4 ms·

The other mistake is a menu the size of a phone book. Choice breeds paralysis. And it also drives up food costs.

dsr_ 9y ago
Counter-example: Cheesecake Factory famously has phone-book menus, but if you look carefully, you'll discover the same thirty-five ingredients* arranged in a thousand* combinations. *: No, I didn't count.
- icebraining 9y ago
  Similar thing in our local Indian/Nepalese restaurant. 100+ choices based on the various combinations of ingredients.
- hvidgaard 9y ago
  If you can make it work without driving up the inventory cost, then fair enough. But it's still annoying to have to go through 4 pages just to see the entire menu. I want 4-5 different plates or so to choose between for the main course. If the restaurant is any good, I'll be fine with a Fish, Cow, Chicken, Vegetarian dish, and the chef can make what is fitting for the season and current availability of produce. Some of the best meals I've had there wasn't even a choice. I really don't go to restaurants to research the difference between 4 similar but not identical dishes. I want to pay someone to know how to make a really good meal, and make it perfectly for me.
  - marak830 9y ago
    As a chef, these are the sort of preferences we in general have as well. My current menu is 4 entrees, 4 mains and 4 desserts(lunch changes weekly), same for dinner. The slight variations we have are gastronomic menu (a small portion of each dish), a plates menu (set courses) or a standard pick what you want to order and pay for a full sized your probably useto. Edit to add: This is so that we can concentrate on the meal. Each section only creates 8 actual dishes(for lunch), 4 are off the dinner menu and are quite rare to see ordered (due to cost difference from lunch), but those 4 lunch menu items I can spend a lot of time focusing on. Yes I might send 50-100 meals in one service, but if they are the same 4, I can create something of very high quality and consistent across the entire service.
gadders 9y ago
>> The other mistake is a menu the size of a phone book. Choice breeds paralysis. And it also drives up food costs. When you watch Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares, slimming down the menu is typically one of the first things he does.

dsr_ 9y ago

Counter-example: Cheesecake Factory famously has phone-book menus, but if you look carefully, you'll discover the same thirty-five ingredients* arranged in a thousand* combinations. *: No, I didn't count.

icebraining 9y ago
Similar thing in our local Indian/Nepalese restaurant. 100+ choices based on the various combinations of ingredients.
hvidgaard 9y ago
If you can make it work without driving up the inventory cost, then fair enough. But it's still annoying to have to go through 4 pages just to see the entire menu. I want 4-5 different plates or so to choose between for the main course. If the restaurant is any good, I'll be fine with a Fish, Cow, Chicken, Vegetarian dish, and the chef can make what is fitting for the season and current availability of produce. Some of the best meals I've had there wasn't even a choice. I really don't go to restaurants to research the difference between 4 similar but not identical dishes. I want to pay someone to know how to make a really good meal, and make it perfectly for me.
- marak830 9y ago
  As a chef, these are the sort of preferences we in general have as well. My current menu is 4 entrees, 4 mains and 4 desserts(lunch changes weekly), same for dinner. The slight variations we have are gastronomic menu (a small portion of each dish), a plates menu (set courses) or a standard pick what you want to order and pay for a full sized your probably useto. Edit to add: This is so that we can concentrate on the meal. Each section only creates 8 actual dishes(for lunch), 4 are off the dinner menu and are quite rare to see ordered (due to cost difference from lunch), but those 4 lunch menu items I can spend a lot of time focusing on. Yes I might send 50-100 meals in one service, but if they are the same 4, I can create something of very high quality and consistent across the entire service.

gadders 9y ago

>> The other mistake is a menu the size of a phone book. Choice breeds paralysis. And it also drives up food costs. When you watch Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares, slimming down the menu is typically one of the first things he does.