Tips for Restaurant Menu Consistency

Pork Loin Tapas image by healthy1chef

When planning your restaurant, you probably already have a menu in mind. You aren't going into business without a plan. What will set your restaurant apart from your competition? Let's help you today with restaurant menu consistency - a downfall of many restaurants so that you won't become another statistic of a failed restaurant.

 Menu Consistency is paramount and we'll share tips to keep customers coming back for more week after week, month after month and year after year. This pork loin dish above would not be as possible if every part of the dish wasn't the same each time, from the main pork entree to the accompanying sauce to the amount of greens to the tomato and parsley garnish and even the classic white dinner entree bowl. We chose the Syracuse Cascade pattern if you want to take a look and decide if it would make your own menu items stand out.  Find your own commercial grade beautiful white dinnerware that best suits your restaurant.


     Each dish, time and time again needs to have the flavor profile and appear the same. That is accomplished by having a standardized recipe and a solid training program so that everyone working there knows what's in the dish, how it should look, how it should smell and most importantly, how it tastes.  Customers will know immediately that you changed the type of onion you used, forgot to add a certain spice or your garnished it differently and they don't like it!

     Practice makes perfect recipes. When any one ingredient is missing from a recipe, the whole dish will taste differently. This will hurt your return customers from coming back - they came for the dish they loved and you or someone on your team changed it. You'll have to be absolutely sure that each of your chef's can and will stay true to your menu and not veer from it. Give them their own independence by allowing them to create a nightly special - one that's not on the menu but, one they can also consistently create.

     The ordering process needs to be consistent for the right menu. Once you found a product you can trust and also know that you and your staff like it, it's important to continue to order it. Or, you can try to duplicate the product with another company. That's why we show you top of the line products that will work in your business to give you awesome recipes on your road to a successful restaurant. 

     For example, here's a very versatile product that you can use in the front and back of the house that will assist you in maintaining consistent menu items.

Shown above is Minors Culinary Cream a versatile product for menu consistency

          :  Minor's Culinary Cream has a long shelf life, it's Kosher, it's Vegan, you can freeze it and you can use it in soups, sauces, roasts, desserts and drinks. Extend the volume with water, chicken or vegetable stock. One pound will create about 40 oz similar to Half and Half or heavy cream making it cost effective and useful in the bar area for cocktails. Not all restaurants use this amazing product so it helps you with unique menu items that others can't or won't duplicate.

     Minor's culinary cream is our go-to product in Crab Bisque, Alfredo sauce, Buerre Blanc and any other cream soups or sauces on the menu. It's a much lighter product than heavy whipping cream so it's also perfect for making your own ice cream and other delicious desserts. Plus heavy whipping cream is not as concentrated so in the long run, is more expensive than Minors culinary cream. In all my years of cooking, there's never been another product that can replace it for me and my menu items. I hope you'll try it in your own restaurant and let me know what you think. I'll bet you'll love it.

     New hires should be given a test before they can work behind the line or on the dining floor to ensure that the dish can be created and recreated time and time again. Part of the new hire training process in your restaurant must include all employees spending at least one full day in the kitchen assisting and observing the prepping process as well as the cooking process. This ensures a better understanding from your staff of the detail that occurs with each dish and helps them to explain it better to customers with first hand knowledge.  Failure to do so results in a loss of profit, customers and customer satisfaction. Your business will then be struggling to the point of closure or bankruptcy or both. That's one of the key reasons that my business is successful and with such a long run of success.

   We hope you'll take a look at your menu, listen to your staff and customers. Taste each  dish for yourself and determine what changes you need to make to stay true to your menu.  Stay in business for the long haul and offer a consistent menu. Thank you for continuing to read and follow successful restaurant tips. We appreciate you and welcome your comments or questions. Donate if you've been helped by our writings.