You spent months sourcing heirloom tomatoes and local goat cheese from a small dairy farm, yet your menu reads: “Tomatoes with Goat Cheese.” That’s like calling the Mona Lisa “portrait of lady.” Let’s add some flavor—minus the flowery prose that makes diners gag.

Lead With the Star, Not the Sidekick

❌ Greens with grilled salmon

✅ Wild-caught king salmon served over today’s farmer’s market greens

Order matters; the priciest ingredient should headline, not hide backstage.

Use One Sensory Adjective, Then Stop

Stacking dish descriptors—“succulent, savory, mouth-watering braised short rib”—is literary salt: a pinch dazzles, a tablespoon ruins dinner. Pick one vivid word per dish.

Drop the Industry Jargon

Very few folks outside culinary school know what “ballotine” is. Translate or teach: Ballotine (rolled boneless chicken thigh stuffed with spinach, Gruyère, and bread).

Mini Makeover Exercise

Original: “Pan-seared chicken breast, quinoa, broccolini, lemon”
Punch-Up: “Zesty lemon chicken breast with quinoa & charred broccolini”
Time spent: 7 seconds. Result: Menu copy that pulls its weight.

Common Pitfalls and Fixes

Pitfall	Why It’s Bad	Fix
ALL-CAPS DISH NAMES	Shouts at diners	Use Title Case, Sentence case, lower case, or therapy.
Dot-Leader Overload …… $21	Old-school diner vibe (not in a cute way)	Include the price in the dish description.
Trademark Symbols™ EVERYWHERE®	Visual clutter	Unless the lawyers insist, ditch ’em.

Final Word

Great ingredients deserve great grammar and a dash of swagger. A pro proofreader polishes your prose so the food can do the flexing.

Think your menu could punch harder? Take our free menu audit and find out.