top of page
Menu Engineers - MGFD Meeting.jpg

Global Leaders in Menu Engineering

Creating Happy Guests & Driving Profitable Operations

Menus we build are:

  • easier for guests to navigate and find new favorite items

  • more profitable for restaurateurs and operators

  • powerful marketing tools that drive growth and guest retention

We specialize in transforming menus into powerful tools for success. We're passionate about helping all operators, from global brands, to cherished local mom-and-pop eateries, and everyone in-between, craft menus that delight guests and drive profitability. Our approach is collaborative, tailored, and always centered on your unique needs, menu goals, and aspirations.

Our mission is straightforward yet impactful: to increase your profitability by $.50 to $1 or more for each guest, every visit. This focused strategy, when annualized over a year's worth of guests, will have a significant impact to your bottom line, benefiting you and all your stakeholders. I'm glad you found us today and when you're ready, let's collaborate on menus.

Cheers and Welcome!

-Sean Willard, Menu Engineer 

Sean Willard Menu Engineer at Restaurant Show Banner.png

What is Menu Engineering?

We define Menu Engineering as how restaurateurs and hospitality operators utilize data and knowledge to make impactful decisions about their menus, to produce specific and measurable results. 

 

Our approach is built on a timeless, field-tested, and data-driven process, applicable to all businesses.

Menu Engineers Chicago - Sean Willard.jpg

Trusted by teams globally...

Our menu team is incredibly grateful to do the work we do. We have the privilege to work with amazing teams, individuals, and industry-leading organizations around the world on menus.

Who are the Menu Engineers?

Led by Sean Willard, our team honors the memory and teachings of Gregg Rapp, a pioneer in menu engineering whose legacy lives on in our work. Rapp's innovative techniques remain at the heart of our approach, guiding us today through the ever changing world of menus. Sean, a mentee of Rapp, brings a depth of dedication and a love for the craft, learned over two decades in hospitality; all enriched by a non-traditional Ivy League education from Cornell University's Hotel School.


Sean is an unparalleled resource with comprehensive hospitality expertise who innovatively serves the intricate and unique needs of a global clientele.

MEDIA SPOTLIGHT

Sean Featured on BBC News World Service Podcast: The Food Chain 

The Food Chain - How to read a menuBBC News
00:00 / 12:21

In this episode, Ruth Alexander finds out how restaurants use language, psychology and behavioural economics to whet your appetite and increase their profits. "Sean Willard of Menu Engineers gives us an insight into the power of using a box on the menu. And thanks to listener Simon in London who emailed The Food Chain with the idea for the programme. Neither he nor we will look at a menu in the same way again." - Ruth Alexander, BBC News

Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. Enjoy the full episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify:

apple-podcasts-badge-300.png
Listen-on-Spotify-Logo-Vector.png
2019-bbc-news-tile-world-service-menu-engineers-resize.png

Is Menu Engineering good for guests?

Yes, we craft menus to be helpful and easy to navigate for all. In fact, guests' experience through the menu is paramount to our work, and is "one hill" we battle on, to continuously defend and protect. When we craft a menu, we aim for guests to say, "ohhh wow! I want to eat everything on THIS menu!", or to think or feel like "they found the best spot in town!"--- that's that magical menu moment that we work with teams to create.

We help guests find new favorite menu items + a reason to return that's unique and memorable

(and if operators or teams don't have that together yet, it's all good--we help with that stuff too).

Menu Design: Find Food You Love
Scripps News Life

Menu Design: Find Food You Love

Who utilizes Menu Engineering? 

Everyone in business. All businesses that sell a good or service engineer some kind of menu, be it visual, verbal, or both. We work with teams of all sizes and across all industries, to build menus better together.

Primarily in hospitality and any business that must communicate a product or service & be profitable.

As Featured In...