Menus

Written for the moment someone orders

A menu is the list a guest uses to decide. Restaurants need one that stays at the table. Cafes often need a shorter list. Bars need the drinks easy to scan. Food trucks need a sheet the line can read at the window, and often a takeout version that leaves in the bag.

If the piece is a story about the business and it does not list what you serve, it belongs with brochures. A menu’s job is the offer: the dishes or drinks, and how a guest asks for them.

Flat, folded, a tent, or takeout

You choose the format. A flat menu is one sheet, one side or two. A folded menu opens in panels — courses, drinks, or parts of the day — and you name the fold. Bi-fold and tri-fold are the folds to name first. Any other fold is confirmed on the quote before the art is treated as final. A table tent has to stand. Tell us how, including whether a single fold is enough, and we confirm that build before a proof. A takeout menu leaves with the order. It can repeat the dining-room list or carry a shorter one. Say which.

You also set the finished size. Put the trim on the quote, and the flat size if it folds or stands. We will not pick a size for you.

The sheet, and any coating you want considered

Say how the menu should feel, and whether you want matte or gloss. If it has to hold up to a spill, grease, or a wipe-down, ask about a water-resistant coating, a grease-resistant coating, or lamination. We answer that on the quote, before a proof. Neither a coating nor a laminate is assumed.

One identical menu is the simple case. Lunch and dinner, drinks and food, or a truck menu and a dining-room menu are separate versions. List them on the quote. A short run, or a menu you expect to replace, fits digital printing. A long run of one unchanged menu fits offset printing. The quote names the process.

Quote, proof, then the cartons

Request a quote with the format, the size, the fold or the tent, one side or two, the stock you have in mind, any coating you want considered, the versions, the quantity, and the state or ZIP for the shipment. We price the job and send a proof of the menu as it will be trimmed and folded. We print after you approve, then ship anywhere in the United States.

If more than one restaurant or truck needs its own cartons, put that split on the quote. We ship the printed menus to you.

Build the file the way the menu is used

A flat menu needs a PDF at the trim size plus bleed, with type off the cut. A folded menu needs the flat size, the panels in order, and type kept out of the fold. A tent needs the art placed so it reads once the piece is standing. Dish names have to be readable at the table. A photo of a chalkboard is a reference, not a press file.

Graphic design and prepress can set the menu from your dish list, place the fold or the tent, and check bleed and type. Send the copy in the order a guest should read it, and name the format. The proof should show that format, not only a flat rectangle.