Types of Menus

Menus also be categorized by type. Three basic types of menus are breakfast lunch
and dinner menus-menus designed around the three traditional meal periods. There are
also a large number of specialty menus designed to appeal to a specific guest group or
meet a specific marketing need. The types of menus a food senice operation offers wil
depend on the number of it serves and the type of meals operation it is. Many
operations have a separate breakfast menu because they have a cut-off time for serving
breakfast. Combining lunch and dinner menus is a common practice. Whether or offer
specialty menus depends on the opera not to tion and its clientele. An upscale
restaurant may feel that a separate wine or dessert list adds to its image, for or
example.
Breakfast
Breakast menus are fairly standard. Most restaurants offer fruits. juices. eg cereals,
pancakes, waffles, and breakfast meats like bacon and sausage. Sometimes regional
specialties, like in southern states, are offered.
The watchwords for breakfast menu items are simple, fast, and expensive.
Guests are more price-conscious at breakfast than at other meals. Guests are also
likely to be in a hurry to get to work or make some other appointment, so they want to
be served right away. To keep prices down and make quick service possible, most
breakfast menus are relatively limited, offering only the essential breakfast menu items.
Lunch
Like breakfast guests, lunch guests are usually in a hurry, Therefore, lunch menus must
also feature menu items that are relatively easy and quick to make. Sandwiches, soups,
and salads are important in many lunch menus.
Lunch menus must have variety; many guests eat lunch at the same restaurant
several times a week because it is located close to where they work. To provide variety,
most lunch menus offer specials every day. These specials can be printed on a
seperate piece of paper and clipped onto the lunch menu. Or a cycle be menu can be

used to provide variety, in which case the entire menu will change daily for a certain
number of days. Lunch menu items are usually lighter than dinner menu items, because
most guests do not want to feel filled up and sleepy during the afternoon.
Lunch menus are also less elaborate than dinner menus as a rule. If appetizers
are offered at lunch, they are simpler to make and fewer in number. Lunch menus
usually include desserts, and some include a list of alcoholic beverages.
Dinner
Dinner is the main meal of the day for most people, and menu items offered at dinner
are heavier in character and more elaborate than those offered at breakfast or lunch.
Dinner is more likely to be eaten in a leisurely fashion than breakfast or lunch because
guests are often seeking a dining experience or celebrating a special occasion dinner.
Guests are willing to pay more for dinner than for lunch, but they also expect a
greater selection of menu items and place a greater premium on service, atmosphere,
and decor. Therefore, dinner menus usually offer a wide variety of selections. Steaks,
roasts, chicken, seafood, and pasta dishes like lasagna and linguine are typical dinner
entres. Wines, cocktails, and exotic desserts are more likely to be on a dinner menu
than on a lunch menu.
Specialty
There is a wide range of special menus, from poolside menus to menus or afternoon
teas. Some of the most common specialty menus are:

Children's Senior citizens'

Alcoholic beverage
Dessert
Room service
Take-out
Banquet
Caifornia
Ethnic

Children's. Children's menus do not necessarily have to blend in with the

restaurant's theme or decor; the most important thing is to make sure the menu is
entertaining(see Exhibit 6.4). The goal is to occcupy the child long enough for the
Parents(and other guests) to eat in peace. Children's menus can be shaped like
robots, animals, or rocket ships. Many children's menus feature bright colors,
cartoons, pop-up designs, or black and white drawings that the child can color.
Menus that fold into hats, masks, or other toys are good for small children, puzzles,
word games, stories, and mazes can work for older children.
The food offered on children's menus should be simple and nutrious. Portions
should be on the small side and prices should be modest.
Tassels, staples, or other potentially dangerous material that can be removed
and swallowed should never be part of a children's menu.
Senior Citizens'. The graying of America means that menus that appeal to the
special wants and needs of senior citizens will become more important in the future.
Such menus can be separate menus or separate sections of regular menus. More
commonly, menu items that meet the needs of seniors are placed throughout the
regular menu.
Many seniors have dietary prescriptions or recommendations from their doctors.
Most revolve around weight control, diabetes, cardiovascular problems or
precautions, and gastrointestinal disorders. Other seniors are just more conscious of
the need to eat properly.
Seniors watching their weight and diabetic seniors need simple non-rich simple,
entres, and desserts. A piece of fresh fruit served stylishly can allow a diabetic to
enjoy dessert with others at the table.
Many seniors on sodium-restricted diets are on "no added salt" diet. As
mentioned in Chapter 5, with this diet it is okay to use salt lightly when cooking, but
no salt should be added to the food when it reaches table. Many good-tasting menu
items can be prepared to meet this diet simply by omitting sodium-rich condiments

and avoiding sodium-rich foods. Providing information on the sodium content of

menu items can also help seniors on sodium-restricted diets.
Because of major advances in medicine, the diets of ulcer sufferers can be more
mainstream" than ever before. Many seniors with ulcers find that they have only
minor limitations in choosing foods. Noting ingredients when items are described on
the menu can help seniors make appropriate selections.
Alcoholic Beverage. Cocktails and wines can be listed on a separate menu or
included on the regular menu. If included on the regular menu, the drink list should
come before the food selections so guests desiring a drink before ordering their
meal will have the necessary information. Operations that offer separate alcoholic
beverage menus can have separate cocktail menus and wine lists, or can combine
cocktails and wines on one menu. Separate beverage menus can be used in the
lounge as well as in the dining room.
Food service operations should list alcoholic beverages in large, readable type,
with brand names and prices included. Today many beverage menus include noalcohol or low-alcohol drinks creatively named and described to help promote their
sale.
Dessert. At the end of the meal, most guests cannot recall the dessert items they
saw listed on the main menu. Food servers at some operations use dessert trays to
remind guests of desserts. Some operations have a separate dessert menu so that
food servers have something they can give to guests at the end of the meal to
remind them of the desserts that are available.
There are many advantages to having a separate dessert menu:

You can offer more desserts.

There is more room for bold graphics and descriptive copy.
You can devote a portion of the menu to dessert specials.
If dessert prices change, you don't have to go to the trouble and expense
of reprinting the main menu.

The types of desserts offered vary with the type of operation.Some elegant
restaurants feature flaming desserts prepared tableside; many family restaurants offer
cake and ice cream; even some fast-food restaurants now offer such simple dessert
items as ice cream, pies, and cookies. Upscale restaurants often include after-dinner
wines, cordials, brandies, and liqueurs on the dessert menu.
Room Service. Some hotels offer room service to guests. With a few exceptions, such
as the room service menus found at luxurious hotels like The Ritz-Carlton, room service
menus offer a limited number of menu items. They may offer items menus from the
hotel's regular menu or feature items that are not on the regular menu.
Most room service menus are limited because it is difficult to offer high-quality
food that does deteriorate during transport from the production area to the guestroom,
suite, or cabin. This is a problem in every lodging operation but especially in high-rise
hotels where service staff must contend with elevators, and in resort-type properties
where food servers must use a vehicle to transport the food to the guest.
One type of room service menu is the "doorknob" breakfast menu. A doorknob
menu lists a limited number of breakfast items and times that the meal can be served.
Guests select what they want to eat and the time they want the food delivered, then
hang the menu outside the door on the doorknob. The menus are collected and the
orders are prepared and sent to the rooms at the indicated times. are prepared and sent
to the rooms at the indicated time.
Take-out. Some tableservice restaurants offer take-out menus in an effort to capture
consumer dollars that otherwise might be spent at fast-food establishments or on
convenience foods in supermarkets.
Like room service menus, take-out menus should be made up of items that can
maintain an acceptable level of quality over a long period of time. Guests won't be
satisfied unless the food they bought still looks and tastes good when they consume it.
Take-out menus should be inexpensive to produce since guests take them home.
Some operations use their take-out menus as direct mail advertising pieces.

As noted in Chapter 1, some restaurants have installed fax machines in an effort

to attract take-out business from busy executives. Home delivery services are another
trend. Catering services are also becoming increasingly popular, according to some
observes.
Banquet. Hotel food and beverage operations and restaurants that do extensive
banquet business often develop pre-set banquet menus in varying price ranges from
which guests may choose. They can also plan custom banquet menus when guests
request them.
The pricing style for banquet menus is usually table d'hote-a set meal with few if
any choices offered at set price. The meal tends to be elaborate, with appetizers. soups
or salads, and fancy desserts served along with the entre and its accompaniments.
Managers who plan banquet menus must be careful to select food that can be
produced in quantity and still hold its quality.
California. Some restaurants offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu items on one
menu, with all the items available at any time of the day: if a guest wants spaghetti for
breakfast or pancakes for dinner, the guest can order it. This concept originated in
California, so this type of menu has come to be called a California menu. Obviously, an
operation that has no restrictions about when it will serve breakfast, lunch, or dinner
items also gives the production and scheduling convenience such restrictions provide.
Ethnic. Ethnic menus are offered by restaurants that seek to appeal to guests who like
a particular cuisine. Restaurants that feature Italian, Chinese, or Mexican food are
familiar ethnic restaurants. Ethnic restaurants that are not as familiar to most Americans
include those offering Japanese, Polynesian, Scandinavian, Korean, Indian, and Thai
cuisines.
An ethnic menu should feature a wide variety of dishes from the particular
country or area. The names of the dishes should be in the original language and
translated into English. The main ingredients of the dish should also be listed. How
authentic should the menu items be? If most of the restaurant's guests are first-

generation Americans of the ethnic background the menu seeks to appeal to then the
dishes should closely follow traditional recipes. However, if most of the clientele are
second- and third-generation Americans and Americans from other ethnic backgrounds,
the recipes can be "Americanized- i.e, spices can be milder, some ingredients may be
eliminated,etc.
DCH
Hu ht cc thc n trong dch v phng b gii hn bi rt kh khn cung
cp thc phm cht lng cao m khng b xu i trong khi vn chuyn t ni ch bin
n cc phng, suite, hoc cabin. y l mt vn trong mi hot ng kinh doanh
lu tr nhng c bit l ti cc khch sn cao tng, ni nhn vin phc v phi ng
u vi kh khn l thang my, v trong loi hnh kinh doanh khu ngh dng nhn vin
phc v lun phi s dng phng tin vn chuyn thc n cho khch.
Mt loi menu na trong dch v phng l menu ba sng trn tay nm ca .
Mt menu trn tay nm ca lit k mt s lng mn n hn ch ca cc ba n sng
v thi gian cc ba n c th c phc v. Du khch chn nhng g h mun n v
thi gian h mun phc v, sau treo menu bn ngoi ca vo tay nm ca. Cc
menu c ly i v cc n t hng c chun b v gi n phng vo thi gian
c ch nh.
Thc n lm sn mang i. Mt s nh hng cung cp bn n cng a ra cc
menu thc n mang i n lc kim thm tin ca ngi tiu dng m nu khng c
cc menu ny th khch ca h cng s tin vo cc c s thc n nhanh hoc siu
th tin li.
Cng ging nh cc menu trong dch v phng, thc n mang i nn c lm
t cc thc phm c th duy tr cht lng mc chp nhn trong mt thi gian di.
Du khch s khng hi lng nu nh thc n h mua c v khng ngon hay trng khng
p khi h thng thc n.
Nh ni Chng 1, mt s nh hng ci t my fax n lc kinh
doanh thc n mang i bng vic thu ht cc nhn vin vn phng bn rn. Dch v

giao hng tn ni l mt xu hng mi. Theo mt s quan st th dch v n ung cng

ang tr nn ngy cng ph bin.
Tic. Hot ng m thc ti khch sn v cc nh hng kinh doanh tic ln
thng thit lp sn cc menu tic, dao ng nhiu mc gi khc nhau t khch
hng c th la chn. H cng c th ty chnh k hoch thc n tic khi khch c
yu cu.
Cc kiu nh gi cho menu tic thng l menu trn gi, chn mn hn ch v
c 1 mc gi c nh. Cc ba n c xu hng phc tp, vi cc mn khai v sp hoc
x lch, v mn trng ming a thch c phc v cng vi cc mn n nh dng sau
mn chnh v cc mn n km .
Nhng ngi qun l ln k hoch thc n tic phi ht sc cn thn la chn
thc phm c th sn xut ra nhiu nhng vn gi nguyn v cht lng.
California. Mt s nh hng cung cp cc mn n sng, n tra, n ti trn cng
mt menu, vi tt c cc mn n c sn ti bt k thi gian no trong ngy: nu khch
mun spaghetti cho ba n sng hoc bnh rn cho ba n ti, khch c th t n.
Khi nim ny c ngun gc California, v th loi thc n ny c gi l thc n
California. R rng, mt hot ng m khng c hn ch khi phc v mn n sng, n
tra, n ti cng s kh cho vic sn xut v lp k hoch tin li v c nhng s hn
ch mang li i loi trn.
Dn tc. Thc n mn n cc dn tc c cung cp bi cc nh hng m tm
cch thu ht khch du lch thch cc mn n c bit. Nh hng c trng v m thc
, Trung Quc, Mexico l nhng nh hng dn tc quen thuc. Nh hng dn tc
khng quen thuc vi hu ht ngi M bao gm cc mn n Nht Bn, Polynesian,
Scandinavia, Hn Quc, n , v Thi.
Thc n dn tc c trng l mt lot cc mn n n t cc quc gia hoc
khu vc khc nhau. Tn ca cc mn n thng ngn ng gc hoc c dch sang
ting Anh. Cc thnh phn chnh ca mn n cng s c lit k. Lm th no xc
thc nn cc mc trnh n c? Nu hu ht khch ca nh hng l ngi M th

h u th thu ht cn c cc mn n bm st cng thc nu n truyn thng. Tuy

nhin, nu hu ht cc khch hng u l ngi M th h th hai v th ba hoc
ngi M nhp c t nhng dn tc khc th cc cng thc nu n c th c "M
ha" - tc l, cc loi gia v c th nh du hn, khng gt v mt s thnh phn c th
c loi b, vv.