DICTIONARY OF THE MENU: CHAOTIC DIRECTIONS

I love to explore menus, but am not a fan of a dictionary of the menu. It's a chaotic direction to me.

I have a great memory when it comes to food and drinks. I still remember how big the drink menus of Melisse (a long time ago - I’m not so sure now) and Kato restaurant (DTLA, a few weeks ago) were. I don’t even remember what they had because I quit looking at the thick holder after 10 seconds.

I just didn’t wanna spend 20-30 min to go through everything. You’re supposed to encourage sales, not discourage. Too many choices of items are never good. It reminded me of my experience in LAX lately.

I haven’t flown internationally for a while, so didn’t know how big LAX - Tom Bradley International Terminal (Terminal B) became. It’s huge now - more restaurants, more shops, and more confusion. You must have a minimum of 2 hours (at least) before your flight, 3 hours to be safe. 

When I came back to LAX, it took forever to get out of the airport. I followed the signs that said “Exit/ground transport”. It took me to the smoking area at the end (?!) of the airport and another gate. I somehow found the staff who work there and asked him how to get out of the airport. He told me he wondered why I looked “lost”, which was a fact! He finally told me exactly how to get out. But still, I had to talk to my roomie where to go in order to pick up my Uber.

I’m local and live in Marina del Rey, CA, and speak English. It’d be so hard if you didn’t speak English. I saw the directions, signs, and directory. They could do better to guide people from point A to B - it’s not due to the language (English). It’s just BAD signage that can’t navigate people well. If there was a map, it might be better. Or interaction kiosks that can navigate customers where they want to be.

Creating a solution to make your guest experience better isn’t about how much information to put in. Better guidance with fewer words is better than too much information. When you put 200 bottled wines on the menu, I can guarantee you every server didn’t drink all of them, even the sommelier can’t remember all (I am). If they had fewer items, everyone can taste and recommend them with confidence to their guests and boost sales.

Too many restaurants make this mistake.
Less is more.