· 5 min read
Uppercase, small caps or title case for menu headings
How to choose between all caps, small caps and title case for section headings on a restaurant menu, with tracking, size and weight settings for each. · 5 min read
Aligning prices on a menu: dotted leaders, right alignment or inline
The three ways to place prices on a restaurant menu, what each does to the way guests compare dishes, and the typographic details that make each one look finished. · 5 min read
Leading, tracking and measure: the typography settings that make a menu breathe
Line spacing, letterspacing and line length for restaurant menus, with concrete values per text level and the spacing between dishes that separates a menu from a spreadsheet. · 5 min read
Script fonts on menus: when they charm and when they hurt
Where a script font belongs on a restaurant menu, where it kills legibility, which sizes and pairings work, and how to spot a cheap script before you print 300 copies. · 5 min read
Menu font size and readability: numbers that work in dim dining rooms
The point sizes, contrast ratios and paper choices that keep a printed menu legible at candlelight, with concrete settings for dish names, descriptions and prices. · 4 min read
Font pairing for menus: headings and body that work
How to pair a heading face and a body face on a restaurant menu: contrast, shared colour, sizes in points, and combinations that survive a 350 g reprint. · 4 min read
Serif or sans-serif for a menu? How to choose
When a serif earns its place on a restaurant menu, when a grotesque is clearer, and why mixing them badly is worse than picking the “wrong” family. · 5 min read
The best fonts for restaurant menus, by type of venue
Typefaces that hold at 11 pt under restaurant light, organised by room: bistro, trattoria, cocktail bar, café, fine dining, sushi and the pairings to avoid.
· 5 min read
Dark or light menu backgrounds: mood, type and ink
When a dark menu works, when it fails under restaurant light, how reversed type prints, and what a full-bleed background actually costs on a short run. · 6 min read
Menu cover design: the first three seconds at the table
What a restaurant menu cover should do in three seconds: name, mood and material, plus the mistakes that make a bifold look like a brochure. · 5 min read
Menu design for small restaurants: polish on a tight budget
How a 20-seat room can look as considered as a branded group: type, paper, one accent, honest photography and a reprint you can afford twice a year. · 6 min read