Mumtaz Table & Bar wanted to decrease the number of menus each customer would receive upon being seated while also creating a more on-brand aesthetic menu that could be printed in-house. Mumtaz had already decided they wanted to include their dessert menu on their dinner menu and that they wanted to use a wood board as a vessel.

With these needs in mind, we developed a custom wood board menu with a custom offset band to hold both the main dinner/dessert menu and a secondary menu in place; in addition to holding the paper menus in place this band also acted as a visual delineation between the dinner and dessert menu sections. The final menus were developed to allow Mumtaz full creative control once the project was complete.

To prepare the best menu possible, we interviewed not only the owners and management but also the service team to understand their use, and pain points, of the original menus physically, for content, and sales.

To increase revenue, we created a section for bread service to get food on the table quickly, allow for an easy re-order of bread with entrees (all mains were served a la carte), and elevate the level of service. Further, we separated the former “Chutneys & Sauces” section of the menu into two distinct categories: “Accoutrements” and “Chutneys,” to give more attention to these easy upsell items. Additionally, we listed out each independent chutney option to better inform the customer and create the opportunity to sell them individually or all-together.

For better navigation for both guests and staff, we reorganized the mains–categorizing them by protein. Staff had previously found it difficult to communicate vegetarian options to guests, as a result, we placed all vegetarian options together allowing staff to easily point and/or verbally direct these customers to these options. Thoughtful menu organization can lead to faster order times and superior communication between staff and guests.

As requested by Mumtaz, the dessert menu was included on the dinner menu. We also opted to incorporate the non-alcoholic (NA) beverages and coffee offerings here as well. These items were previously located on the back of the beverage menu as a sort of afterthought. We reduced the overall offerings and drew attention to the made in-house sodas and lassis, with a call out box and thoughtful descriptions, to increase sales of these items and boost guest perception of both quality and service.

The cocktail program was a large focus for Mumtaz, as a result we decided to list cocktails on the main front page of the beverage menu. This was executed to increase sales in two capacities: 1.) we put an emphasis on cocktails immediately with front page placement and 2.) every guest now has a cocktail menu in front of them – no need to wait and pass the menu around the table, leading to faster order times. Furthermore, the cocktails included unique Indian-focused ingredients, to help guide the customer in their decisions we created flavor categories for the cocktails: “Boozy & Bold” and “Fruit Forward & Refreshing.”

Following the flavor listings from the cocktail menu, we built a structure to add tasting notes to both wines and beers – again helping guests make the right production selection for their personal tastes. Further, adding appropriate descriptors creates an easy study tool for training new staff.

Nirvana Hour (aka happy hour) was a daypart Mumtaz wished to increase traffic and sales towards. To accomplish this, we added a Nirvana Hour call out at the bottom of the cocktail menu and we included theses specific offerings on the back of the beverage menu as a whole. This decreased the number of menus provided to guests and allowed customers to view the days, times and offerings for a repeat visit. 

A second small menu board was custom created to allow Mumtaz staff a wide variety of versatility. This small menu board was designed to accommodate the beverage menu, a singular dessert/NA menu, act as a check presenter, and accomodate custom pre-fixe or special event menus.

This allowed for the cocktail menu to live on the table throughout the dining experience for fast and easy re-order, and staff could present a dessert menu as desired. Congruently, this menu board was designed to cross utilize the same size custom rubber bands and built for easy storage.

In conclusion, we addressed several pain points and increased opportunities for Mumtaz to increase sales and enhance the Mumtaz experience:

• Generated a brand forward menu to match the restaurants aesthetic and price point – contributing to the guests’ over all experience
• Designed two multi-functional menu boards to be utilized in a variety of capacities, even if the strategy adjusted in the future
• Decreased menus at the table per customer
• Promoted Nirvana Hour on the front side of the cocktail menu, and included Nirvana Hour on the backside of the beverage menu for convenient access
• Put a focus on bread service to increase check average
• Designed and sourced all elements to be printed in-house
• Organized main dish offerings for staff and guests
• Created descriptions and called attention to NA beverages
• Organized the cocktails in an easy-to-understand capacity for ordering
• Added structured product descriptions to all wine and beer offerings