Not sure how to create a restaurant drinks menu?
Don't have drinks that sell well in your restaurant?
Restaurants with good drinks are much more appealing to customers without them.
Also, they can be an important source of profit in your restaurant, whether you have a simple drink menu or an extensive one with more than 20 drinks.
In this article, I will tell you about:
- Restaurant drinks menus and alcoholic drinks menus.
- The steps you must use to create a drinks menu in your business.
- And about the importance of adding attractive drinks to your menu.
This article will help you create an attention-grabbing beverage menu in your restaurant, even for non-alcoholic beverages. Let's get started!
Restaurants With Good Drinks Are More Appealing to Customers
Restaurant drinks menus are an important part of this type of business.
Why?
Because a good drink menu is tailored to achieve different objectives:
- To accompany the meals in your restaurant.
- To cleanse the palate of your guests while they eat.
- To create a better atmosphere in your restaurant.
- To offer a unique experience.
- And even to offer a gastronomic experience with an impact similar to that of your dishes.
In many restaurants, drinks are an important part of the restaurant's offering, being just as important as the meals it serves.
This is something that can generate a lot of profits in your restaurant, especially if you create signature drinks that are all the rage among your diners.
Types of Restaurant Drink Menus
There are several types of drink menus in restaurants. Not everything is reduced to commercial beverages or alcoholic beverages.
That means you have many interesting and viable options to satisfy your customers' thirst.
Next, I will tell you about the different types.
Restaurant Alcoholic Drinks Menu
Alcoholic drinks menus are not the only ones that may exist in a restaurant, but they are definitely the ones that will generate the most profits.
This is because alcohol is very pricey, especially if they are top-notch brands. That also means restaurants with good alcoholic drinks make even more money.
In turn, there are several types of alcoholic beverage menus depending on the type of alcohol.
Spirits and Liquors Menu
Spirits are pure alcoholic beverages, such as whiskey, tequila, vodka, rum, and more.
There are many, many types of spirits and liqueurs in addition to these, so creating an extensive menu with them can give your customers the variety they are looking for.
In addition, there are also different levels of quality for each spirit or liquor, so prices can also vary a lot. In general, the higher the quality, the higher the price, and the better your earnings.
Cocktail Menu
Cocktails are alcoholic beverages prepared with different types of spirits and liqueurs, also accompanied by infusions, fruit juices, and more to enhance their flavor.
These drinks are also an incredible source of profit, plus they give you access to an almost infinite number of mixology creations that can attract customers to your business.
If you have a spirits menu, your restaurant can increase its range of drink offerings by hiring an expert mixologist to create signature drinks.
Of course, you can also create a menu of mocktails, or non-alcoholic cocktails, that can attract the attention of a younger, underaged audience.
Wine Menu
There is a perfect wine to accompany almost any meal. There are also different types of wines.
This gives you the possibility to offer an extensive menu of local wines — if they exist in your area — or imported wines. Regardless of the type, wines are considered high-cost products, so they can greatly increase your profits if your guests prefer them.
Your restaurant can even benefit from wine tastings, where you can show your customers the variety of wines, and your restaurant's signature dishes that go well with them.
Beer Menu
Beers have evolved a lot in recent years thanks to the creation of new experimental flavors that improve the classic flavor.
This means that more people are open to trying them, which is why they have become a customer favorite.
Having a menu with different beers, whether commercial or craft, can give you the versatility you need to satisfy your guests.
In addition, beer is generally a drink with lower alcohol content, so it is perfect to improve the restaurant’s atmosphere and generate more profits if large groups visit your restaurant.
Commercial Restaurant Drinks
Commercial drinks, in general, do not deserve a separate menu. However, in some restaurants, you may find extensive menus with different commercial drinks from different brands.
This happens, for example, in fast-food restaurants, or in businesses where having and offering a wide catalog of commercial beverages is part of their concept.
Commercial drinks generate less profit for a restaurant, but they can be key to satisfying customers who are used to having them as an option.
Natural Drinks
There are hundreds of natural drinks that you can offer in your restaurant — basically, you can offer a different one for each edible fruit that can be used to create them.
You can also use dairy drinks to create shakes, smoothies, and more.
Caffeinated Drinks
Coffee is another drink that has evolved to become a trend in recent years. There are hundreds of different drinks that you can sell in your restaurant that use coffee as a base.
Sweet drinks, dessert drinks, alcoholic drinks, experimental drinks, and much more.
All you need is to have a good supplier of different types of coffee and the necessary equipment to offer this classic drink in your business.
You’ll Need the Help of an Expert to Create Delicious Restaurant Drinks
Enlisting the help of mixologists, bartenders, baristas, or sommeliers can help you establish a perfect drink menu for your restaurant.
They are the ones who can help you create unique signature drinks in your restaurant, help you replicate classic drinks, and other staple recipes.
In addition, you must give them the necessary tools so that they can create these drinks, whether it is a simple bartender shaker, tasting glasses, or an industrial coffee maker.
I assure you that the investment will be worth it as long as you are sure that it is what your restaurant needs.
Steps to Create a Restaurant Drinks Menu
Now I will give you some simple steps that you can use to create a restaurant’s drinks menu.
These steps are general, so you will need to adjust them to your specific situation so that they are applicable to your business.
1. Make Sure There Is an Audience for the Drinks You Want to Offer
The idea of creating a drinks menu may have occurred to you because several people have ordered the same drinks that you do not have in your restaurant.
Or the idea may have suddenly occurred to you.
Regardless, you need to make sure that the drinks you want to offer have a real audience to justify them — it's not a good idea to justify this investment with just an idea.
The best way to be sure is to create a customer survey for your restaurant with questions to help you confirm your next investment.
2. Get Expert Advice
Getting advice on what you need to create your drink menu involves several things.
The main thing is to get an expert on the specific type of drinks you want to offer.
Thus, you will be able to know:
- What equipment you must buy to create the drinks.
- What specific drinks you can add to the menu.
- What ingredients should you add to your purchases to create them.
- The prices at which these drinks will be sold.
And more important information.
3. Create the Menu, Buy the Equipment, and the Ingredients
This step includes proceeding with the investment you defined in the previous step after obtaining advice.
This may be the step that takes the longest — it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with how the new equipment works, with the different ingredients, hire staff to operate them and experiment with different drinks.
All this, of course, must be accompanied by the help of an expert.
It's also a good idea to educate your staff on the new aspect of your business, which includes updating your sales scripts, training your staff, and more.
4. Add the Drinks to Your Marketing Strategy and Start Selling Them
It's a good idea to document the entire process above so that you can create a story behind this new offering. This way, you can create great storytelling marketing strategy that allows you to show your customers how the new drinks were added to the menu.
This step is important because it will also allow you to start offering the drinks to an informed audience.
It's not a good idea to start offering drinks at your business without telling anyone!
In addition, this will also serve to test the equipment and the way your restaurant handles the volume of drink orders along with the rest of the service.
Restaurants With Excellent Drinks Make More Money!
Restaurant drinks can greatly increase your profits.
Of course, this is possible if you have a good infrastructure, good recipes that are profitable, and good restaurant suppliers that allow you to maximize your profits.
My recommendation is that you make drinks part of your restaurant from the beginning and that you improve your infrastructure and other related aspects as your business grows.
Do you offer good drinks in your restaurant?
