That telltale fall chill is in the air, and restaurants everywhere are switching up their menus and seasonal specials for the comfort foods and sweet treats we know and love, like apple pie, turkey dinners, and more. You, too, can revamp your restaurant menu for the fall season using a few quick design tricks.
Done right, it’ll only take a short while to redo your menu and give it a seasonal facelift that delights new customers, yet remains familiar enough to keep your regulars satisfied.
Redo the Design!
Switch up your menu’s design or format! Take a look at the fonts you use and switch them out for letters with a spookier aesthetic. Or consider changing how your items are listed on the menu’s sheets. Get creative and remember that redoing the design of your menu is just the start.
Pumpkins, Scarecrows, and Witches, Oh My!
Decorations make the holidays and the season, so have fun pasting pictures of pumpkins, witches, brooms, or any other fall iconography you can think of all across your menu’s blank spaces. If you aren’t doing a menu for a really fancy restaurant, any white space or empty areas are perfect spots for decals or graphics that can do wonders for getting your customers in the fall mood.
Nothing says “fall menu” like a big turkey on your menu’s front!
Orange, Yellow, and Black
Speaking of fall symbols, everyone knows that this season’s color palette is dominated by orange, yellow, black, and brown to a lesser extent. Do yourself and your menu a favor and switch up the colors of your restaurant in favor of these hues.
For example, is your restaurant menu’s current background plain white? Shift that to a golden brown and get people thinking about golden brown gravy, apple pie, and other fall favorites with a simple color swap. It’s cost-effective and feels more drastic than it actually is.
Seasonal Offerings Up Front
Lots of restaurants offer special seasonal twists on favorite foods or menu items. For example, maybe you can switch out your restaurant’s key lime pie for pumpkin pie or apple pie! Or maybe you have a Thanksgiving dinner special for folks who want to share this upcoming holiday with you and your work family.
In any case, be sure to announce those seasonal menu items by placing them front and center on the first page or front of your menu. Add a few highlighting graphic elements or pictures to direct attention to the items you want to get people to try!
If you’ve got a bunch of new offerings for your customers and want to drive traffic throughout the fall season, consider announcing the new menu choices with restaurant posters expertly designed using tools like PosterMyWall, which offers thousands of different templates perfect for customizing your eatery’s unique aesthetic.
New Names for Classic Favorites
Does your restaurant have a few favorite items that your core customers keep coming back to again and again? You can keep those items – after all, it’s better not to drive your core customers away! But give them new names in keeping with the fall season.
Maybe you’ve got a turkey sandwich that your customers just love for lunch. In that case, why not name it something fancier than “Turkey Club”? How about “Fall Favorites – Gobble Gobble Sando” or something similar?
Name changes can do a lot to keep your menu feeling fresh and inventive even if you don’t add a ton of new items or switch anything up at all!
Ultimately, revamping your restaurant menu for the fall season will help you satisfy your main customers and draw new people to your diner all the way ‘till Christmastime.
