less is more, right?

Remember what I said about menu size?

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From RestaurantOwner.com - February 15, 2011
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Is It Time to Streamline Your Menu?

Independent restaurants are notorious for adding new menu items
but not retiring any for fear of not having someone´s favorite.
This often leads to a bloated menu with more variety but a
kitchen that is needlessly complex with lots of recipes and
inventory items.

For example, here is the appetizer section of a RestaurantOwner.
com member containing the following 11 items:

- Quesadillas
- Beer Battered Cheese
- Potato Skins
- Chicken Wings
- Grilled Chicken Strips
- Deluxe Nachos
- Vegetable Platter
- Buffalo Fries
- Onion Rings
- Stuffed Mushrooms
- Western Sampler

A quick analysis revealed that the 4 top selling appetizers made
up nearly 70% of the total appetizer sales. They decided to
eliminate several of the slowest selling appetizers especially
those that required products that weren't used in any other
menu items.

The result was the elimination of 4 appetizers and several
products from inventory that were no longer needed. Their
appetizer sales, didn't skip a beat and they received only a few
comments from customers who asked about a missing menu item.

Sometimes deciding what to take off your menu is just as
important as deciding what to add.

Streamlining your menu can result in tighter focus on your core
menu offerings (that you want do to exceptionally well), less
inventory on the shelf, a more efficient kitchen and less prep.
Fewer choices can also make it easier to steer customers to select
the items you really want them to buy.