Restaurant menu design from your dish list to a print-ready menu
A menu is a sales tool: layout, order and descriptions change what people order. Send your todo.is agent your dish list (a spreadsheet, a photo of your old menu, or plain text) and it writes short appetizing descriptions, groups and orders the sections, and designs a print menu with every price exactly as you set it.
The prompt
- Design a menu for [RESTAURANT NAME], a [TYPE OF RESTAURANT]. Dishes and prices: [DISH LIST]. Style: [STYLE AND COLOURS]. Size: [MENU FORMAT]. Write a one-line description for each dish (ingredients, no clichés), mark [DIETARY LABELS], and lay it out so the most profitable dishes sit top right of each section. Prices without currency signs, aligned right after the description, not in a column. Add all text as real type so dishes and prices are exact. Deliver a print-ready PDF with 3 mm bleed, a PNG preview, and a single-column mobile PDF for a QR code on the tables.
What to change
- [RESTAURANT NAME]: E.g. "Olea Kitchen".
- [TYPE OF RESTAURANT]: E.g. "Mediterranean bistro", "taco bar", "neighbourhood café with brunch".
- [DISH LIST]: Paste dishes with prices, or attach a spreadsheet or a photo of your current menu.
- [STYLE AND COLOURS]: E.g. "rustic, olive green and cream, hand-drawn olive branch", "modern black and white".
- [MENU FORMAT]: E.g. "single A4 page", "A3 folded to A4", "tall 4 x 11 in card", "chalkboard-style A2 poster".
- [DIETARY LABELS]: E.g. "V (vegetarian), VG (vegan), GF (gluten-free)". Your agent adds a key at the bottom.
Example result
- Menu for Olea Kitchen
- Mediterranean bistro · rustic olive green #5B6B3A and cream · single A4 page, two columns
- To share
- Whipped feta honey, thyme, warm pita 9 · V
- Grilled halloumi lemon, mint, pomegranate 10 · V GF
- Crispy calamari smoked paprika aioli 12
- Mezze board for two hummus, baba ganoush, olives, pickles, flatbread 22 · V
- Mains
- Lamb kofta charred flatbread, tahini, herb salad 21
- Whole roasted sea bream salsa verde, crushed potatoes 26 · GF
- Slow-cooked chickpea stew spinach, preserved lemon, rice 16 · VG GF
- Chicken souvlaki garlic yogurt, tomato, fries 19
- Desserts
- Orange and almond cake mascarpone 8 · V GF
- Baklava pistachio, rose syrup 7 · V
- V vegetarian · VG vegan · GF gluten-free · Please tell us about any allergies
- Layout choices
- • The mezze board (high margin) is boxed at the top right of the sharing section, where eyes land first
- • Prices follow each description in the same font, with no currency signs and no dotted leader lines, so guests read dishes before cost
- • Five or fewer items per section to keep choices easy
- • A hand-drawn olive branch in the header, lots of cream space, 11 pt body text for dim lighting
- Files delivered
- • olea_kitchen_menu_a4.pdf: print-ready, 3 mm bleed
- • olea_kitchen_menu_preview.png
- • olea_kitchen_menu_mobile.pdf: one column, large text, for a QR code on the tables
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and add your restaurant, dish list and prices (or attach your old menu), style and format.
- Paste it in todo.is or send it to your agent; a phone photo of a printed menu works too.
- Review the dish descriptions and the PDF, and check every price.
- Next time prices change, just send the new prices and ask for an updated PDF in the same design.
Tips for a better result
- Keep each section to 5 to 7 dishes. Long lists slow down ordering and make guests pick the safe option.
- Drop currency signs and dotted price lines. Menus that keep prices quiet tend to steer attention to the food.
- Check your local rules on allergen information. Many places require you to tell guests about the major allergens.
- Ask for a matching drinks menu, a specials insert and a table tent with the QR code.
restaurant menu design: FAQ
- What size should a restaurant menu be? A single A4 or US letter page suits small menus. A3 folded to A4, or a tall 4 x 11 in card, suits larger menus and drinks lists.
- Where should I put the most profitable dishes? Diners often look first at the top right of a page and the top of each section. Put high-margin dishes there and box or highlight one per section.
- Can I turn a photo of my old menu into a new design? Yes. Attach the photo and your agent reads the dishes and prices with OCR or by reading the image. Check the extracted prices before printing.
- Can I get a QR code menu? Yes. Ask for the mobile PDF and a QR code that links to it. You can host the PDF on your website, or ask your agent to publish a simple menu page with a public link.
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