What You Need to Think About When Planning a Menu Change

Your menu will always be one of the defining features of your restaurant or bar, but a menu change can bring new life to an establishment. Unfortunately, some menu changes can drive customers away. Before making a permanent change, you need to consider any new dishes from every angle.

Consumer Demand

You should always consider consumer demand before making any major changes. A dish might be a hit with you and your staff, but that does not mean that the customers will love it. Before a dish gets approved for the new menu, you should use actual customers to test the dish. This testing process will let you know if people are willing to pay for the new menu item.

Baby Steps

If you change too many items, you will risk alienating some of your loyal customers. Diners might enjoy the ambiance or the fantastic service, but most of your customers are visiting your establishment for the items on the menu.

Equipment

Some valuable kitchen tools are incredibly versatile, but some pieces of equipment will not fit certain jobs. Before implementing a new menu, you need to know that your kitchen equipment is capable of storing, preparing, and serving the new menu items. Sometimes a new menu requires you to buy a few new tools and appliances, so make sure you shop with us for the best deal on new equipment.

Ingredient Availability

Before offering a new menu item, you must have a reliable way of obtaining the ingredients. Running out of a popular ingredient will happen from time to time, but you do not want to annoy customers by promoting a new dish that is never available.

General Resources

Time and money are valuable in a restaurant, and you do not want a dish that consumes too much of either resource. If an item is not popular, you might not make enough money to offset the price of adding the item to your menu. Additionally, if a new dish requires too much preparation time, your staff and your customers might start to get a little agitated. Some items are worth the wait, but customers want to receive their food in a reasonable amount of time.

A new dish can spice up the menu, but you should weigh the benefits and risks of every change. Before altering the menu, test the new items to ensure that the changes are worth your time, money and creativity.