The Golden Triangle Trap
Your eyes aren’t just wandering randomly when you look at a restaurant menu. They follow a predictable pattern that menu engineers have studied extensively. Psychologists fittingly call these three areas “The Golden Triangle,” and it refers to the way our eyes tend to move when first looking at a menu. When we look at a restaurant’s menu, our eyes typically move to the middle first before traveling to the top right corner and then, finally, to the top left. This has been dubbed the ‘Golden Triangle’ by menu engineers, and these three areas are where you’ll find the dishes with the highest profit margins.
Restaurants strategically place their most expensive and profitable items in these prime spots, knowing that customers are likely to order one of the first items they notice on the menu. Since guests typically spend around 2 minutes looking at a menu, it must be designed for guests to easily find key items. When you’re scanning a menu, make a conscious effort to read the entire section instead of just focusing on what catches your eye first. The best deals might be hiding in the middle or bottom of each category.
Price Anchoring Deception
This technique is called “price anchoring” and serves as a frame of reference for customers when making their decisions. For example, if you see a $32 steak on a menu next to a $22 chicken dish, the latter will appear to be a good value for money even though it might not be the cheapest option overall. This psychological trick manipulates your perception of what’s reasonable to spend.
The decoy effect is about creating the perception of value. Here’s an example: If there are two bottles of wine on a menu for £19 and £29, most people would choose the cheaper one. However, if this list now has a £45 bottle on it, most of the time people will go for the £29 one. The perceived value of the £29 bottle has now changed. That middle-priced option suddenly seems like the smart choice, when in reality it’s still more than you initially intended to spend.
The Vanishing Dollar Sign
One of the most effective tricks restaurants use is removing currency symbols from their menus. One trend is for restaurants to remove currency signs from their menus, which can result in people spending significantly more. Currency indicators subconsciously remind diners that they’re spending money and can even make them feel like they are spending more than they are. This is why savvy venues use a common restaurant psychology trick and soften the price by eliminating the pound/dollar sign completely.
The Cornell study showed guests tend to spend more when prices are displayed as a single, whole number. Listing prices in the same font and size as other menu text. When you see “15” instead of “$15,” your brain processes it differently. The absence of that dollar sign removes the psychological reminder that you’re parting with real money, making it easier to order without considering the financial impact.
Hidden Pricing Psychology
“Nested” pricing, or listing the price discretely after the meal description in the same size font, so your eyes just glide right over it. Successful restaurants use nested pricing, where the price is discreetly after each meal description in the same font. This makes your eyes glide right over the price instead of focusing on it. The goal is to minimize price shock and keep your attention focused on the enticing food descriptions rather than the cost.
Beware if menu prices are written out in letters instead of figures as this tactic has been shown to can increase spending. When prices are spelled out as “twenty-five dollars” instead of “$25,” your brain processes the information differently, making the price seem less significant. This subtle manipulation can lead you to spend more without realizing it.
Sensory Language Overload
Words like “crispy,” “juicy,” or “velvety” activate our senses and make us more likely to order a dish. It’s a technique that engages our imagination and whets our appetite before we’ve even seen the food. Adjectives like “line-caught,” “farm-raised,” or “locally-sourced” are big turn-ons for customers. “These things all help increase perception of quality of the item,” Allen says.
Descriptive menu labels lead to customers feeling more satisfied with their meals, and appetising descriptions can also offset a high price. In fact, research shows that adding an enticing description to a menu item can significantly increase sales. This often includes using inviting adjectives, like ‘line-caught’ or ‘sun-dried’, that will feed the imagination and get you to order more expensive items. Being aware of this emotional manipulation can help you focus on what you actually want rather than what sounds most appealing.
Menu Length Manipulation
The best menus account for the psychological theory known as the “paradox of choice,” which says that the more options we have, the more anxiety we feel. Seven options per food category, tops (seven appetizers, seven entrees, etc.). “When we include over seven items, a guest will be overwhelmed and confused, and when they get confused they’ll typically default to an item they’ve had before,” says menu engineer Gregg Rapp.
This limited selection isn’t accidental. Restaurants know that when you’re overwhelmed with choices, you’re more likely to pick something familiar or expensive that seems “safe.” The psychological stress of too many options makes you vulnerable to their strategic placement of high-profit items. When faced with a shorter menu, take your time to consider all options rather than rushing to choose.
Visual Design Tricks
Another trick is to create space around high-profit items by putting them in boxes or otherwise separating them from the rest of the options. “When you put in a pocket of negative space, you pull the eye there,” writes Allen. “Putting negative space around an item can call attention to it and help you sell it.” Use graphics and colors. Guide the attention of your guests toward your high-profit items with a graphic, shaded box, or border.
Colors play a psychological role too. But did you know that bright colors, like red, yellow, and orange, have been shown to trigger appetite? Incorporating these colors into your menu could encourage hungry guests to order appetizers before their entrees, for example. Understanding these visual cues can help you resist the urge to order items simply because they stand out on the page.
The Nostalgia Trap
We all have that one meal that takes us back to childhood. Restaurants know this tendency, and they use it to their advantage. “Alluding to past time periods can trigger happy memories of family, tradition, and nationalism,” one study says. Menu descriptions like “Grandma’s Famous Apple Pie” or “Old-Fashioned Meatloaf” aren’t just cute names – they’re carefully crafted to trigger emotional responses.
Another trick is to use nostalgia in your description. It’s a powerful driver when it comes to diners. For example, try Aunt Mabel’s Renowned Fried Chicken instead of simply friend chicken. This makes diners feel like they’re ordering something really special – a blast from the past that is worth the money. When you see these emotionally charged descriptions, pause and ask yourself if you’re ordering based on genuine preference or manufactured nostalgia.
Scarcity and Urgency Tactics
Scarcity and exclusivity in descriptions can drive demand for certain items. Phrases like “while supplies last” or “chef’s special” create a sense of urgency and uniqueness that can make a dish irresistible. Also, offering a special section for the chef’s recommendations can guide customers towards specific dishes. The psychological trick here is to create a perception of quality and exclusivity, making those items more appealing.
This artificial scarcity creates what behavioral economists call “loss aversion” – the fear that you’ll miss out on something special. Restaurants know that marking items as “limited time only” or “market price” makes you feel like you need to act quickly, often leading to impulsive decisions that cost more than you planned to spend.
The Order Position Strategy
We subconsciously order the top two items in each menu section more often, so restaurant owners tend to list their highest-margin dishes first. However, some people tend to pick the bottom option, so the last item in each section is usually a restaurant’s third most cost-effective dish. In each section, place your most profitable items at the top of the list and one at the bottom. Studies show that people notice and order the top two items or the last item in each section more often than the others.
This strategic positioning means that the best values for customers are often buried in the middle of each section, where your eyes are least likely to linger. Restaurant operators know that most diners scan quickly and choose from the first few options or sometimes the last one. To find better deals, make sure you read through the entire section, paying special attention to items listed in the middle positions that might offer better value for money.
What started as a simple list of available dishes has evolved into a sophisticated psychological battlefield where restaurants have all the weapons and you’re walking in unarmed. Menu engineering backed by psychology can significantly impact a restaurant’s bottom line, with studies showing that well-designed menus can meaningfully increase profit margins. Now that you know these tricks, you can walk into any restaurant with confidence, knowing exactly how they’re trying to influence your choices. The next time you’re deciding what to order, remember these tactics and make decisions based on what you actually want to eat and can afford, not what the menu is trying to sell you. Did you realize just how calculated your dining choices really were?
