Operational Concerns of Menu Makeovers

Many casual-theme restaurants, sports bars and quick-service restaurants have what is called a "static menu," a menu that does not change from day to day.

Fast-food restaurants, until recently, have had the classic "static limited" menu. It allowed for greater efficiencies forecasting quantities to purchase and prepare, employees became very adept in preparing the menu items, and costs could be contained and controlled through proven standards.

These advantages accrue to any restaurant with a static menu. However, today's menus are a far cry from the limited menus of the past. All one has to do is look at the menus for the top hamburger, pizza, chicken, sandwich and Mexican chains to see that "limited" and "static" no longer apply to their menus. Having a limited menu may make cost controls easier but it has one major drawback: Customers may become bored with the menu choices and reduce their visits to the restaurant.

Subsequently, all foodservice operations are expanding their menus and introducing new items as much as four to six times per year to maintain their market share and attract new customers to their operation. Even when seemingly moderate changes are made to a menu -- just a "nip and a tuck" -- a litany of operational aspects must be reviewed.