Restaurant Menu Design

When the Minor Theatre, a historic cinema in Arcata, CA, reopened under new ownership, they aimed to offer more than just movies. By introducing a curated selection of local food and beverages, they set out to deliver a truly elevated guest experience. But adding dining options brought a new challenge: creating a menu that was easy to navigate without distracting from the main event.

As a freelance graphic designer, I was brought in to design a minimalistic, high-impact menu that made ordering fast, intuitive, and enjoyable—without overwhelming patrons or slowing down concession operations.

Minor Theatre needed a menu that:

• Delivered clear food and beverage options with minimal reading time
• Preserved the theater’s historic brand identity—simple, elegant, and understated
• Supported fast customer flow during peak showtimes

The design needed to be highly functional—but still on-brand and visually refined.

I developed a clean, monochromatic menu design with:

• Slim Profile: Easy for customers to hold and quickly scan in line or at their seats.
• Double-Sided Layout: Organized food on one side and beverages on the other for intuitive navigation.
• Minimalist Typography: Bold section headings and clear item listings reduced decision friction.
• Tactile Quality: Printed on sturdy stock to hold up to frequent handling while maintaining a premium feel.

The restrained black-and-white palette aligned perfectly with Minor Theatre’s vintage charm—while keeping the focus where it belonged: on fast, easy ordering.

The new slim menu delivered measurable improvements:

• Reduced line wait times by speeding up the ordering process
• Increased average order value through better menu clarity
• Strengthened brand perception through a polished, cohesive print piece
• Boosted customer satisfaction during high-traffic showtimes

What could have been a simple menu became a subtle but powerful driver of operational success.

“The slim menu Andrew created was exactly what we needed. It’s clean, quick to read, and fits our brand perfectly. We’ve seen faster concession lines and more upsells thanks to the improved design.”
— Josh Neff, Owner, The Minor Theatre