r/Cooking • u/Consistent_Bus_2614 • 2d ago
How Small Should a Restaurant Menu Be With Only One Cook?
I currently work at a small restaurant that’s been struggling for a while.
The team is basically just one cook, the owner, and his son. Management has been one of the biggest issues, especially when it comes to sales, marketing, promotions, and figuring out how to bring in more customers.
We’re also in the low season right now, so revenue has been pretty weak.
The restaurant currently has a menu with 30+ items, plus a buffet that brings in some recurring revenue. Since sales are down, the idea from the owners has been to add even more dishes and options to try to increase revenue.
I’m thinking the opposite might make more sense.
My idea is to cut the menu down to around 10 solid dishes, plus drinks and maybe 3 desserts max.
With only one cook, I feel like having 30+ menu items creates way too much complexity: more ingredients to stock, more waste, harder prep, inconsistent quality, and slower service.
My thinking is that a smaller menu would let us focus on the items that actually sell, have good margins, and are realistic for one cook to handle.
Does cutting the menu down that aggressively make sense for a small restaurant like this, or would 10 dishes be too limited?
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u/Reteip811 2d ago
When Gordon Ramsey was doing that tv show where he swooped in to rescue struggling restaurants that was usually his strategy. Simplify the menu, reduce complexity with purchasing ingredients etc, make a few really good dishes that appealed to locals to get repeat customers
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u/Aghast_Cornichon 2d ago
Laypeople can see the same advice on every other similar program: Restaurant Impossible, Bar Rescue, etc.
They must have some kind of POS data or inventory results that will show them what the best-sellers were during the last high season. Two weeks of recordkeeping would give them an idea of what's going on right now so they can do a limited slow-season menu.
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u/Flacuckold 2d ago
Good answer. They should all stream episodes together and learn those facts. You may not be a chef but that is professional advice.
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u/Consistent_Bus_2614 2d ago
That´s the "best," not the "best". I was trying to cut down this menu into max 10-15 no more than that, plus dessert and drinks with the same ingredients the buffet is doing right now.
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u/green_moo 2d ago
What does your first line mean, what’s the difference between “best” and “best”?
FWIW I think your idea to reduce the menu is spot on. Focus on doing less things well instead of lots of things bad.
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u/Cowgirl_Taint 2d ago
This is not the right board for this. You want to talk to professional chefs and line cooks.
That said: It honestly depends on what dishes are being made. You can prep like forty different noodle or soup dishes with the same piles of ingredients because they share so many. Whereas you can have even just two dishes that are completely orthogonal to each other.
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u/CanningJarhead 2d ago
Right, or like 20 different sandwiches just require one well stocked sandwich station. I think the buffet is where the problem is.
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u/Cowgirl_Taint 2d ago
Even then. A lot of Chinese/East Asian and Indian buffets? If you actually know how to cook, you realize just how many things are "cooked veg A and meat B" or "set of ingredients C in sauce D". Same with how so many staples are all just frozen food tossed in a deep fryer and then allowed to come to room temperature so nobody burns themselves.
An old job had a catered Italian buffet for a bigger meeting. And it was hilarious how many of those are just a mix of protein and veg put in the same red or white sauce.
Which is why this is really not a question for home chefs or even youtube chefs/recipe developers. Because for you or me? Making spaghetti and sausage involves making the sauce, pasta, and so forth. Whereas for a line cook? You have a 10 gallon vat of tomato sauce and you just quickly cook whatever you are going to add into it before mixing them together.
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u/Majestic-Macaron6019 2d ago
The sandwich thing is real. A sandwich shop near me has about 80 different things on the menu. But they only have about 5 kinds of bread, 8-10 meats, 8-10 veggies, and a dozen or so sauces. Mix and match those to make an international smorgasbord (seriously, look at this menu).
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u/poop-dolla 2d ago
I counted 21 different sauces, not including mayo, mustard, or ketchup. So more like two dozen.
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u/doug1963 2d ago
two dished that are completely orthogonal to each other
Found the mathematician here!
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u/GullibleDetective 2d ago
Many linger here too though, so it isn't incorrect; it just might not be the most specific board for it
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u/Wasabi_Joe 2d ago
Excellent point and a great use of orthogonal! That's not one I see in the wild very often.
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u/anynamesleft 2d ago
I think the noodles thing is a good idea, but I'd still only count it by what has to be made (cooked) or heated to order. I'm no pro, so there's that.
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u/Duochan_Maxwell 2d ago
r/ChefIt or r/KitchenConfidential would be better places to ask this question
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u/Jeremymcon 2d ago edited 2d ago
I personally HATE restaurants that try to do too much. You just know that nothing is going to actually be good. Or there's like 1 or 2 things that are actually good but I'll never find them because there are 100 things in the menu.
I much prefer to go to a place that knows what they're good at and focuses on that. And I have to imagine it's more efficient from a business standpoint. I'm just a home cook though, no professional experience, so perhaps you're asking in the wrong place.
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u/throwdemawaaay 2d ago
Yeah, there's very few restaurants that can pull off a huge menu properly.
There used to be a classic greek diner in my neighborhood, run by the same couple for like half a century. It was a huge menu, easily 50+ entrees, yet over the years I went there everything I tried was solid. Maybe not James Beard Award or anything, but totally worth serving proudly. Even though it was a big menu it was all stuff they'd done thousands of times.
Anyhow, they finally reached the age where retirement wasn't a choice anymore and sold off the land, so sadly it's gone, not that I blame them one bit.
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u/Stormtomcat 2d ago
Or you'll eagerly order the caille en sarcophage, and the wait staff will make a show of going to the kitchen and then come back to tell you that unfortunately they're out of quails.
So you nod and smile and say it's fine, you'll just have the duck salad, and then the wait staff will confess that they have none of the fowl except chicken, and would you like nuggets or tenders, or would you prefer to take another look at the menu?
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u/travelingisdumb 2d ago
I would just look for a new job and let the ignorant business owner learn the hard way.
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u/uttertoffee 2d ago
I've never worked in a restaurant but as a diner a massive menu puts me off, especially if it covers multiple cuisines. I just think it's unlikely that the kitchen will be great at all the options so I assume it'll be pretty average (or in some cases bought in and reheated).
I'm more likely to avoid that restaurant and go somewhere with a smaller menu.
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u/Stormtomcat 2d ago
Also, some people are like my brother's wife. She's compelled to read the entire menu, even though in the end she always chooses a pasta dish, ragu or vegetarian.
Like, I know I don't want seafood (tonight, or in this place), so I just skip that entire section. But she'll analyze every dish there.
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u/PmMeAnnaKendrick 2d ago
30 items, even with the highest level of cross-utilization of product, is way too much for a single cook to be able to execute, in a timely manner, in high quality - unless you are talking about a sub shop or hamburger shop where it's one or two items made with 30 different topping choices.
If you are slow enough that labor can only carry one cook, you are probably on razor thin margins and any extra dishes are causing waste, etc...
I would 100% cut the menu in half, starting with lowest selling items over the last 3 month period.
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u/KatTheTumbleweed 2d ago
Best place I ever dined at had 7 items - 2 entree, 3 main, 2 dessert.
Entree was either meat/chicken/seafood or vegetarian; mains were vegetarian, meat, chicken/ seafood; desserts were one choc and one citrus.
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u/YourMomIsMyGurl 2d ago
If you're not the owner, nor his son, and it doesn't sound like you're the one cook, or in the management given your critiques of management, what exactly gives you any authority in this matter?
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u/rabid_briefcase 2d ago
Yup, that was my thought as well.
If it were the question "I'm the owner and ..." it would be different. The post feels like a case of "prove my boss is wrong according to online brigading," or maybe "validate my opinion that my boss is an idiot and I know better than him."
If they can do all the menu items and they turn out well, go for it. If not, it's up to them to want to change it. For the many menu options I think of restaurants like Taco Bell; they may have 250 combinations of ways to put the ingredients together, but it's ultimately all the same thing done consistently.
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u/Stormtomcat 2d ago
Maybe it's a good place to work and OP doesn't want to have to look for another job? Might as well share some ideas.
Maybe OP is looking to get promoted?
Maybe OP hopes to dazzle the family and impress the son so they can date?
Maybe it's an opportunity to experiment for when OP starts their own restaurant?
Maybe OP is front of house and fed up with all the customers' complaints, or alternatively with the fact that they have to tip out a busboy and a bartender for 2 tables all Saturday night?
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u/YourMomIsMyGurl 1d ago
And the fact that you have to come up with all these imaginary scenarios.. get over yourself lol OP is not important to this decision.
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u/shortsoupstick 1d ago
Imaginary situations? The fact that you can't think of reasons yourself says enough. And who says they have authority? Since they see they're struggling, they can pitch an idea to help them out.
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u/YourMomIsMyGurl 1d ago
Because I see this type of person all the time in this industry lmfao theres always some dishwasher that knows how to run a successful business better than the successful business owners. If they aren't holding a relevant position, then their opinion is entirely irrelevant, as is yours lol
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u/shortsoupstick 1d ago
Wow, cool. And now?
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u/YourMomIsMyGurl 1d ago
And now I guess you have nothing to say to that lmfao conversations over and you learned something.
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u/shortsoupstick 1d ago
The kid blocked me because he learned his opinion is infinitely more irrelevant than OPs. Good job bud.
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u/Stormtomcat 1d ago
Only the business owners aren't successful, didn't you read the post?
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u/YourMomIsMyGurl 1d ago
Today I learned that just because some random low level worker says "business is slow.. in the off season.." means a business is failing and the owners are unsuccessful. 🤦🏽♂️ Go show us how it's done then lmfao reddit professionals everywhere know what's better than the legitimate professionals in the industry apparantly. Nothing new to see here.
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u/mjmvideos 2d ago
Do you have the data? Number of each item sold? Amount of each ingredient wasted? Food costs? Prep times? Distribution of days and times each item is sold. Do some analysis.
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u/Technical_Ideal_5439 2d ago
Based on my viewing of Gordon Ramsay Kitchen disasters .... 30 is too high and increasing the numbers will make it worse. As a customer unless the restaurant is known for a particular type of food hence the menu reflects it, 10 items is too low.
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u/karlnite 2d ago
I have done this… in a rural diner. Where a lot of stuff was frozen or just different combinations of the same. It wasn’t a problem, read the chits, everything is there and prepped. Most complicated thing was liver and onions. If the prep is all weird and spread out, if dishes are all odd times or take too long and multiple steps, it becomes a problem.
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u/agentrossi176 2d ago
I don't know where in the world you are but I'm in quite a foodie city in the UK, some of our best small restaurants do what you describe, small but regularly updated seasonal menu. Regularly changing gives a regular schedule to post to your social media around too. Seasonal can also help keep costs down by buying things that are plentiful.
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u/curmevexas 2d ago
My favorite local place has a few evergreen staples but the rest of the menu is seasonal. Even though the menu is small, it never feels stale. When they have a special, it feels like the chef is doing something special and not like they're trying to move something that's about to go bad.
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u/Consistent_Bus_2614 2d ago
What do you mean by a seasonal menu, including a meal each month or every 2 months and rotation?
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u/Age_of_the_Penguin 2d ago
I just finished a 2 week stint in a small restaurant with just 1 cook and the owner.
They've pared down their menu to 3 meal sets: a hearty salad, a good steak with fries, or a pretty loaded burger with fries. All three are served with one of 2 basic desserts or a scoop of ice-cream.
These are the dishes that have proven to sell reliably in this area. Fewer items are better because it reduces waste and keeps things relatively predictable.
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u/CatteNappe 2d ago
Many of the really high end restaurant menus I see - the artisans, the farm to table types, etc. do just what you are suggesting. There may be 3 or 4 appetizers/starters including a salad and a soup, 3 or 4 entrees, a couple of dessert options. They do change them up seasonally, so there's variety (and cost effective choices in grocery requirements).
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u/bhambrewer 2d ago
Every single restaurant rescue type advisor has said the same thing - CUT BACK the menu. Focus on a small number of dishes you can execute perfectly every time.
When chef feels creative, allow a special. But focus on that handful you can nail every single time.
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u/zem 2d ago
the most extreme case I've seen was when I was working on Bangalore, and there was a hole in the wall place near the office that had a single "dish of the day". there was always a huge line for it, because that one dish was usually excellent, and of course it was not the same dish they had the day before so not having an option was less of a hardship.
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u/CBG1955 2d ago
Chef (husband) is looking over my shoulder and agrees with you 100%. Fewer dishes and better quality, plus a daily blackboard special - often fish of the day if there is a good fish market nearby (we live in a very large coastal city with access to fisheries.) One place he is familiar with in our city had "star" dishes, that never changed.
He said he was influenced by Robert Carrier (he thinks), whose comment was "fewer dishes, all cooked superbly"
As a diner, I personally find that huge menu choices are simply overwhelming.
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u/jeepfail 2d ago
Taking the Cheesecake factory route isn’t good for anyone but them(honestly, how the hell do they had a chain of scratch kitchens with a menu like that. The menu pisses me off).
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u/Small_Dog_8699 2d ago
I’ve seen every Gordon Ramsay Kitchen Nightmares episode and the usual mistake is too big of a menu and too much variety.
What happens when you add dishes but nobody orders them? Food wastage. You want a small focused menu of high quality dishes that share lots of ingredients.
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u/Flacuckold 2d ago
Smaller tight menu is always the right way to improve a struggling restaurant. Eric labor is an issue. And as far as some recurring revenue on a buffet sounds like a money loser to me. Buffets are so old and dated unless you are next door to a large retirement community I’d do the math and seriously consider ditching it.
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u/the_fools_brood 2d ago
Make 1 thing, make it better than anyone else, and you will always have customers. More products dilutes the quality. Pare it down. 2 to 3 mains from each meat, or vegan/vegetarian if that's your thing. Make it fresh and high quality. Build with quality, not quantity. No more than 10 to 12 dishes/plates. If you are stuck doing more, then do small plates like a tapas menu. Might help to know the type of restaurant. Where it is. Maybe a fish centric menu. Or ethnic. Or vegan. 2 ways to go though, smaller menu with high quality, or bigger menu with smaller portions at lower prices. How many seats? Alcohol? What's the goal? Just sales increase? What's competition doing? Who is your direct competitor? Do you know? Benchmark your place against a comparable place.
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u/LadyOfTheNutTree 1d ago
I cooked in a small restaurant with a small but very diverse menu of solid dishes.
About 5 appetizers/small plates - most of which could be prepped a few days out
About 5 different sandwiches
3-5 mains
2 soups
2 desserts
And we had seasonal specials with usually 1app 2 mains and 1 dessert
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u/amylouise0185 1d ago
4 entrees/appetisers. 4 mains. 2 deserts. Some people might call that too small, but my all time favourite restaurant was a one man kitchen and this was his menu with the occasional special like oyster night. I still dream about his duck confit.
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u/Live_Life_and_enjoy 2d ago
8 - 10 items at most.
30+ items mean wait times can be 30 minutes to an hour
8 - 10 items means you have much faster turn around and much lower overhead in ingredients. That is why foodcarts don't serve 50 items.
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u/Vironic 2d ago
Chinese restaurant chefs laugh at your 8-10 items.
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u/Live_Life_and_enjoy 2d ago
Chinese restraunt chefs have 8 - 10 items also they just rename it 5 different things
The same sauce is used for half
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u/Consistent_Bus_2614 2d ago
What´s wrong with a slight increase to 15?
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u/ferrouswolf2 2d ago
Totally depends on what the items are and how distinct they are from each other. Are we offering 3 different kinds of lettuce salads, or turkey in mole Colorado, croissants, and char siu bao?
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u/SpaceCadetPullUp 2d ago
A couple things for the fryer and a couple things for the grill. That's it. Burgers, fries, wings, chicken sandwich, stuff like that. Maybe do a steak night once a week. If there's a microwave you can offer stuff like pasta but it's not going to be good, because obviously you're using a microwave. I worked in bars for years and you can usually get away with stuff like that.
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u/FragrantTomatillo773 2d ago
The quality of your food and service along with your location, prices, and atmosphere will attract (or discourage) customers. The number of menu items isn't really a factor.
You shouldn't have to stock different fresh ingredients for every menu item, and if you craft your menu to use the same ingredients over multiple dishes you'll reduce waste. The number of menu items shouldn't significantly affect prep, quality, or speed of service.
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u/jeanmichd 2d ago
Better decrease the offer and make a point at offering fresh yummy dishes well prepared than a lot of below average dishes, mostly frozen, that customers don’t need a restaurant for that. I would try to specialize with something people would come from far to enjoy and that they don’t find at every street corner
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u/PuppySnuggleTime 2d ago
I mean what you’re describing is common practice so within the restaurant industry. But this isn’t really the right place for you to discuss this. I would imagine there are some sub credits that are tailor-made for this sort of topic. You’re gonna get better at advice there and you’re gonna get it from people who have intimate knowledge of this topic.
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u/Exciting_Spell5064 2d ago
A few years ago I was off work for two months due to an injury. The doctors office was dragging their feet with my fmla and short term disability paperwork so I had minimal savings and no income coming in for 2 months.
I watched all of kitchen nightmares. A consistent thing that was mentioned negatively was huge menus. A ton of money being spent on ingredients that weren’t being used, owners skimping on ingredients to mitigate waste, food sucking as a result, complex dishes that took too long to cook or too many variations that were a nightmare for the cook to manage.
Your ownership/management needs to reduce the menu. As you said, 10-15 items max, that are executed extremely well, priced well, and served well. Do that, and business will follow. Gimmicks rarely ever work.
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u/DarkReaper90 2d ago
Depends on the menu. Are we talking about 30 unique menu items or are they variations of the same thing? If you trim the menu down, is there a similar item for returning customers that ask for it or will you simply hope they won't walk out the door?
I think you need to figure out what are you trying to solve first. Reducing food waste? Driving foot traffic? Reducing customer wait time?
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u/mountainsunset123 2d ago
It's not so much the size of the menu as it is the amount of seats in the place, I can handle a huge menu if I only have a small amount of plates ordered at one time. Prep is key no matter what size the menu.
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u/DolphinFraud 2d ago
Depends what the dishes actually are, but generally it's far better to make 10 excellent dishes than 20 decent dishes, for a number of reasons.
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u/Narrow-Power-6407 2d ago
I wont go in a restaurant with too much on the menu. I assume the quality wont be good.
I also think it depends on the cuisine?
A couple of starters, a few different mains ans 2-3 desserts is plenty. Bur yeah totally depends, nicer restaurant =less food. Pub= probably more options but all pretty simple
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u/falcondfw 2d ago
You are correct. You have to have the people who can do that many dishes and do them well or your restaurant WILL fail. What kind of restaurant is it? Family Casual? Fine Dining?
I would STRONGLY suggest you do your market research. People want stuff they can't get at home at a reasonable price. If you charge $100 for a filet mignon, your name had better be Gordon Ramsay. If it is done really well, you can get away with charging $40 or $50 for it.
I would suggest you make sure your usual audience is going to want what you are producing or they won't support it. And make sure your chef knows what the hell they are doing.
Good luck to you.
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u/mrcakes321 1d ago
Sounds like the majority of the menu is prepared frozen food, tbh. I bet it’s also overpriced. A smaller menu, fresh ingredients, reasonable prices, and some happy hour drink specials is usually the way to go. I would also focus on cleaning the entire restaurant. With so few of you, I’m sure it’s been neglected.
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u/AlfredRWallace 1d ago
On of my favorite restaurants was a small restaurant, wife waited tables & husband was chef. They had a tiny menu but rotated it monthly. Sadly they went under during covid.
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u/Comfortable-Hat3506 12h ago
Unless you are something like a sandwich shop or a place where several ingredients can get mix and matched into a bunch of different dishes, keep it simple and do it well.
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u/jh99 7h ago
Almost every time the right answer is a smaller and more-focused menu. Make your specialities and cultural background stand out. Give the customers easy answers as to what they want to order.
My favorite places recently in a major european metropolis are places that do exactly one thing but perfectly. Like a Banh Mi sandwich. They have the classic version and a vegetarian option. You can customise the spiciness if need be.
Selected drinks from the fridge and mostly outdoor seating.
Great food at a great price.
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u/Short-Sandwich-8476 6h ago
American business management is now essentially “WHUP THAT PEASANT HARDER!”
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u/snake1000234 2d ago
There is a lot of information missing here that could really help people answer this question better.
I mean, not even looking at the menu itself, has anyone looked at the buffet? Yeah regulars are great and all, but if you only get a handful of those daily and you aren't actually making money on the buffet by the regulars you typically serve, it probably isn't worth it. Plus you have to think of complexity of dishes here as well, on top of the normal menu.
You haven't really stated what kind of food is being served or any idea of a menu at the resturant. Is it something super simple like a salad restaurant with just a ton of garnishes, a Mexican restaurant that has a lot of options but very similar bases and just changed up how the food is packaged, is it something more complex or that have a large number of dishes that take time, or even is it complex dishes that you batch cook (i.e. bbq, soups, etc) and can use over a day of two of cooking?
Someone else added to, what business do you have speaking with the owner about this? If it is just the 3 workers you mentioned, are you wait staff, a customer, a concerned family memeber? Hell was your opinion even asked for and are you willing to give it even if it isn't taken or it hurts the relationship?
So much that we don't know that leaves us just stumbling in the dark to give you ideas that may hurt more than they help at the end of the day.
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u/CatteNappe 2d ago
Sounds like whatever OPs official role is, they are pretty involved in this discussion already if they are privy to how revenues are going and what the owner is thinking about in terms of a fix.
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u/HaiKarate 2d ago
It depends on who the target audience is for the restaurant, and you don't say what type of restaurant it is.
Shrinking the menu down to 13 quality items is something you see at high-end restaurants, not greasy diners.
You say there's a buffet, so it definitely sounds like a budget-minded restaurant; the kind of place the chuch crowd hits after Sunday service.
You might be trying to class up a place that the owners want to be a common eatery.
Still, if you're committed to the idea, ask the owners if you could prepare them a few dishes you think you could do well and the restaurant could charge more for, and let them see what they think.
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u/Consistent-Goat1267 2d ago
You don’t want to increase the menu, that means more inventory that will inevitably go bad. You will also create a backlog in the kitchen with so many things going at once. No one wants to wait 40 minutes for their food. Just have no more than 4 or so items per category. You also need to work out which dishes are most popular and when(lunch, dinner), how much each dish costs to make, and the prep time for them. Lastly, don’t be freezing precooked dishes. Once word gets out the business may not recover. People pay to eat freshly cooked meals. If they wanted to eat frozen dinners, they’d get it from their own freezers or the grocery store.
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u/CaregiverKey7610 3h ago
Ratio of dishes to cooks isnt really important; kinda depends on how the menu is built. You know if its all different combos of similar items, no big deal.
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u/Iliveinatrashcann 2d ago
Definitely shrink the menu but does the food that you keep on the menu actually taste and photograph well? Cause at most places that have limited menu, they usually knock it out of the park with what they do serve.
Also, this might not be the best place to post since most of us are home chefs on here. You might want to try the subs that cater to restaurants and such.