EP1: Menu Labeling & Experience Parity

Smart Menus — Episode 1: Menu Labeling & Experience Parity ~11 minutes

Most plant-based dishes underperform not because of the food itself, but because of how they're presented on the menu. This episode covers the practical, high-impact changes you can make to your menu to sell more plant-based dishes to every guest, not just vegans.

In this episode:

• Why delicious plant-based dishes still don't sell and what's actually getting in the way
• How to audit your existing menu for dishes that are already vegan (or nearly there) 
• The case for letters over icons when it comes to dietary labels and why the leaf icon might be hurting your sales
• Why you should never create a separate vegan section on your main menu
• The mislabeling trap: how one wrong label destroys guest trust across the entire menu
• How to write dish descriptions that make people hungry, not just informed
• Why vegan is a label, not a dish name
• Experience parity: why plant-based dishes need the same presentation, portion size, and pricing attention as everything else on your menu
• Quick wins you can implement before your next service, no menu reprint required

This episode's worksheet walks you through a ten-minute menu audit: which dishes you already have that work for vegan and plant-curious guests, which need a label, and which just need a better description.