How to Read Restaurant Menus

Audra: Maybe some restaurants are not what they seemed? Did you know that there is a special strategy when it comes to menu design? It all involves getting the customer to spend more money, customer being you. Andrea Cheloupos is here. She’s the editor of walletpop.com and she’s here to clue us in on some of those sneaky restaurant tricks. So the next time you order a meal, you'll do it for the right reason not because they got you right Andrea? Andrea: Exactly. Audra: It's tough. Your eyes are automatically drawn to certain things that you see on the menu. And one of things that you guys pointed out was the box. Andrea: I love the box. When I open up the menu, I go straight for the box thinking those are the house specialties but really keep in mind that the box means that’s what the upscale items live. Audra: So more expensive items in box? Andrea: The box means more expensive, absolutely. Audra: Okay, and they know this because there are boxes all over the place on that menu, right? Andrea: That’s right. Audra: Okay, the other thing is the super size effect. What do you mean specifically by this when it comes to looking at things on the menu? Andrea: As your eyes scanning the menu, you'll see—look out for a plain Jane item like spaghetti and meatballs next to something more fully loaded like a Greek pizza. Menu marketers know what to do. What the experts start to do is to put sort of like the plain boring items next to like a more fully loaded dish, for a few bucks extra. Audra: To get you to buy which one more often though. Andrea: Exactly. They make the pretty girl, would give them prettier by putting the plain Jane next to it. Audra: That’s a good way to remember it too. Also, keep in the dollar signs off the menu. You notice there are a lot. A lot of restaurants are doing it. It seems like a kind of helps to soften the blow of the price of the item that you're looking for right? Andrea: Well that’s coming out of a study by Cornel University in the corner institute of America. They found that people will spend up to 8% more when you leave the dollar signs off the menu. So restaurants are really trying to get you to go in there and relax and forget about your wallet and order up a storm off that menu. Audra: More expensive restaurants are catching on to this too. They’re doing this all the time. Andrea: Oh yeah, they all know it. It's an industry. Menu design is an industry. You have to keep that in mind. Audra: Something else for us to remember now too. Okay, buzz words, there are certain words that you see in the menu and that definitely gets you to order it. Andrea: Buzz words are funny because what they like to do is they like to dress up plain ingredients like tomatoes become vine ripe and hand picked tomatoes. And just reading this menu description, you're like transported in Tuscany or something. SO, read through the hype. It's just plain ingredients. Audra: Okay, and newer items necessarily don’t mean that they’re— Andrea: Anew as a buzz word. Any excuse to charge a couple of bucks more, restaurants will do it. So new as a buzz word. Audra: Okay, all right good information that you guys have there. Thank you so much Andrea. Andrea: Thank you Audra. Audra: All right, if you guys want to find out what other ways that you might be fooled by your favorite restaurants, you can go to our website bettertv.com and click on the link.