Why Guests Order Less from Menus They Can’t Picture

The menu is written for the kitchen, not for the guest

Open a printed menu in almost any busy American restaurant and you will find the same thing: dish names in Italian, Spanish or French, house nicknames, a list of ingredients without context — and not a single photo. Regulars know what to order. Everyone else has to guess.

When guests have to guess, they play it safe. They order the one dish they recognize, skip the starter they can’t imagine, pass on the dessert with the unfamiliar name. Some ask the server. Many don’t.

Every “I’ll just have the burger” at a restaurant famous for its seafood is a sale the menu didn’t make.

Visitors from abroad feel it the most

In Central Florida this is not a niche problem. Orlando welcomed 75.3 million visitors in 2024, including about 6.5 million international visitors — led by Canada, the U.K., Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. At home, 38.5% of Orange County residents speak a language other than English.

75.3Mvisitors to Orlando in 2024

6.5Mof them came from other countries

38.5%of Orange County residents speak another language at home

A guest who reads English as a second language can usually manage “grilled chicken”. “Branzino al cartoccio” or “cacio e pepe” is another story. Many visitors are too shy to ask a busy server to explain ten dishes, so they point at something familiar, order less than they planned — or choose the place next door with pictures in the window.

In much of the world, a clear menu is simply normal

Travelers often come from places where a menu you can understand is expected. In Japan, many restaurants show realistic food models — sampuru — in the window, so you can choose before you walk in. Across much of Asia and in many tourist cities in Europe and Latin America, picture menus, numbered dishes and menus in several languages are everyday tools, not a sign of a cheap place.

Those guests walk into a restaurant in Orlando expecting the same clarity. When they don’t find it, the menu feels like a test instead of an invitation.

What the data says about menu photos

Photos drive the choice. According to DoorDash’s 2026 Restaurant Industry Trends Report, 87% of consumers have chosen what to eat on a delivery app based on an appealing photo.
Photo coverage moves sales. DoorDash reports that reaching at least 50% menu photo coverage can increase sales by 13% on average.
Photo quality matters. A 2022 study from The Ohio State University, published in the Journal of Business Research, found that food photos with richer color made dishes look fresher and tastier and made people more likely to order them.

Delivery apps measure this because they can see every tap. The same thing happens at a table — it just isn’t tracked.

Why restaurants still skip photos

“Photos make us look cheap”

Bad photos do. A blurry phone picture of every item on a laminated sheet does look like a food court. But premium restaurants around the world use photos too: a few professional images of signature dishes, consistent light and generous space read as confident, not cheap.

“Our menu changes too often”

Photograph the dishes that stay — signatures, best sellers, desserts — and design the menu so seasonal items can be swapped without a full redesign.

“We never measured it”

That is the real reason. The orders a confusing menu loses never show up in a report. A small lift in the average check adds up quickly — try your own numbers in the menu revenue calculator.

What a clear, premium printed menu looks like

Photos of the dishes that matter — signatures, best sellers and anything guests can’t picture from the name.
One-line descriptions in plain English — what it is, how it’s cooked, what it comes with.
Clear tags — spicy, vegetarian, gluten-free, high protein — so guests don’t have to ask.
Numbered dishes — so anyone can order by pointing, in any language.
Translations where your guests need them — on the page or through a QR code, using the same photos.
Print quality that matches your food — good paper, good type, real photography.

Quick math. A restaurant with a $35 average check and 80 guests a day, open 28 days a month: if a clearer menu adds just 5% to the check, that is $1.75 per guest — about $3,920 a month or $47,040 a year.

Run your own numbers →

How Brandworks builds photo menus

We photograph your real dishes at your restaurant, plated by your own kitchen, and design print-ready menus, QR menus and delivery-app photo sets in one consistent style. We wrote, photographed and designed our own 200-page cookbook the same way. See menu & cookbook design or our restaurant photography results — photos we created for restaurant clients have collected more than 190 million views on Google Maps.

Sources

FAQ

Questions, answered

Do photos make a restaurant menu look cheap?

Only when they are low quality or crammed onto every line. A premium photo menu uses a few professional photos of signature dishes, consistent light and plenty of space — it looks closer to a cookbook than to a fast-food board.

Should every dish on the menu have a photo?

No. Photograph the dishes you most want to sell and the ones guests can’t picture from the name. DoorDash’s guidance is to reach at least 50% photo coverage on delivery menus.

Do I need to translate my menu?

If you serve many visitors, yes — at least short English descriptions for every dish, and ideally Spanish and Portuguese versions or a QR code to a translated menu. Photos work in every language.

Is a QR menu enough?

A QR menu helps with translations and updates, but many guests still prefer a printed menu at the table. The best setup is both, using the same photos and the same structure.

How much more will guests spend with a photo menu?

It depends on your menu and guests. Use our free menu revenue calculator to test cautious scenarios such as a 5% or 10% higher average check.

Next step

Make your menu sell

Menu revenue calculator →Menu & cookbook design →Free consultation →

Guests can’t order what they can’t picture