If you want to increase revenue at your Mexican restaurant, you might want to start with your menu. Your menu has more control over what customers order than you might think. A well-developed menu can encourage customers to order specific items, add items to their meal, and spend more during their visit.
Let’s look at a few ways to update your Mexican restaurant menu to direct customers to order items that can increase revenue.
#1) Highlight high-margin menu items.
When customers visit a restaurant, they can get overwhelmed by their menu choices.
Highlighted menu items can catch their eye and make it easier for them to decide what they want, and it can provide benefits for your business.
When you update your Mexican restaurant menu, review each section and choose a few “house specials” or favorite items that have high margins for your business. Feature those menu items in a call-out box or with a special notation that indicates they are a best seller or customer favorite.
Highlighting your best items also increases the chances of serving customers a good dish and creating a positive experience so they return. And, call-outs can also help with restaurant inventory management. If you know that certain items will be ordered more often than others, you can stock up on those ingredients so you are prepared. Less food will go to waste because you can better predict what customers want.
#2) Add photos of food to your menus.
There is an adage in the food industry that the eyes eat first. By adding images of food items to your menu, you can entice customers to try specific items before they even read what they are.
At Mexican restaurants, your customers may take longer to read your menu if they don’t quickly recognize all of your listed menu items. Including images on your Mexican restaurant menu adds clarity. You can reduce confusion with a picture of the menu item near the text.
If you don’t have room on a print menu, you don’t need to add photos of every menu item. Instead, choose a few key dishes that customers would enjoy. Consider adding photos to your featured menu items that have high margins to give customers another reason to order those items.
#3) Promote your add-ons and upsells.
To increase revenue in your Mexican restaurant, encourage customers to order more than a main dish. Use your menu as a way to drive add-ons and upsells. Even getting a customer to order a soda instead of a water can increase your profit margin on a ticket.
Follow these steps to update your Mexican restaurant menu to drive more upsells and add-ons.
- Highlight a few featured appetizers, side dishes, desserts, and drinks (that have high-profit margins) to get customers to take notice of your add-on options.
- Create combo meals that offer a discount when customers order a meal along with a drink, appetizer, or dessert.
- Place add-ons near the main courses of your menu. Avoid burying them at the bottom or on the back page. You want your customers to start thinking about dessert before they even order their main dish.
PRO TIP: If you operate a quick-service restaurant near office buildings, consider creating a lunch combo menu and offering online ordering so customers can grab and go or get their lunch delivered directly to their office.
#4) Upgrade to digital menus.
If you really want to elevate your Mexican restaurant menu, you can incorporate technology that better serves your guests and your team. Offer ordering options through a digital touchscreen menu.
You can provide digital touchscreen menus to customers at their table or through free-standing self-ordering kiosks. You can also arm your servers with tablets that guide customers through their orders. Your restaurant can get a variety of benefits by offering digital menu options.
- Feature high-margin menu items.
- Allow customers to see photos of all menu items.
- Program your menu to prompt customers to add appetizers, drinks, and desserts.
- Sync menus with kitchen displays for fast food prep.
- Connect menus with your inventory management to remove items when ingredients are low.
If you want to add digital menus to your restaurant, see how Lavu’s Mexican restaurant POS can make it simple to add on tableside or free-standing ordering kiosks.
Update Your Mexican Restaurant Menu (& POS)
If it’s time to update your Mexican restaurant menu, see how Lavu can help.
Our solutions are designed by restaurant people for restaurant people. We know what it takes to run a restaurant so we’ve equipped our solutions with everything you need to manage a successful restaurant.
Our restaurant POS has more than 200 features, including tools specifically designed for Mexican restaurants. Along with tracking inventory and sales, you can send orders in Spanish or English directly to the kitchen. You can change your menu as often as you need and easily set up a kiosk program for customer self-ordering.
Schedule a demo to see how Lavu can help you update your menu and ordering systems. Or, learn more about what it takes to craft a revenue-driving menu by downloading our free eBook, How to Create a Successful Restaurant Menu.
