Putting together a perfect menu for your coffee shop or cafe can take a lot of trial and error. You’ll want to ensure you offer your customers everything they might want, whether they’re popping in for a cup of coffee or want to wile away a whole afternoon with food and drinks. If you’re looking for cafe menu ideas but don’t know where to start, don’t worry. We’re here to help.
This article provides a comprehensive list of cafe menu ideas to help you revamp your coffee shop menu, attract new customers, and improve your profit margins. Let’s take a look.
Before we look at specific cafe menu ideas you can implement in your coffee shop, it’s a good idea to consider the type of cafe you run.
Do you only serve hot drinks, or do you offer a broader range of beverages and food?
Do you serve food all day, or does your kitchen close after breakfast?
Does your cafe cater to remote workers, or will you have a no-laptop policy?
These are the types of questions you’ll need to answer before you can design the perfect menu. If you’re opening a new cafe, research your target market and consider what would work best in your location. Decide on a concept, and plan your menu around it.
For example, cafes in a city center might attract more customers if they offer a good Wi-Fi connection and plenty of sockets. You can attract digital workers who might spend all day buying food and drinks in your cafe.
This can be an effective way for cafe owners to increase their revenue, but you’ll need to ensure you have a broad enough menu to keep customers in all day. Hot drinks aren’t going to be enough, so you’ll want to also serve breakfast, lunch, and snacks.
With a clear cafe concept, you can start to consider cafe menu ideas and build the perfect offerings for your target customer.
A comprehensive hot drinks menu is the bread and butter of any cafe. Your hot drinks offering should be available all day and include:
Espresso
Americano
Latte
Cappuccino
Macchiato
Cortado
Pour-over or filter coffee
A range of teas and infusions
Most cafes also serve a range of cold drinks all day. In fact, approximately 60% of all beverages sold by Starbucks are cold. So you could be missing out on a massive chunk of income if you don’t have an extensive cold drinks menu.
You can sell pre-made beverages like sodas, bottles of water, and other soft drinks. If you have blenders and juicers, you can also serve blended iced coffees, freshly pressed juices, and smoothies.
While it’s possible to succeed as a cafe by serving only drinks, most also serve a range of food items. It’s an easy way to prevent your customers from leaving when they get peckish — and it doesn’t have to involve a full-sized kitchen.
If you don’t have the scope to offer a full menu, consider serving sweet menu items, such as:
Cupcakes
Cinnamon rolls
Chocolate chip cookies
Banana bread
Cheesecake
Fruit tarts
You could also serve small, easy-to-produce savory items, like sandwiches, slices of quiche, soups, or hummus with veggie sticks. With a sandwich press and a microwave behind your counter, you can provide hot food like this without needing a commercial kitchen or a full-time chef. Your baristas can simply warm and serve the food to your customers.
If you already have a chef and a larger kitchen space, you can flex your creative muscles and turn your coffee shop into a popular breakfast and lunch spot. Cafe menu ideas for larger kitchens include full breakfast and lunch options — or you could combine this into an all-day brunch menu — split into appetizers, entrees, and desserts.
Once you decide what food and drink items you’ll serve in your cafe or coffee shop, it’s time to start designing an aesthetically pleasing menu. Menu design can have a sizable impact on which items sell well, so it’s worth taking your time with this. You can find high-quality menu templates online, but hiring a graphic designer might be a good option if you’re a novice.
Most cafes list their beverage options on menu boards behind the counter to make it easy for customers to see what’s available. This is particularly important if you plan to offer coffee to-go, as these customers are more likely to be in a rush and won’t want to spend time perusing a printed menu.
List the drinks clearly and divide them into sections — hot drinks, cold drinks, fresh juices, etc. Don’t forget to list the prices on your menu boards, too.
Customers coming for a sit-down drink and a bite to eat might prefer to look at a printed coffee shop menu, so ensure you have these on hand.
List every food and drink item you sell, with prices clearly visible. Remember to highlight items suitable for diners with special dietary requirements — adding symbols to vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free dishes makes it easier for customers to see what they can order.
By following basic menu engineering techniques, you could boost your sales of particular items. Use boxes or different fonts to draw attention to high-profit dishes or beverages. You can also include a box to showcase your add-ons, such as:
Add an extra shot of espresso
Make it decaf
Choose a milk alternative
Pick a syrup
Design your menu so that it’s easy for customers to read, with a simple description for each dish or drink. A well-written menu means you’ll need to answer fewer questions about what’s on offer.
In addition to printed menus, it’s a good idea to put an online version on your website. Potential customers looking for a cafe in your area can see your offerings before they come — if it’s well-written, this will tempt them to visit!
You can also share links to your online menu on your social media channels, which is an easy way to market your food business to new customers.
If you run a busy cafe, it could also be a good idea to set up self-service devices. Self-ordering kiosks let customers place and pay for their own orders. Guests simply tap through your menu on a tablet screen to see the menu.
KioskBuddy makes it easy to set up your menu, as you can import it directly from your Square Item Library. You can even customize the style of your kiosk to match your cafe branding, meaning your self-service menu can be as sleek and appealing as your printed version.
Thinking of cafe menu ideas for your coffee shop or tea room isn’t always easy. However, with a bit of market research and a clear idea of your options, you can design the perfect menu to attract customers and keep them satisfied at any time of day.
Self-service menus are a fantastic option for busy cafes. Customers can place their orders on a tablet and pay directly at the kiosk using a Square Kiosk hardware mount, freeing up your staff to make delicious drinks, serve tasty food, and provide top-quality customer service.
Sign up for KioskBuddy today and get a 30-day free trial.