How to Make a Deli Menu Design With Examples (Free Template)

How to Create a Deli Menu

So, you’re opening a deli. And if you’re reading this, you’re probably ready to start creating your deli menu – which means you’re already taking major steps toward bringing your vision to life. Congratulations! 

As you begin the process of designing your menu from scratch, think of it as a critical tool – your menu will be integral to communicating your deli’s brand to your customers, driving engagement with your target market, and maximizing your revenue. If that feels like a lot to fit all on one page, don’t worry – this post will cover everything you need to know to create the best menu (whether printed, online, or on the wall of your deli) for your business.

Deli Menu Design Best Practices

Your deli menu should be unique to your brand and establishment, so there are no one-size-fits-all rules for creating your menu design. However, these menu design best practices, and the following 10 steps, offer a very helpful guide as you begin working through your menu design process. 

How to Make a Deli Menu

1. Write Out All Menu Items 

Knowing exactly what items you have to work with at the outset of your menu design process is critical to setting you up for success over these next nine steps. So, grab a pen, pull up an Excel sheet or Word doc, and start writing.

This list should include anything and everything you plan to sell to your customers, from classic sandwiches to breakfast items to soups, sides, and snacks, to desserts, coffee, and other drinks. Make sure to also think about every component that will go into your menu items – breads, cheeses, meat, and other toppings like lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, peppers; sauces and spreads like butter, cream cheese, jelly, and peanut butter; and anything else that your customers might purchase or add to an order.

2. Categorize Menu Items

Because deli menus tend to cover a lot of ground, it’ll be important to take your time figuring out how to best categorize all of the items on your menu.

Will you offer pre-determined specialty sandwiches or list out all of your meats and toppings so customers can build their own? Offer a combination of both? Will you categorize by type of sandwich, like wraps, paninis, subs, and heroes? What about organizing by hot or cold sandwich? Or by meal – breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Will soups and salads go under “sides” or will they get their own sections? Will coffee go with your other drinks?

As you sort out which menu items should go where, consider how you can strategically organize all of your items in a way that will make the most sense to your customer, make your menu feel clear and accessible, and make it as easy as possible for your guests to find what they want and place their orders. Tools like this menu engineering worksheet and these deli menu templates are also great resources to help you figure out this step of your menu design process.

3. Set Menu Prices 

As you determine how much to charge for each item on your menu, several factors will be helpful to consider as you calculate your costs. For example, what are the expenses you’ll have to make sure your revenue covers? This includes everything from inventory and rent, to store maintenance and cleaning, to staff compensation and benefits, and anything else you’ll be on the hook for. What about your target market? Think about who your ideal customer is, and how you can set prices that are both accessible and sustainable for the audience you’re trying to engage, and will enable you to meet your revenue needs.

What about your competitors? Consider the other delis in your area, how much they’re charging for similar products, how your prices fall within that competitive landscape, and what makes your deli stand out to your potential customers. Maybe you can offer lower prices to draw in more people, or maybe your prices are higher because your products are much higher quality that customers will be willing to invest in.

How does your inventory factor in? For example, if you’re sourcing your inventory from local farms that ensure organic, non-GMO goods, that adds value to your products and should be factored into their price, especially if your competitors aren’t offering the same.*

*Pro-tip: If you think your target market would value a certain way that you’re approaching business – like providing organic, locally-sourced products – don’t be afraid to let them know! If it aligns with your customer’s values, a note on your menu about why your prices are higher and what your guests are investing in can go a long way in building customer trust and supporting business.

Additionally, how are you leveraging the tools available to support this step of your menu design process? Feel free to look into resources, like our menu engineering course and menu pricing strategy guide, that can help you calculate the best menu prices for your deli and your customers. 

4. Create Menu Descriptions 

In order to get customers to buy items off your menu, however, it’ll be important to make sure they know what they’re buying. As you write the descriptions for each item on your menu, consider what you’d want to know if you were your customer – are you listing out all of your ingredients and flagging potential allergies or dietary restrictions? Is it clear where customers have room to make modifications or add-on items to their orders? 

This step is also an opportunity to have a little fun! As you name your sandwiches and write out what’s in them, for example, think about whether some deli humor would resonate with your customers – can you throw in any jokes or puns? Think about what tone would best reflect your brand, and what would help to drive customer engagement. If the thoughts just aren’t rolling, don’t worry – you can always bring in some outside support by hiring a copywriter to help cook up the perfect deli menu item descriptions.

5. Decide on a Menu Color Scheme

Think of your menu color scheme as a communication tool. Your colors will tell your customers who you are. They’ll be what your customers associate with your establishment. And they can play a major role in curating your brand identity by providing a sense of cohesiveness and consistency, both of which are important for building customer trust and reliability.

You might already have a brand kit for your deli – if so, feel free to skip this step and incorporate the colors you already have for your deli into your menu design. If not, resources like the ones listed below are great places to start if you’re in need of some deli menu color scheme inspo:

• Chron’s The Psychology of Colors for Restaurant Designs

• Adobe Color CC (color wheel tool)

• ColorDot (color palette tool)

• ColRD (color inspiration) 

6. Design Your Deli Menu 

When it comes to the design of your deli menu, feel free to bring in professional support by hiring a graphic designer. If you’d rather keep your design in-house, there are plenty of resources available to help you tackle this step on your own. Sites Canva and Adobe Suite, templates like these are great places to start creating your own design concept. Additionally, social media sites like Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok can offer a wealth of design inspiration. 

As you build out your design concept, think about the menu items and categories you have to work with – what design will afford your menu the space it needs to keep your content clear and informative, without overwhelming your customers? What design will allow your menu to flow well, and be intuitive to read? Where will you be able to add in additional components, like photos? 

7. Deli Shop Menu Photos 

Which brings us to… 

Incorporating high-quality images of your items into your menu design can be a great way to offer sneak peeks of the deli-cious meals you have available to order, enticing customers to give your business a try.

Additionally, leveraging photos can be a savvy strategy to influence customer behavior and support your business’s goals. For example, highlighting your highest-price items can help drive your deli’s revenue; putting your best-sellers on display can help to expand their – and your deli’s – popularity; and showing off your most aesthetically-pleasing options can encourage customers to digitally engage with your products, generate online buzz about your deli, and support any social media marketing you take on.

8. Choose Menu Fonts, Spacing, and Composition

Will all the text on your menu appear in the same font? Will your headers, menu items, and descriptions all get different fonts? If so, will this variety complement one another or will they contrast to create an interesting visual effect? Which fonts will show up in which colors from your color scheme?

How will you space out all of your menu categories on the page? What about the items within each category? Where will you place your photos in relation to the rest of the content on your menu? 

The answers to all of these questions will determine both your overall menu composition, and how your customers will experience and engage with your menu, your items, and your shop, so make sure to take your time trying out different font, spacing, and composition options to see how different versions flow, and determine which would be the best fit for your deli.

9. Select the Final Menu Layout 

As you work to figure out that best fit, feel free to bring in some new perspectives to your process. Friends, family, staff, and other trusted stakeholders with fresh eyes and helpful feedback can be invaluable resources – and if you have such support available, this is a great step to use it. Take whatever input resonates and move forward with the menu layout option that feels best to you!

10. Proofread and Print your Menu 

You’ve selected your final menu design, you’re ready to print your copies (options like Staples, Vistaprint, PsPrint, and PrintPlace are great places to start when it comes to printing services) – but first, it’s super important to do one (or a few) last copy edits. 

Customers will notice any errors on your menu, so take the time now – before it’s too late to make any changes – to give your menu a very close read, and catch and fix any typos or mistakes. This is, again, an opportunity to lean on your community for support – the more eyes, the better the chances you’re putting the best possible version forward!

Congrats! Your deli menu is ready to go!

Examples of Deli Menus

Canter’s

With seven pages of menu items to offer, sorting their products into intuitive, accessible sections is no small challenge. Yet, with clearly labeled categories, easy-to-find menu items and descriptions, an aesthetically pleasing color scheme, and fonts that engage but don’t overwhelm, Canter’s Deli manages to do it all. 

Rein’s

Rein’s Deli offers so many options (who knew there were so many ways to modify a sandwich??) it would be easy for their menu to feel overwhelming and impersonal. But thanks to a minimalist approach to their colors and font, clearly organized sections, and creative illustrations included throughout, they strike a perfect balance — informative, accessible, and engaging. 

Katz’s Delicatessen

Two of the best parts of the menu at Katz’s Deli: iconic photos of all of their menu items that do a great job of previewing the meal for their customers and an online ordering system that automatically prompts customers to choose any sides or add-ons they want to tack onto the order. Effective on all fronts! 

Sam LaGrassa’s

Well-organized sections - check. Clear menu items and descriptions - check. Images of menu items - check. Easy modification/add-on options - check. Intuitive and accessible menu - check. No surprise this Boston institution does it all.

Fat Sal’s

By combining minimalist fonts and well-sized and -spaced sections and items with pops of an understated color scheme and a funky background, Fat Sal’s keeps their menu informative, accessible, and engaging. Ve(ry)nice job by this Venice joint.

Weinberger’s Deli

With clearly labeled sections, photos of every item, informative descriptions, and accessible prices, Weinberger’s Deli shows us how it’s done — no wonder it’s the (self-proclaimed) “best deli in Texas”!

Pickle’s New York Deli & More

While this “authentic New York deli” located in Florida might feel like an oxymoron, there’s nothing contradictory about the menu at Pickle’s Deli. It’s clear, well-spaced out, easy to read and navigate, with a minimalist color scheme and decorative details to add a little flair — ALL good things over here.

Diplomat Deli

Because they typically offer so many menu items, deli menus can include a LOT of text — and because space is limited, it can be tricky to break up that text with designs or visual images. Diplomat Deli, however, does a great job of using a variety of font sizes and colors, as well as some strategic spacing, to differentiate between their items, descriptions, and prices — making their menu feel fresh, clear, and easy to read.

Jerome’s Deli

Jerome’s also provides a great example of how colors and font size can go a long way in making a menu feel accessible and easy to navigate. With a large font and bright red color for their section headers, their menu already appears well-organized upon first glance. And by separating menu items from their descriptions by making them bold, they provide an extra layer of organization. It’s all in the details! 

Leven Deli

Organizing the menus is just as important as organizing within the menu! With different menus for breakfast, lunch, happy hour, drinks, and catering, Leven Deli has it down from the top down. Combined with an aesthetically-pleasing color scheme and minimalist details, this menu is simple, effective, and a great example of what deli menus can and should look like. 

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