Restaurant menu guides for Dubai and the UAE
Written for restaurant and café owners doing the menu themselves. Each guide answers one job, with the UAE specifics included: dirhams, 5% VAT, Arabic, and the file print shops here expect.
Plan and price the menu
Before the design: which dishes to keep, and what to charge for them.
How to design a restaurant menu that sellsNine steps, from sorting dishes into Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles and Dogs to testing the proof at a table.How to price a menu in the UAEThe food cost formula, a calculator that includes 5% VAT, and why the best percentage is not always the best dish.Menu design ideas, with examplesFifteen layout, style and selling ideas, each shown on a finished menu you can open.
Design it for Dubai
What a menu in the UAE has to get right that a template from abroad usually does not.
Restaurant menu design in DubaiVAT-inclusive prices, calorie guidance, allergens and the layouts that suit Dubai dining rooms.Arabic menu designRight-to-left layout, Arabic typefaces, bilingual pages and the translation mistakes guests notice.Hire a menu designer or do it yourself?What you get from a designer in Dubai, and when a template is the better call.
Print and publish
Getting the file right for the print shop, and onto the tables as a QR menu.
Menu card designWhat goes on a restaurant menu card, the sizes, single card vs folded vs booklet, and paper.Menu sizes for printingA4, A5, DL, square and trifold in mm, cm, inches and pixels, with bleed and paper weights.Menu printing in DubaiThe file specs print shops ask for: CMYK, 3 mm bleed, crop marks and PDF/X.Trifold menu size and foldsRoll fold or Z-fold, panel widths, and what goes on each of the six panels.QR code menus for restaurantsHow a QR menu differs from a PDF behind a code, one code per table, and WhatsApp orders.Digital menus for restaurantsQR code, tablet, menu screens or delivery apps: what each kind of digital menu suits.
Looking for designs rather than advice? Browse the restaurant menu templates or the café menu templates.
Put the guides to work. Paste your dishes, pick a template, print.