Guest Posts on County 10 are provided by contributors and the opinions, thoughts, and comments within are their own and may not necessarily reflect those of County 10.
I was working for the state, checking and calibrating compressed video units at high schools and colleges across Wyoming. Late one afternoon I found myself in Moorcroft in early August. Not being a Harley Davidson fan, I didn’t pay attention to the annual celebration at Sturgis and all the motel rooms in Northeast Wyoming were booked solid. There was a “mom and pop” motel in Moorcroft with a “No Vacancy” sign but I decided to ask anyway. The friendly gal behind the counter said, “Sure, honey, we’ve got rooms.”
Nearly every room had a pickup or large SUV with a cargo trailer behind it parked in front.
She went on to say, “Those are just spots that guys going to Sturgis book to store their truck and trailer. They’ll ride into Sturgis and pretend they just came in from LA, Dallas, New Orleans or Atlanta. You can take one of those rooms, they won’t be back for a week.”
I did.
The next morning, I walked down the street to the epitome of a greasy spoon restaurant and ordered breakfast. My friend Tim Ervin, who travels a lot, once told me to always order breakfast if the restaurant looks a little sketchy.
“They can’t screw up breakfast,” Tim said.
Despite an old fashioned, appealing menu, this place did, it was awful.
Which brings me to the topic of menus, and just how they affect what we order.
There is a science to writing a compelling menu. There are even people with the title, “Menu Engineer” and culinary programs that offer courses within hotel and restaurant management degrees that expand on the art of the menu.
There is a concept called “Paradox of Choice” that claims the more options you have in a menu, the more anxiety you’re likely to experience.
If you’ve ever sat down at a restaurant with a menu that goes on and on for multiple pages, you’ve probably inadvertently experienced “paradox of choice.”
With dozens, or even hundreds of menu items you’re simply overwhelmed and your inkling that they most likely don’t make anything exceptional hits high gear.
What is the best number of options on a menu?
It might surprise you, but seven items per category have been proven to be the most effective. That’s seven appetizers, seven salad choices, seven entrees, and seven kids’ meals.
When there are more than seven items, the diner will likely go with something familiar, like a hamburger, or roast beef. They won’t experiment with new choices, even if it’s the house special.
My college roommate Frank Schmidt had a rule that has fit me well over the intervening four plus decades since we lived together. “Always order the special,” Frank would say.
He was right. The special is something the cook is familiar with, odds are it’s the best thing the place can offer, and they always have plenty of fresh ingredients on hand to make it from.
If you’re like me, you always seem to be stuck behind someone in the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant who acts like they’ve never eaten there before. They invariably order several grocery sacks of food and take an eternity to relate their wishes through the static of the squawk box.
McDonald’s is the largest restaurant chain in the world, but they defy logic in their menu which features over 140 different items. When Ray Kroc franchised the chain he offered just burgers, fries, shakes and drinks. It made him a multi-millionaire.
You don’t just order a menu item at McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King or Arby’s, they have slick photographs displayed next to a carefully designed marquee with numbers attached. A #1 will get you a Big Mac Meal, while a #2 might be a quarter-pounder. It makes it easier for the teenager or retired person at the ordering station to take your request that way.
Photographs next to a menu item have been proven to increase sales by 30 percent.
It can be a double-edged sword, or rather a fork in this case, when a photograph is faded or poorly framed and the food just doesn’t look good.
If you’ve ever watched a fast-food TV commercial, you’ll never see that burger, chicken sandwich, or pizza looking as good as it does on the small screen. The burger patty doesn’t drop in slow motion either. What is it about food commercials that require them to always show the food dripping grease, cheese or sauce, or bouncing on the bun in slow-motion? It makes you wonder.
Too many photos are a detriment, the art is in the “Goldilocks Principal” of “just right.”
Manipulating the way food is priced is another trick of the trade. Don’t write $12 for a chef salad, instead write it as 12.00 or just 12. The dollar sign pulls people into economic reality a little harder than marketing things without it.
So does the $9.95 chicken friend steak breakfast, versus the $10 item. It’s only a nickel difference, but it makes a big difference to the waitress.
Another trick is putting a high-priced item at the top of the menu. Crab legs at $129 scares off a lot of customers and in the process makes the $79 porterhouse steak seem like a bargain. It’s still 79 bucks for a steak but in comparison it makes you think you’re being frugal.
Here is an even more ridiculous statement on human perception. In Las Vegas, the Casinos sometimes offer buffet specials to gamblers.
They found that a six-dollar buffet doesn’t sell well, but a $12 buffet will sell out. It’s the same menu, with the same amount of food, but doubling the price somehow gives it a touch of legitimacy and people will pay it.
Ever notice that the appetizer menu is on the upper left? With the salads right below and the entrees on the upper right? The steaks and chops are always on the lower right. The menu mimics the eating habits of the customer and increases sales in the process.
Why eat a T-bone steak when you could have an “Angus choice, aged T-bone steak?” Words have power, especially in the cutthroat world of restaurant marketing.
Farm-raised salmon, versus wild caught salmon or locally sourced versus imported all have power to the restaurant owner. Depending on your environmental slang, one can generate a lot more revenue than the other.
Owners need to know and understand their clients.
A long time ago, I coached my first football practice on a muggy August morning in Lusk, Wyoming. The head coach, the other assistant and the athletic director and I arranged to eat breakfast at a local restaurant on Main Street after our 6 am practice was completed.
I beat the guys to the “Coffee Cup.”
An older waitress came over, filled my cup with coffee and handed me a menu.
As I drank my coffee, I perused the breakfast offerings. A few minutes later, the other three guys came in.
The waitress came back, pulled the menu out of my hand and gave me another one. Everything was less expensive.
It was 1980, so the bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns were only $4.95 on my original menu, but were now $3.25.
Seeing my bewildered expression, the waitress said, “Sorry, honey, I gave you a tourist menu. I didn’t know you were the new football coach.”
The menu is a powerful tool.