway here is: the younger your guest demographic is the more freedom you have to play with new flavor and cuisine choices. If you cater to mostly seniors, sticking with your tried & true plates is probably your best bet.

Food Menu: Think Health Food & Breakfast

While you should always feel encouraged to start where inspiration strikes, there are some food and drink trends that may be worth considering.

Vegan menu items are on the rise among Millennials and their Gen Z counterparts, citing health, environmental, and animal rights reasons as a primary driver, according to an UpServe report. In fact, overall, 61% of diners say they are more likely to eat healthy at a restaurant than they were two years ago.

And think beyond just salads. The boom of plant-based burgers and other “non-meat” meat is making it easier to create delicious dishes without animal protein.

Also consider how you can incorporate breakfast items all day. More than half (55%) of guests say they’d order breakfast items at any time if they were offered, according to an National Restaurant Association (NRA) report. Who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner?

Drink Menu: Add Alcohol-Free & CBD-infused Beverages

On the drink side of things, alcoholic-free beverages such as mocktails and alcohol-free spirits are on the rise in popularity – sometimes called “sober curious” beverages. Soda and water doesn’t cut it anymore. Your adult guests want to be able to enjoy interesting flavor profile drinks found in traditional cocktails and mixed-drinks, but without the effects of strong booze.

Similarly, according to an NRA study, 77% of survey restaurant chefs say that cannabis/CBD-infused drinks is the number one drink trend in restaurants right now.

These are just some starting point trends. When in doubt, it’s always worth polling your guests to see what they’re into.

Leverage the Power of Your Restaurant’s Social Media

Food porn dominates social media platforms, especially image-heavy platforms like Instagram. That’s perfect for restaurants looking for low-effort, low/no-budget marketing efforts. And the good news it works.

According to Facebook’s Restaurant Trends and Insights Report, 86% of Millennials will try a new restaurant after seeing food-related content online. This means if you’re looking to attract new guests to your venue, you should leverage the power of your social media accounts.

Take high quality photos and video that really highlight how amazing your menu is and upload them to your social (especially Instagram). Hire a pro if you need to. And be sure to geo-tag and use relevant hashtags for your posts so it can get into as many feeds as possible.

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