Table of Contents
- Elements of a Good Cafe Menu
- Chalkboard Style Cafe Menu Template
- Cafe Trifold Menu Sample
- Classic Cafe Trifold Menu Example
- Club Cafe Food Menu Layout
- Restaurant Cafe Food Menu Format
- Hand Sketched Cafe Menu Design
- Simple Fastfood Cafe Menu Layout
- Rustic Burger Cafe Menu Example
- Quality Cafe Food Menu Sample
- How to Designing a Good Cafe Menu (8 Steps)
- Simple Tips for an Excellent Cafe Menu Layout
- Types of Menus
- Sizes of Menus
- FAQs about Menus
- What is a food menu?
- What is menu engineering?
Cafe Menu Designs
Derived from a French word that literally means coffee, a cafe is defined as a small food establishment that mainly serves coffee, snacks, and breakfast items to their customers. Other than that, cafes are also a place for customers to read books and magazines, converse with other people, and simply exchange information with them.
The best thing about cafes is that they are fairly easy to manage, you only need to provide your customers with good food and a comfortable environment conducive for conversations and meditation. If you’re planning to establish one, then you might find our collection of cafe menu templates below very useful.
Elements of a Good Cafe Menu
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1. Cafe menu cover pages:
While it’s not really necessary for all menus to have a cover page (especially those used by small food establishments such as cafes), it can actually add to the presentation and will help create a positive initial impression towards the business. If you’re going for a single-paged cafe menu, you can use the opposite side of the card for the cover page.
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2. Cafe’s name and logo:
In terms of the name and logo of your cafe, it should appear not only on the cover page (if you have one) but also on every page of the menu. The header for each menu page should at least consist of the name and logo of the cafe, though you may also include the address and the contact number if you want to. The reason behind that is it keeps people reminded of where they are and who they are dealing with.
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3. Section titles:
In order for customers to easily find what they need on the menu, it is best to arrange the menu items into different sections or categories. The most common ones on menus include the appetizers or starters, main dishes, side dishes, beverages, and desserts, but you can still add more if you want to.
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4. List of meals:
People look forward to the different dishes being offered to the customers, and there should at least be a manageable number of options to choose from. When we say manageable, we are referring to a number of options that do not overwhelm customers.
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5. List of snacks:
The next element is the list of snacks or finger foods. Some people go to cafes not to dine but to eat snacks while exchanging information with companions or other customers. For some, they also refer to this section as the appetizer or starter.
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6. List of drinks:
And of course, the list of beverages to flush down the food and to complete the entire meal. You may want to have your list of drinks added to your main cafe menu or you may also have this as a separate menu. Below, in the types section, you’ll find out a little more about the beverages menu.
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7. Special products:
It is a common practice for food establishments to promote special products that they don’t offer all year round. These special items may either be a dish or a drink, and these may be offered according to the season or the occasion.
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8. Price lists:
Of course, menus should always come with a price list, this is the element that informs customers how much each dish or beverage costs. But a word of advice, though, you shouldn’t put a currency symbol on the price list because it tends to put emphasis on the price and will make the customers more conscious of the expenses.
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9. Cafe’s contact details:
And of course, regardless if you’re offering deliveries to your customers or not, it is best to still indicate the cafe’s contact details on the menu. With regards to contact details, it should include but not be limited to the cafe’s phone number, email address, and website (if any).
Chalkboard Style Cafe Menu Template
Cafe Trifold Menu Sample
Classic Cafe Trifold Menu Example
Club Cafe Food Menu Layout
Restaurant Cafe Food Menu Format
Hand Sketched Cafe Menu Design
Simple Fastfood Cafe Menu Layout
Rustic Burger Cafe Menu Example
Quality Cafe Food Menu Sample
How to Designing a Good Cafe Menu (8 Steps)
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Step 1: Decide on a type of menu to use.
The first step in the entire process of designing a cafe menu is deciding what type of menu to use. Below, we have an entire list of the different types of menus for you to choose from.
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Step 2: List the possible menu items to be included.
After deciding on the type of menu, the next is preparing a list of all the possible menu items that you want to include on your cafe menu.
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Step 3: Take notes or make a sketch of the menu’s layout.
Once the list has been prepared, the next thing to prepare is a sketch or notes describing the layout of the cafe menu. Here, you can plan as much as you want and use all these information as your bases.
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Step 4: Download a cafe menu template.
Why start all the way from scratch when you can always give yourself a head start? Download a cafe menu template from the internet to get your job halfway done.
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Step 5: Edit the design on the menu template.
After downloading the template, the next thing that you will need to do with it is edited the design. You can do as much as add or remove elements, rearrange them, or change the color scheme.
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Step 6: Add the necessary menu items and their prices.
A menu should not only provide customers with options on what to eat or drink, but it should also provide them with information on how much each food or beverage costs.
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Step 7: Verify if the contents are correct and precise.
Once the design has been edited and all relevant details have been added, the next thing that you will need to do is to check and verify if all of the added details are correct.
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Step 8: Print out copies of your menu.
After finalizing the menu design and verifying the correctness of the details, the last and final thing that you will need to do is to print copies of the cafe menu.
Simple Tips for an Excellent Cafe Menu Layout
- We know how much you want to add a visual representation for every menu item, but oftentimes, a description is sufficient. But if you must include an image, add one only for the best sellers and those that you want to highly recommend to your customers. This way, it doesn’t end up cluttering the layout.
- Ensure that the contents are easy to navigate and doesn’t take up much of the customer’s time to get what they want. This is why it is very important to organize the products into sections, and to arrange the sections according to the order of courses.
- Don’t shy away from using colors, they can actually enhance the look of the menu and will make the content more pleasing to read. When using colors, be sure that the scheme fits perfectly with the cafe’s branding personality.
- Keep the layout as clean or as simple as possible. The purpose of menus is to give people options on what to eat or drink, the graphical aspects are simply enhancements to help capture the interests of people.
Types of Menus
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1. A la carte menu type:
A la carte is French for “according to the menu”, and while the dishes are listed individually, they are also priced individually.
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2. Prix fixe menu type:
Prix fixe means “fixed price”, which means that the options listed on the menu come with different courses, and regardless of what the customer orders for each course, they will still be paying the same price.
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3. Table d’ hote menu type:
The table d’ hote (French for “the host’s table”) shares similarities with the prix fixe, but unlike the latter, not all options are being offered at the same price and additional charges may even be applied to some items.
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4. Du jour menu type:
Du jour means “on the day”, and this menu changes from time to time. A good example of this is those that are written on digital displays or on large chalkboards.
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5. Cycle menu type:
As the name suggests, a cycle menu is a type of menu wherein the list of items are being used and reused over a time cycle.
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6. Beverage menu type:
Considered as an optional type of menu, the beverage menu contains a list mainly for juices, sodas, beers, thirst quenching cocktails, and other kinds of beverages.
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7. Dessert menu type:
Just like the beverage menu type, this one is also considered as an optional type since it contains a list that focuses only on the desserts and sweets.
Sizes of Menus
- 4.25″ x 11″
- 5.5″ x 15″
- 8.5″ x 11″
- 8.5″ x 14″
- 11″ x 17″
- 11″ x 25.5″
FAQs about Menus
What is a food menu?
It is a list used in food establishments that contains the various foods and beverages that are being offered to customers.
What is menu engineering?
It refers to the study of the profitability and popularity of menu items. It is also the study of how those two factors influence in the arrangement of the menu items.
If you must know, the menu templates above aren’t just beautifully-designed, they are also fully functional, and by functional, we mean editable. You’ll be able to edit these templates while still keeping it high quality. If you’re looking for cafe menu templates, you don’t need to look someplace else, they’re all here at your disposal.
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