Foodservice Organizations in Business in the USA - Case Study Example

The Menu is not Simply a List of Dished for Sale Name: Affiliation: Introduction The genesis of menu started in the ancient times where vendors on the street and cooks were available in the streets of ancient Rome. Travelers during the medieval period used to eat at inns, taverns, and hostelries. This trend carried on by the Americans where it was in the form of legislated public houses. The word restaurant originated from French (June, Payne, & Monica, 2001). In a restaurant, a menu is a written list of food and beverage offerings together with the price. This is a list customer uses to choose dishes from many options available. The word menu is French in origin. It originates from Latin word "minutus," meaning something made small; in French it is an in-depth list of items. The first menu presented to customers was on the board, and all their prices clearly indicated so that clients select the best price they are willing to take. The first restaurant menus came up at about a millennium ago. This was in China, as a result, if Song Dynasties (Rebbecca & Spang, 2000). This was the only place where paper was in abundance. This was the time people had time to meet at the city and the Chinese food variations could not be handled without a menu (Moorey, 2009). The earliest European had no menus; serving dishes were through chosen chefs. The menu appeared in Europe in half of eighteen century. Customers allowed choosing dishes from the menu. People served according to the order of their selections. Most restaurants have adopted the use chalkboard. This minimized the reprinting of menus every time. This allowed modification of prices on the board. The latest development in menus is the innovation of tablets held on the hand. The customer peruses through the menu. This contains the photograph and the price of the dish (Ford & Jason, 2010). The industrial revolution gave rise to modern food service. The rapid changes in technology enabled production of foodstuffs in mass, fast distribution of food, storage facilities that are safe and efficient cooking equipments. On top of this, the advances in transportation systems created a tremendously enormous demand of dining venues where people dine (Cullen & Paul, 2010). Foodservice organizations in business in the United States today have become an acknowledged way of life, and we have a tendency to regard them as relatively recent innovation. However, they have their pedigree in the behavior and civilization that distinguish the progress and date back to the Middle Ages. Certain phases of foodservice functions reach a well-ordered from as early as feudal times. Religious instructions and noble households were amongst the earliest practitioners of quantity food production (Ford & Jason, 2010). Report indicate that food prepared by abbey Brethren was of higher standards in terms of quality and quantity than this food prepared and served in inns during those days. The house hold of the royal families together with their retailers necessitates an efficient foodservice. In the provision of the various needs, there was the need to observe strict accounting. This marked the start of the cost accounting we see today which revolutionized to scientific (Moorey, 2009). From the definitions of the menu, I disagree with the statement that a menu is simply a list of dishes for sale. Menus assist customers who dine out. Customers review menus when they are dining in a restaurant. Technologically advanced restaurants, post their menus online. These encourage potential customers to check what is available before they go (June, Payne, & Monica, 2001). Restaurant Menu Advantages. Categorization: A full restaurant menu classifies the dishes it presents. It put them into segments such as desserts, soups, entrees, salads, and appetizers. Some restaurants offer a variety of meals in their menus according to time of the day. For instance, breakfast for morning, lunch for lunch time, and dinner for the evening which occurs at different time of the day. This simplifies menus that are large and hence rendering it easy for customers to choose from the list (Ford & Jason, 2010). Prices: Since the budget is the most driving force determining the amount a customer spends; a menu provide customer benefit of determining how much a meal will cost so as to order. The meal will determine the ordering power of a customer (Moorey, 2009). Ingredients: An excellent menu will help customers to know about ingredients a meal contain. This will allow customers to learn about some dishes that have names not known to them. These are names such as Spaghetti which have the following ingredients: romano cheese, crushed hot pepper, olive oil, onions, and garlic. This is to offer customers freedom to make the best informed decisions. Customers allergic to some meals will stay away and instead order meals that are not sensitive to them (Rebbecca & Spang, 2000). Nutrition: Health food is paramount to every person. A restaurant concerned with the health of their customers will prepare menus that indicate the amount of nutrients contained. The quantities of fats, sugars, calories, proteins, sodium, and carbohydrates indicated in every meal. This is an advantageous to customers who have problems with diets. Those who understand the instruction of a doctor will gain (Cullen & Paul, 2010). Marketing: This is a strategy of selling out the name of the restaurant. The meals, the price, categories, and ingredients in a meal displayed on the menu will attract the customer to come again. The menu design should factor in needs of customers as this is an internal advertising. This is a cost effective promotion. A new product inserted in the menu without altering any other item and thus reducing on the cost of reprinting new menus. Every customer will read it. It should be desirable and attractive (Cullen & Paul, 2010). Cultures: In the promotion of every culture, restaurants have today opted of diversifying their meals in order to attract customers from different cultures. When one is in a foreign country, for example, in China customers will want to explore and experience the true taste of China. This forces restaurants to prepare their menus to help customers venture into those places. It forces restaurant staff to translate menus from a foreign language to a language understandable e.g. English (Rebbecca & Spang, 2000). In conclusion, the menu is an outstanding item that needs to be prepared with a lot of attention. All features ought to be factored to include all classes of people. In the design of a menu, restaurant owners should embrace technology. They must adopt digital signage. This offers easy alterations for new items, pricing, promote new items with integration of dynamic displays, they run controlled menus based on time of the day with ease, remotely controlled from any position, enhances customer experience, ensures visual consistency, and can display emergency messaging. These benefits provide substantial economic value (Moorey, 2009). References Cullen, & Paul. (2010). The Food and beverage Manager. Elstern Vic: Hospitality Press. Ford, & Jason. (2010). Professional Chef. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning. June, P., Payne, & Monica. (2001). West and Wood's Introduction to Foodservice. Prentice Hall. Moorey, A. (2009). Healthy Recipes to Keep Both Your Stomach nand Wallet Full. New York Food Network Dish. Rebbecca, L., & Spang. (2000). The invention of the Restaurant: Paris and modern Gastronomic culture. Paris: Harvard. Read More