My restaurant is in the early stages of development, and here's a rough draft of my menu. It's not finished, but I wanted you guys to help me out with it. It's primarily going to be a burger joint so I'm going to be adding a lots of new burgers as I remember them all lmao. Tell me what you guys think. What sounds good? What sounds bad? Prices too high? Too low? I haven't looked into ingredient prices yet so my prices aren't set in stone yet, will probably change.

I've been working in restaurants for almost a decade, picked up lots of things and everything on my menu I know how to make, and know how to make it quickly.


Appetizers

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks - $2.99 - A serving of 6 hot and fresh mozzarella cheese sticks, served with a side of marinara sauce.

Wings - Nice meaty wings tossed in the sauce of your choosing. Mild, Hot, BBQ, Honey-BBQ, or Plain.
Comes with either ranch or blu cheese.
6 Wings - $4.99 12 Wings - $8.50

Cheese Fries - $3.50 - A platter of our waffle fries covered in hot and melty nacho cheese.
Make it bacon cheese fries for 50¢ more!
Served with a side of sour cream.

Breaded Mushrooms - $2.99 - Deep fried breaded mushrooms served with a side of marinara sauce.

Onion Rings - $2.99 - A larger portion of onion rings


Salads

Customize as you wish! Add and remove anything.

Side Salad - $2.99 - Small bowl of lettuce with green peppers, onions, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, croutons, and mozzarella cheese.

House Salad - $4.99 - A larger portion of the side salad.

Club Salad - $6.50 - Bowl of lettuce topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, croutons, bacon pieces, and grilled chicken strips.


Baskets - $4.99 ea

Each basket comes with a side of waffle fries or onion rings and a drink

(3) Chicken Finger Basket
Popcorn Shrimp Basket
Popcorn Chicken Basket


Subs
6in - $3.99 12in - $5.99

Make it a meal!
Add a side and a drink for $2 more.

Add ons: Green peppers, onions, mushrooms, bacon pieces, lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard ,mayonnaise

Steak n' Cheese - A hot steak sub topped with melted provolone cheese.

Pizza Steak - A hot steak sub topped with marinara sauce and melted mozzarella cheese.

Chicken Parmesan - A hot sub filled with sliced chicken breast which is topped with marinara sauce and then melted mozzarella cheese.

Meatball Sub - A hot sub stuffed with our homemade meatballs, then soaked in marinara sauce and topped with melted mozzarella cheese.

Cold Subs

Turkey
Ham


Burgers

All burgers are served with one side and a drink. Add an additional side for for 75¢ more. They all come with the listed toppings, and a side plate with lettuce, tomato, and pickles. Must ask for additional condiments and toppings. Additional charges may apply.

Available condiments and toppings for burgers - free - Ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish, onions (raw or caramelized), A1 Steak Sauce

Premium Toppings - 75¢ - Bacon, fried onions, mushrooms, jalapeños

Classic Hamburger - $4.99 - This good ol' American classic is hand made from 100% fresh never frozen ground beef.

Cheese Burger - $5.50 - Same as the above hamburger, but topped with your choice of cheese (American, mozzarella, provolone).

Pizza Burger - $5.99 - A classic combination of a delicious hamburger, mozzarella cheese, and topped with marinara sauce.
Spice it up! Add jalapeños for only 75¢!

1/4lb Stuffed Cheeseburger - $6.99 - A 1/4lb burger filled with the gooey melty cheese of your choice (American, mozzarella, provolone), and topped with guess what? More cheese! Stuff it with bacon pieces too for 75¢ extra!

1/4lb Stuffed Mushroomburger - $7.25 - A 1/4lb burger stuffed with the melty gooey cheese of your choice (American, mozzarella, provolone) and mushrooms! Stuff it with bacon pieces too for 75¢ extra!


Sides - $1.99

Hand cut Old Bay fries, waffle fries, onion rings


Dinners - $10.00

Dinners include your choice of entree, a side salad, fresh garlic bread, and a drink.

Spaghetti - Spaghetti noodles topped with your choice of sauce: Meatless sauce, meat sauce, or sauce with meatballs.

Lasagna - Meaty lasagna filled with ricotta cheese and covered with marinara sauce and topped with melted mozzarella cheese.

Chicken Parmesan - A sliced up grilled chicken breast covered in marinara sauce and topped with melted mozzarella cheese.



As said before it's not finished, need more sides, burgers and what not.

the prices seem pretty good imo.

maybe add some new flavors for the wings like:

honey mustard
spicy garlic
cajun (cajun seasoning over your hot sauce)
spicy bbq (a different option of bbq other than your mild bbq)
teryaki
ect.. (you can always find more flavor options)

you can offer crispy fried wings or oven baked as well.

people love boneless wings as well. (same flavor options or dry with choice of dip)

cheese fries should have toppings of choice (tomatoes, green onions, jalapenos, ect..)

the burgers look good. you can add a double patty burger and a grilled chicken burger.

you can add a turkey burger and a veggie burger too.

don't forget to add a kids menu

smaller portion of chicken strips with a side of fries or fruit.
smaller burgers/side
kids sized versions of your adult sized pastas
mac and cheese
ect..

create your own pasta
choose the noodle/ sauce/ (add a meat and/or topping to the pasta for an up-charge.)

these are just some ideas that i've seen in different restaurants i've worked in. GL! the menu looks pretty good so far.

Good ideas, I'll see what I can cook up (pun intended).

But your name gave me a great idea. Why not wraps too lmao.

@

far too many menu items
focus on a shorter menu and on items you can make/finish in a short time
you can always extend the menu later but have a short menu and perhaps one or two specials of the day
(the latter will allow you to determine what might be worth adding to the menu once you are established)
no comment on prices because i doubt i live in your area

questions you have to ask yourself, is the focus:
- lunch trade
-dinner trade
-take away
or combination of two or all of those
and what is your location? businesses (lunch) or nightspots (dinner)

Need some spicy food for those heat fanatics like me

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Keep them coming. I'll post a new topic with an updated menu within the next week.

Oh and to answer Wraps one question.

I want to open around 11 to be ready for lunch, then close around 10pm till I figure out a better time.

Not going to be a sit down and a waiter comes to you place. You walk to the counter and order, then we bring it out. To go orders/call in orders too.

it doesnt really feel like a burger joint to me. your dinners give me the cheap italian feel. not that it's bad.

maybe add chicken sandwiches + chicken tenders, and +1 for boneless wings / daily specials

curiously, how early are you talking about when you say it's early in development? have you already gotten a loan, picked out a place, etc?

This post was edited by carteblanche on Jul 27 2013 10:43pm

Looking at locations. Gotta get menu and presentation together before I got in for a loan. I have a few people backing me and a couple friends diving into this with me. It's still my baby though, they're basically going to be my first employees.

Like I said menu is still in the works. Some items will come, some will go.

Keep it coming.

what city/state/province/etc are you in? one thing i dont see are drinks. you usually get a high markup from them. milkshakes/smoothies/sodas should be a staple. if you are near asians, you should go for bubble tea also.

cant comment on prices without knowing the area. they can vary greatly depending on where you are.

whats there so far looks pretty good, if rather standard. i dont know your area, so maybe theres nothing that has this stuff already, but if there is, you need something to stand out. like some themed burgers like asian or mexiacan or something. something other than just the basics.

also, like someone else said, the menu is too big, youre trying to do too much. forget about the eggplant parm and other stuff. its a burger place, not an italian place. the tendency is to want to have 'something for everyone' so that in case say a group/family wants to go out and someone int eh group doesnt like burgers theyll still come. theres some value to that, have a few items that arent burgers on the menu, but dont go overboard. if you want to make a burger place, make a burger place - and do them really well.