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Eric Bui
Allison Bocchino
Writing 2
11 December 2019
When people see the word genre, the first thing that comes to mind is literature or film.
Common examples of genre in literature/film are romance, comedy, horror, action, etc. These are
our stereotypes of the word “genre”. Those examples are, in fact, genres. However, there is a
much broader spectrum of what can be identified as a genre. Look no further than your local
McDonalds or cozy breakfast cafe, and you’ll find a perfect example of a genre the moment you
walk in. Menus display the various types of food items that are offered in restaurants all across
the world. The way the menus are presented vary with each restaurant you go to and the food
itself will certainly vary depending on the kind of restaurant it is. Nevertheless, they all share the
common exigence of informing the audience of what food the restaurant has to offer. Although
they all share the overarching purpose of generating profit for the restaurant, each menu is
specially produced in order to successfully reach that goal in their own unique way through the
Menus can vary depending on the restaurant it is produced from. A fast food restaurant
with its main menu item being burgers may have simple paper fold out menus. In many cases,
there may not be a menu you can hold in your hand, but rather a menu on a screen. A unique
example of this is from the drive in restaurant Sonic. Sonic is an old fashioned drive-in restaurant
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where you park, order, and eat all in the same place. The menus are screens that are lined up
along each parking space, allowing the driver to order through a microphone attached to the
menu. What sets this menu apart from most others is its form. Sonic produces its menus and style
of ordering in this specific way due to the fact that the restaurant has a different exigence in
mind: customer convenience. This unique style allows customers to easily examine the options
available, order their food from their parking spot, and have their food delivered directly to the
car. A second example of unique menu structure can be seen at sushi restaurants. Sushi
restaurant menus typically list the types of sushi and rolls the restaurant has to offer. However,
the ordering menu and system have a distinct form that sets sushi restaurants apart from other
restaurants. The customer is given an “ordering menu”, which is a slip of paper listing all the
sushi options available with empty boxes next to each option. The customer orders by
checkmarking each box, indicating which type of sushi they want. This system of ordering is
divided into rounds, typically three. In contrast to the menu and ordering system of Sonic
restaurants being produced with customer convenience in mind; the production of menus and
system of ordering at sushi restaurants is done with more focus towards employee convenience.
Making sushi is a delicate process and many would consider it a form of culinary art. Therefore,
producing a menu in which customers order by rounds using simple pencil markings makes the
process much more simple for all parties, especially cooks. The exigence of the menu plays a
crucial role in the production of its form and vice versa. Another example of a unique type of
menu form is McDonalds’ new digital menus. At newer high-tech McDonald’s restaurants, there
are digital screens that allow access to McDonalds’ entire menu. Through this, a customer can
now explore the entire menu digitally and order and pay through the same machine. With this,
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physical menus need no longer exist and the jobs of cashiers in some places become void. This
form of menu is produced with the company’s best interests in mind as well as customer
convenience. With the production of these machines, McDonalds can hire less employees and as
a result, reduce their payroll. This exigence goes parallel with their purpose: save money while
also making more money. The form of a menu is specifically produced in order to reflect the
While the form of a menu plays a crucial role in exemplifying the extent of a restaurant
menu’s unique characteristics, the visual aesthetic regarding the contents within the menu itself
greatly contributes to the menu’s special qualities as well. Take sushi restaurants for instance.
When dining at a sushi restaurant, the ordering menu typically comes with a counterpart picture
menu that provides images of all the items. Many people order sushi not just by the ingredients
listed, but by image as well. The pictures of sushi appeals to the audience’s visual sense,
prompting them to order whatever looks appetizing. As a result, the picture menu plays a huge
role in the ordering process as well. Another example that showcases the importance of visuals is
seen from Sonic once again. As with most fast food restaurants, each food item is listed with its
price, a picture, and details of its ingredients. In many cases, the image is altered to be more
appealing to the customers. The sight of visually appealing food will automatically incite hunger
simply due to human nature, therefore encouraging customers to buy the food. The images
within menus draws in customers and encourages them to purchase food items based on how
visually pleasing it may look, successfully fulfilling the purpose of informing the audience of
In addition to the visual aspects, the language component within menus play their own
role in providing information to customers as well as drawing their attention. McDonalds has
created an array of menu items that consists of the word “Mac” or the short prefix “Mc” in their
name. These short, yet catchy additions to the names of their items such as ‘Big Mac” or
“Chicken McNuggets” allow customers to remember them more easily. If customers remember
the names of certain items more than others, it’ll have a positive effect on the amount of times
the customer may order from that restaurant. Further evidence of the impact of language in
menus can be seen in Sonic’s menu as well. The menu includes information on deals Sonic has
such as a “Happy Hour”, where certain items are only 99 cents. This promotion on the menu is
another way to attract customers since food will be cheaper during select hours. Language in
menus can also be used to emphasize certain health facts regarding certain food items. This can
be seen from the menu of The Habit Burger Grill. The menu states that their burgers are made
with “100% fresh ground beef” and that they only use “100% trans-fat free vegetable oil”.1
These statements provide information to customers regarding the health quality of their
ingredients while at the same time, encouraging them to dine at their restaurant due to their
supposed high level of health. With the use of language from menus, customers are informed of
certain deals, promotions, or advertisements that draw their attention to the restaurant. The use of
catchy phrases and easily remembered names add to the restaurant’s long lasting impression on
the customer as well, helping the restaurant successfully achieve their overall purpose of gaining
profit.
1
"The Menu Charburgers." The Menu Charburgers | Habit Burger. https://www.habitburger.com/charburger/.
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Menus are an integral component to the function and success of a restaurant. According
to her article “Navigating Genres”, Kerry Dirk references Amy Devitt, a professor specializing in
the study of genre theory as saying, “Genres have the power to help or hurt human interaction, to
ease communication or to deceive…”2 With this, one has to keep in mind the constraints of the
genre. Every restaurant has the constant constraint of the ingredients they have in stock or the
ingredients required to produce their food item. Sonic has a unique problem when it comes to
constraints as there is only a certain capacity of cars they can have at the menus. Once the
restaurant is at capacity, the menus cannot be accessed and the ordering of food will be halted. It
is clear that the unique “drive-in” aspect of Sonic restaurants affects the production of its menu
and provides a special form of the genre of “restaurant menus” as well. In contrast, one can look
towards sushi restaurants in order to observe a different type of constraint. The unique
constraints of sushi menus is that it allows the customer to order a maximum of three rounds of
sushi. Evidently, the delicate process of sushi making plays a big role in how the menu is
produced as it must correspond with the most effective system for ordering sushi and creating it,
therefore giving reason for the three round constraint. Lastly, when examining McDonalds’
restaurants, one can recognize the constraints of the high-tech menus to be internal software.
If the ordering machine malfunctions or has a glitch, it can no longer be of use until repairs are
made. Once this happens, traditional cashiers and menus are once again of use. As successful as
these menus are in fulfilling their purpose through their specific form and function, it is
important to consider the constraints and how they affect this genre.
2
Kerry Dirk. “Navigating Genres” Writing 2: Academic Writing (2019): 1-8
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All restaurant menus share the same basic exigence and all restaurants share the same
purpose: inform customers of their products and make money. Take into consideration three very
different menus from Sonic, sushi restaurants, and McDonalds. Each of these menus is produced
in a very specific way that pertains to the function of the restaurant. The form and function will
always remain parallel to each other; and these menus, although containing wildly different
forms, all fall under the same genre. Genres are characteristic, recurring responses containing
written or spoken language that address certain situations.3 A restaurant menu responds to the
need of a customer, consistently informing them of what the restaurant has to offer. As no two
restaurants are one in the same, the form, visual aesthetic, and language of the menu will vary.
However, these unique qualities are what allow each restaurant menu to successfully fulfill their
3
Lisa Bickmore, “Genre in the Wild: Understanding Genre Within Rhetorical (Eco)systems,” Press Books, Open
English, @SLCC
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Bibliography
Bickmore, Lisa. “GENRE in the WILD: Understanding Genre Within Rhetorical (Eco)Systems.”
Dirk, Kerry. “Navigating Genres” Writing 2: Academic Writing (2019): 1-8
https://www.habitburger.com/charburger/.