Editing Menu (section)

==Economics of menu production==
As early as the mid-20th century, some restaurants have relied on "menu specialists" to design and print their menus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://foodlocate.com/blog/psychological-optimization-for-profitable-menus|title=Psychological optimization for profitable menus|access-date=2020-02-28|archive-date=2020-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228140323/https://foodlocate.com/blog/psychological-optimization-for-profitable-menus|url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to the emergence of digital printing, these niche printing companies printed full-color menus on offset presses. The economics of full-color offset made it impractical to print short press runs. The solution was to print a "menu shell" with everything but the prices. The prices would later be printed on a less costly black-only press. In a typical order, the printer might produce 600 menu shells, then finish and [[laminate]] 150 menus with prices. When the restaurant needed to reorder, the printer would add prices and laminate some of the remaining shells.

With the advent of digital presses, it became practical in the 1990s to print full-color menus affordably in short press runs, sometimes as few as 25 menus. Because of limits on sheet size, larger laminated menus were impractical for single-location independent restaurants to produce press runs of as few as 300 menus, but some restaurants may want to place far fewer menus into service. Some menu printers continue to use shells. The disadvantage for the restaurant is that it is unable to update anything but prices without creating a new shell.

During the economic crisis in the 1970s, many restaurants found it costly to reprint the menu as inflation caused prices to increase. Economists noted this, and it has become part of economic theory, under the term "[[menu costs]]". In general, such "menu costs" may be incurred by a range of businesses, not just restaurants; for example, during a period of inflation, any company that prints catalogs or product price lists will have to reprint these items with new price figures.

To avoid having to reprint the menus throughout the year as prices changed, some restaurants began to display their menus on [[chalkboard]]s, with the menu items and prices written in [[chalk]]. This way, the restaurant could easily modify the prices without going to the expense of reprinting the paper menus. A similar tactic continued to be used in the 2000s with certain items that are sensitive to changing supply, fuel costs, and so on: the use of the term "market price" or "Please ask the server" instead of stating the price. This allows restaurants to modify the price of lobster, fresh fish and other foods subject to rapid changes in cost.

The latest trend in menus is to display them on handheld tablets; customers can browse through these and look at the photographs of the dishes.