Digesting the Menu

Menus are becoming a focal point of restaurants today. Not only does the menu describe the list of dishes available to order from the kitchen, but the language on a menu is now a pivotal tool which governs consumers choice in both restaurant and dish selection (Vaughan, 2011). Different terminology can be seen on Irish restaurant menus; however these terms are rarely explored and explained. The overall aim of this study is to explore the use of terms on the Irish restaurant menus. The overall conclusion from this study is that the terms used on menus need to be carefully selected and balanced against the restaurant type and consumer profile, and that the restaurant server has become a focal part in influencing menu dish selection.