Menu Planning and Engineering Flashcards

An item classified as a Dog in menu engineering is best handled by:

Answer: Removing or completely reworking it

Dogs are both unpopular and unprofitable, so they should be dropped or fundamentally redesigned.

A menu item costs $6.50 to plate and sells for $26.00. What is its food cost percentage?

Answer: 25%

Food cost percentage equals cost divided by price: 6.50 ÷ 26.00 = 0.25, or 25%.

The 'sweet spot' or prime real estate on a single-panel menu, where guests' eyes tend to land first, is generally the:

Answer: Upper portion, just above the center

On a single panel, eyes typically go first to the area at or just above center-top, making it prime placement for high-margin items.

When calculating menu-mix (popularity) benchmarks in menu engineering, an item is considered popular if its sales share exceeds:

Answer: 70% of the expected equal share of category sales

The standard menu engineering benchmark flags an item as popular when it achieves at least 70% of its expected equal share (1/n × 70%).

A chef planning a new spring menu should base item selection primarily on:

Answer: Guest preferences, seasonal availability, and operational capability

Sound menu planning balances what guests want, what is seasonally available and cost-effective, and what the operation can execute.

Truth-in-menu regulations require that:

Answer: Menu descriptions accurately represent origin, preparation, and ingredients

Truth-in-menu standards prohibit misrepresenting points like grade, origin, size, and preparation method in menu descriptions.

Which change would most likely reduce kitchen labor cost through menu planning?

Answer: Streamlining the menu around fewer items with shared prep and stations

A tighter menu with shared prep reduces production complexity, station load, and the labor hours required.