Your online menu is your storefront, your waiter, and your upsell — all at once. Get it right and average order value can lift 15–25% with no other changes.
Photograph your hero items
You don’t need to shoot every dish. Pick the 8–12 items that drive most revenue and shoot them well. Natural light, top-down, real plating — not stock photography.
Write descriptions that sound like you
A good description does three things: names key ingredients, hints at preparation, and uses one evocative word. “Slow-braised lamb shoulder, charred lemon, mint yogurt” sells better than “Lamb dish with sauce.”
Order matters
The first three items in each section get 40% more orders. Put your highest-margin or signature dishes there.
Make modifiers obvious
Every “add bacon $2” is found money. Surface modifiers up front, not buried behind a tap. Bundle suggestions (“make it a meal”) drive 10%+ AOV in our data.
Test, don’t guess
Change one thing at a time — a photo, a description, a price — and watch the data for two weeks. Online menus are living documents.