Menu Teardown

1 · Margin-per-item matrix

Contribution margin = price − food cost. Popularity = share of total units sold. Plot each item by contribution margin (vertical) and popularity (horizontal) — the Kasavana–Smith axes.

Quadrants (Kasavana–Smith): Stars = high margin × high popularity · Crowd Pleasers = low margin × high popularity · Hidden Gems = high margin × low popularity · Leftovers = low margin × low popularity.

2 · Layout and photography critique

• □What does the eye hit first? Is it your most profitable item?
• □Do the photos sell the food, or just decorate the page?
• □Is the best-margin item buried below the fold or in a low-visibility corner?
• □Are prices formatted and positioned consistently?
• □Does the menu length match how long customers actually look at it?