Detailed Menus: Are they necessary?
Read this post by James Hoffman about Prufrock Coffee's menu board.
http://bit.ly/bmzKif
This raised some questions in my mind. Does simplifying the menu allow for better communication between barista and customer? Would a board like this work in stateside shops? Would we lose sales, or gain educational opportunities? In what ways would this separate the indie shops from the franchises, and how could we capitalize on that?
I have more questions, but let's start on these...
http://bit.ly/bmzKif
This raised some questions in my mind. Does simplifying the menu allow for better communication between barista and customer? Would a board like this work in stateside shops? Would we lose sales, or gain educational opportunities? In what ways would this separate the indie shops from the franchises, and how could we capitalize on that?
I have more questions, but let's start on these...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Brady on
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I like it. It works for the right kind of espresso bar - an uber-progressive, minimalist deal. However, I suspect that there may only be a dozen owners in this country that could make this work. I hope they do it, though... maybe we can have a different conversation this time next year.
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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on
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The only issue I see here is with staffing, and I'll elaborate...
With a menu like that it's going to open the door WIDE for conversation and education, which is (obviously) awesome. Chances are you are going to have people really intrigued from the get-go. Also awesome. However, when you have an awesome conversation going with one customer and then another party (say of 3) comes in, they join the conversation, and then another 2 come in... they're 4 people back staring at an incredibly uninformative menu and the barista is occupied. That sucks... But if you can afford to have enough people on to keep all of the customers engaged in conversation this is a freaking dream come true.
There is also the no menu approach. Walk into BARISTA and you'll see the coffees that they have in shop... that's it. We have a menu that no one ever looks at... the "what's in the hoppers" board is pretty popular, though.
-bry
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Permalink Reply by Paul Yates on
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True, Brady. If espresso were all you served, this could work. But in most of our shops, espresso is only part of it. So, taking into account the "other stuff"....is this idea workable? Would we have to risk losing customers as we attempt to deprogram them, removing the "fast food menu" concept?
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So, Bry, what you're saying is that in order to keep it simple, we would have to field competent baristi that are engaging, communicative, and passionate about coffee. And make sure we have enough of them.
And therein lies the rub.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Vaaler on
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I think minimalizing the menu, not quite this much, would really help distinguish the independent cafes. Starting with downsizing cup size. Unfortunately, during this economy, we couldn't afford not to have non-espresso items. And as Brady said, "it would take a special bar to pull this off", especially in the U.S. Maybe this will be the "4th wave"? This may actually go over well once the industry standards are agreed upon.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on
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The market, while more developed than it was years ago, is still not developed enough to face a menu severely lacking in description without feeling intimidated. Sure, there are regions where this is not the norm, and there are a handful of places that could pull it off.
Add in Bryan's problem™, and I start to wonder how many neighborhoods have successfully conditioned their market to be ready for something like this.
Don't get me wrong. I love it. But that's not the question. I'm not the one you're trying to get repeat business from.
I'll just say that I think it has its place. A very small, rare place.
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Perrine on
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Where I agree with you completely, I feel that something must be added.
We shouldn't not do this simply because it wouldn't go over well. We need to work towards being able to achieve this.
We currently offer 16oz drinks. But I hope within a few years, our customers will support us (trust us) in removing this size.
We currently offer Cappuccinos in three different size. Again, our goal is that in a few years, most of our customers want care when we only offer this as it should be; 5-6oz.
We should be setting the goals/expectations of our customers. We are the professionals right?
Jason Haeger said:The market, while more developed than it was years ago, is still not developed enough to face a menu severely lacking in description without feeling intimidated. Sure, there are regions where this is not the norm, and there are a handful of places that could pull it off.
Add in Bryan's problem™, and I start to wonder how many neighborhoods have successfully conditioned their market to be ready for something like this.
Don't get me wrong. I love it. But that's not the question. I'm not the one you're trying to get repeat business from.
I'll just say that I think it has its place. A very small, rare place.
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I think I may have been misunderstood.
It's not the lack of options that I'm referring to. It's the lack of description.
Jeremiah Perrine said:Where I agree with you completely, I feel that something must be added.
We shouldn't not do this simply because it wouldn't go over well. We need to work towards being able to achieve this.
We currently offer 16oz drinks. But I hope within a few years, our customers will support us (trust us) in removing this size.
We currently offer Cappuccinos in three different size. Again, our goal is that in a few years, most of our customers want care when we only offer this as it should be; 5-6oz.
We should be setting the goals/expectations of our customers. We are the professionals right?
Jason Haeger said:The market, while more developed than it was years ago, is still not developed enough to face a menu severely lacking in description without feeling intimidated. Sure, there are regions where this is not the norm, and there are a handful of places that could pull it off.
Add in Bryan's problem™, and I start to wonder how many neighborhoods have successfully conditioned their market to be ready for something like this.
Don't get me wrong. I love it. But that's not the question. I'm not the one you're trying to get repeat business from.
I'll just say that I think it has its place. A very small, rare place.
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OK, my far-flung friends. Besides the esteemed Mr. Wilson, who else is doing something like this? Nobody in my neck of the woods, for sure.
(Paging Dr. Caragay...) Hey Jay, what's Spro's menu look like these days?
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If I were breaking into a totally new market, and able to define people's expectations, is it reasonable that I would be able to have a simplified menu, with some non-espresso options, of course?
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That depends.
Would you expect to have people wondering in asking for a "regular coffee"?
Paul Yates said:If I were breaking into a totally new market, and able to define people's expectations, is it reasonable that I would be able to have a simplified menu, with some non-espresso options, of course?
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