sample sales: A short study or statistics on this would greatly help. :) I want to base a restaurant menu design on this. Thanks in advance!|||yes no question---any major chain can prove this|||Looking at the food you're going to buy makes it much more satisfying It also prevents the " I'm just going to try this even though I don't know what it is" situation Put pictures!|||My guess would be yes, though I have nothing to back it up other than that I often order items with pictures simply because I like to know what I'm getting. So, my advice is to put pictures for the most expensive items, in addition to dessert foods and alcoholic drinks.|||I believe so. In high school I worked at a restaurant and nobody understood the names because they were all related to sports, Homerun Sandwich, Touchdown Salad, etc. But rarely did people read the small print saying what's included in it. However if there was a pic of the sandwich with the name under it they would just point and say, I want that.|||I think it depends on the place. Diners rarely use pictures of actual food, so ordering a meal off a fake picture, doesnt really give you an idea of what your actually getting. The way food on the commercials are never the same as when you go there. The establishment I work at doesnt have any pictures on the menu, or dessert list, and we seem to do just fine. I think the servers opinion and descriptions of food items are more important then the picture.|||I think it really depends on the restaurant and its quality. In Paris we used a single menu with text, however you are expecting people to know what a gratin dauphinoise or declinaison de tomat are.. Using pictures might be quite a disadvantage for some crappy establishments, because whatever you serve, it MUST look exactly as in the picture and if not then you are in your right to send it back to the kitchen. I usually put pictures on brochures, day or week specials, themed menus. the Menu itself i preffer an elegant text only format.|||I dine out very frequently! Trust me, pictures help.|||I noticed at the restaurant I work at shows pictures of food items that are very popular in the first place. If a food looks funky or unappealing, showing a picture definately will not help.|||Yes, a photo is far more appealing than a written description. it may also make someone try something they might not have before.|||Yes people order the things that are pictured much more often! People are stupid, they do not like to read the menu they just want to point at a picture. They do not even bother to read the description anymore..|||Yes! I have worked in the restaurant biz for almost 10 years. Whatever food we have pictured seems yo be ordered the most.|||I am majoring in hospitality, and YES, people will order a pictured item more often. It has to be a GOOD picture, though. Also, people DO notice a highlighted item more often AND generally, people see the first thing and last thing. The rest is just filler. They also only hear the first thing and last thing (in between is just noise). I don't have stats, but this has been reiterated by every teacher every time we discuss menues. Also- keep it simple. My old job had 30 sandwiches. That's just stupid. Ever plop a kid down in front of 30 gifts? They will most likely burst into tears and run away. It's just too hard to make a decision. Adults aren't much different.