You do it with less square footage and fewer tables. You apply the same smart business sense that makes big restaurants successful. You’re proud of kitchen staff, front of house service and your cafe food menu.
Size doesn’t matter when you know you’re cooking and serving your very best. Still, every small operation can use new small cafe menu ideas.
Fresh Inspiration for Your Cafe Food Menu
Refreshing the food menu is a simple way to keep customers coming back for more. From early birds to late-night groups, impress everyone with your special brand of food and service. We offer these six cafe menu ideas for inspiration.
1. Cafe Menu Ideas For Breakfast
Make your cafe’s breakfast the best way to start a day. Tempt early diners with rich eggs Benedict and oven-baked quiche. Impress them with French toast made famous in New Orleans.
Spice things up first thing in the morning with breakfast tacos, burritos and heuvos rancheros. Take a cue from the popular Snooze cafe chain where guests are encouraged to have fun and customize their orders.
2. Cafe Menu Ideas For Lunch
Fresh sandwiches are staples on cafe lunch menus. Make yours memorable by offering more than the basics. Elevate the comfort of a grilled cheese sandwich with deliciously different recipes. Consider adding several of these super sandwiches to your lunch menu:
• Hot, tangy Reubens
• Savory Greek pitas
• Buttery, pressed Cubans
• Toasty panini sandwiches
• Juicy French dips
Lunch customers also appreciate a big bowl of red. Chili is a favorite entree year-round, and it also makes a great topping for hot dogs and burgers.
3. Healthy Cafe Lunch Ideas
Some of the best cafe menu ideas satisfy appetities with healthy options. Warm up a hungry lunch crowd with healthy, housemade vegetable soups made with a light chicken stock. Take advantage of locally sourced veggies that keep soup recipes seasonally fresh.
Salads are another excellent healthy lunch choice. Transform these sides into sensational entrees as classic Caesar or bountiful Nicoise salads. Both dishes center around fresh hearts of romaine lettuce, so broaden your cafe’s salad selection by putting them both on the menu.
4. Hearty Cafe Dinner Ideas
Keep late-night diners happy by making your best hamburgers even even better. Grill up burgers made with a mix of ground sirloin and lamb. Top them off with crunchy pickled lettuce, and serve them on housemade buns sided with thick-cut fries and fresh onion rings.
Give the dinner crowd sharing options too with cafe menu items like big baskets of fried shrimp and fish with hush puppies. Pass around plates of fried chicken, bowls of biscuits and boats of gravy. Mediterranean platters are another great way to keeping large parties lively.
5. Ideas For Cafe Menu Specials
Discounts on breakfast and lunch specials bring in business, but reimagine specials in a way that doesn’t impact your bottom line. Turn them into small culinary events that customers look forward to.
• Feature set daily entrees like Nashville’s famous Loveless Cafe.
• Break out the small plates with a monthly tapas night.
• Depending on the season, throw a crab, shrimp or crawfish boil.
• Celebrate families with special dishes on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Grandparents’ Day.
Promote your specials with steady feeds across social media, and encourage your customers’ input too. Invite them to snap, tweet and pin their favorite specials. This type of marketing is very effective, and it’s inexpensive too.
6. Delicious Cafe Dessert Ideas
Every basic cafe menu includes classic desserts. Fruit pies are always in season, so bake yours with locally sourced peaches, apples and cherries. Turn that fresh produce into deep dish pies, mini pie tarts and fried fruit pies.
Housemade ice cream is a sure-fire hit too. Top off a slice of fruit pie with a creamy scoop, or serve it as a side to rich red velvet cake. From banana splits to smoothies and shakes, signature ice cream can be one of your most versatile cafe dessert ingredients.
Always at Your Service
It’s great to see a foodservice business take off in a big way. It’s especially satisfying when you manage it all with limited space. Friendly service, a great menu and your hard work make it happen.
We’re happy to help with small cafe ideas you can use from early breakfasts to late-night dinners. It’s our pleasure to be your source for industry tips and culinary inspiration. Here at Hitchcock Farms, we’re always at your service.
