How to make an outstanding restaurant menu

So how do you create a menu that makes your customers’ mouths water, entices new diners and engages people across any channel where they might find you?

Below are 7 steps to follow. Once you’ve implemented each of them, you’ll have a menu you’re proud to place on your dining tables, publish online and feature in third-party apps.

Chavarria offers insight into how to approach menu design: ‘You’ve heard the saying “Good input gives you good output.” If you input the right items at the beginning of your menu design process, the output will be a good menu, which can translate into higher sales and more revenue for your business.’

But what exactly does that mean? How many items should be on your menu? How do you organise items for easy browsing and quick decisions?

The short answer: your menu should contain every item available to your customers. That could be 3, or it could be 300. But no one wants to read a list of 300 items, right?

For the solution, we look to cognitive psychologist George A. Miller, who found that humans retain 7 pieces of information at a time. Does this mean you should have only 7 items on your menu? No. But it does mean that menu designers can benefit from grouping items into different categories – ideally, 7.

Start by listing your top dishes. Next, categorise them in a way that’s easy for diners to review, understand and order.

Drawing on psychology again, we know that humans, by nature, are accustomed to certain patterns or sequences, particularly when it comes to food consumption.

We typically don’t eat dessert first – unless it’s an exceptionally great day. Usually, we start with drinks, move on to appetisers, salads or soups, then enjoy the main course and, finally, dessert.

Think of the last restaurant you went to with a large – but easily digestible – menu. It may have been divided somewhat like this:

• Appetisers
• Soups
• Salads
• Mains
• Sides
• Desserts
• Beverages

There’s no hard-and-fast rule about what your categories should be. Just make sure they’re recognisable, to make it easier to read your menu and order.

You may be familiar with the experience of travelling to another country and ordering from a menu that’s just a list of dishes with a 2- or 3-word descriptor. In Greece, for example, a menu might say ‘pork souvlaki’, and that’s it.

Expecting only pork souvlaki, you may also order a salad and fries. But then you’re surprised when the server brings a plate of souvlaki that comes with a salad and fries – and you also get the extra salad and fries you ordered. The result? Too much food and money wasted.

The power of descriptions transcends cuisine types and geography, and any restaurant can fall short on detail. Now’s a great time to take a hard look at your menu and explore where being more descriptive might help your customers make informed choices.

To keep your patrons happy, write item descriptions that contain:

• All ingredients: Tell your diners in your menu descriptions exactly what’s in each dish. Don’t leave anything out.
  
  
• Language in your brand’s voice: Ensure that the language and tone of your menu align with your restaurant’s brand and style. This is even possible on third-party apps like Uber Eats, where you can add and update your own descriptions.
  
  
• Appetising details: Incorporate vivid and enticing descriptions that highlight the unique qualities and flavours of each dish.
  
  
• Labels for allergies and dietary restrictions: Clearly label items with information about potential allergens and tags for special dietary needs like gluten-free, vegan and more.
  
  
• Nutrition information: Provide nutritional details where appropriate, catering to health-conscious diners and people with specific dietary requirements.

Still unsure what to say? Uber Eats can help auto-generate descriptions for missing menu items, letting you approve or reject them – saving time while keeping your menu polished and complete.

Have you ever tried to order from a menu with missing pictures or pictures that look like they came from a crumpled 1970s newspaper? Then you reluctantly order, only to realise you’re consuming the best thing to ever touch your palate?

It’s a shame when menu imagery doesn’t do the meal justice. ‘People eat first with their eyes, then they eat with their stomach,’ Chavarria reminds us. ‘They’re going to be looking at the picture on your menu and say, “That enchilada looks so delicious” and then want it.’

She continues to explain the powerful role images play in ordering: ‘Pictures are one of the easiest foolproof levers you can use to capture more sales.’ Research supports this idea –84% of people want to see photos before visiting a restaurant, and 40% have tried a new place based on food photos alone. When a meal looks good, 86% of diners share it on social media. Conversely, poor food photography turns off 36%.

With Menu Maker from Uber Eats, it’s easy to add gorgeous images to your menu. ‘Our tool has the ability to drag over a photo, or you can upload one directly using the web-based version of Uber Eats Manager’, says Chavarria. ‘Most owners will already have photos. And if not, we can help coordinate a professional photo shoot with our approved vendor to provide your business with high-quality photos of some of your most popular items.”*

AI has been one of the biggest trends in recent years, and a study published in the journal Food Quality and Preference in 2024 shows that diners are open to subtle enhancements, consistently ranking AI-generated food images as more appealing than pictures of real food.

Uber Eats is always innovating to make menu management easier. New features continue to roll out, and as of spring 2025, adding high-quality images is simpler than ever. Menu Maker now automatically pulls images from restaurant websites, enhances them with AI and lets you feature user-submitted photos from customer reviews – helping your dishes look their best with minimal effort.

For detailed information about how to make your menu photos shine, check out our restaurant menu photography guidelines. Above all else, make sure your pictures don’t feature hands, people or branding other than your own.

Congratulations! You’ve followed best practices and designed a physical, online and third-party menu that your customers are bound to love. Now let’s cover some menu optimisation strategies that can help increase your AOV (average order value).

Customise your menu

To capture more sales, encourage add-ons and increase how often customers order from you, you have to make it easy for them. ‘They need choice and flexibility at their fingertips’, says Chavarria. ‘This goes a long way in improving customer satisfaction and reducing order errors and chargebacks.’

On Uber Eats, customers can fully customise their orders, adding and removing ingredients from whatever they order.

‘Add extras into your individual menu items’, suggests Chavarria. ‘For example, at one restaurant, the Beef or Lamb with Rice and Boneless Rib Eye Steak Plate are served without sides. I created an ‘Add sides’ option for those mains. Then customers don’t have to navigate away from the menu item over to the Sides section. Instead, it’s right there. In one specific instance [captured in a screenshot below], this added $25 to the order total.’

Offer combos

If you want to increase the order amount, offer combos. ‘Let’s say you sell hamburgers,’ says Chavarria. ‘You could offer a combo where customers pay a little extra to get fries and a soft drink.’

By bundling items for a slightly higher price, customers perceive added value and convenience, making them more likely to opt for the combo. This approach not only boosts sales but also encourages customers to try a wider range of offerings, potentially leading to higher customer satisfaction and repeat business.

White Castle has a winning approach to bundling. The restaurant, which partners with Coca-Cola to offer more than 100 beverages, allows customers to add a beverage to their meal with one click instead of ordering all menu items one by one. This makes it easier for customers to get a drink with their meal and results in an upsell for White Castle.

Test to discover what works

Menu design is an ongoing process. By reviewing customer feedback, insights and analytics, you can better understand which items and combos customers are ordering and which might need a refresh.

Here are some metrics to keep an eye on:

• Menu-to-cart conversion: The percentage of users who view the menu and then add items to their cart.

• Order conversion: The percentage of users who place an order after adding items to their cart.

• Average order size: The average total price of items in all users’ orders.

• Order accuracy defect rate: The percentage of orders reportedly missing items.

• Special instructions rate: The percentage of orders with special instructions.

Beyond these metrics, tools like Uber Eats Manager help you dig even deeper:

• Analyse top-selling items. This informs inventory, menu design and new offerings.
• Read customer reviews. You can identify favourite ingredients and align with preferences.
• Identify opportunities. If you notice common customisations that increase costs, you can begin charging for them.
• Easily review complaints. On the Order Issues page, you can ensure menu descriptions’ accuracy and identify packaging improvements, like securing soup containers for delivery. This will help you address customers’ complaints about food quality, taste and presentation.

By using Uber Eats insights and analytics to continuously track and refine, your menu will showcase your brand at its best – highlighting top sellers, meeting customer expectations, and driving more orders.