Menu Strategy: Slimming Down
Noodles & Company pares down the menu to enhance the guest experience, operations and sales.
By Monica Rogers, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 2/1/2007
 To complement its Mediterranean menu options, Noodles & Company added Tomato Basil Bisque and Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast, which scores higher than any other protein for guest-repurchase intent.
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A customer at the local Noodles & Company studies new menu board options. The youthful order taker is eager to help. "May I help you, sir?" she asks. "Well…" the customer deliberates. "I want the Japanese Pan Noodles, but I’m thinking about a protein." "Oh I can help you with that," the server jumps in, delighted to have answers ready. "The traditional way this dish is served in Japan is with beef, so I’d recommend the sauteed beef. It’s really good that way." Her confidence is convincing, and the customer responds accordingly: "I’ll have that then."
The scene is the new norm at Noodles’ 136 units. Streamlined menus, which spread systemwide in January, make it easy as 1-2-3 to pick a portion size (small, regular or trio), food style (Asian, Mediterranean or American) and entree style (noodles, soup or salad). Proteins are listed at the top of the menu, making it more natural for guests to include them when ordering. And enhanced employee training—which includes monthly tasting and teaching on which protein goes best with each dish—means workers are much freer with helpful protein suggestions.
Setting Records
Initial results to the simpler menu are impressive for the Boulder, Colo.-based chain. "We are seeing an increase in average check of 1.5 percent, are seeing higher sales in all of our markets and are seeing guest counts outpace sales by 2 percentage points," says Vice President of Marketing Dwayne Chambers.
Executive Chef Ross Kamens says the trim new 18-item menu comes out of a 15-month optimization process. The company scrutinized every item and ingredient on the menu to improve appearance, flavor and quality—both for the guest and operationally. "This wasn’t about downsizing the menu so much as it was optimizing—making every item the best that it could be and removing anything that didn’t measure up," he says.
Less Is More
Research in hand, Kamens switched to a better-quality shrimp, replaced strip steak with slow-braised beef and sauteed beef, and added Parmesan-crusted chicken. Kamens also worked with employees systemwide on cooking tofu to achieve better flavor, texture and quality.
The menu-optimization process also included evaluating the physical menu. "We knew we needed to eliminate the Noodleless category, for example, because guests found the concept confusing," says Kamens. Toward that end, he cut entrees including the Mediterranean Mixed Grill, Shrimp Curry Saute, Sweet Chili Chicken and Chicken Rustica from the menu.
Guests also wanted the menu to be more symmetrical and easier to navigate. "They really needed balance on the menu," Chambers explains. "They wanted to have an equal number of noodle dishes, soup and salad under each category, so we gave them that using existing items newly organized." All that was missing was a soup for the Mediterranean section, so Kamens developed Tomato Basil Bisque to fill the gap.
Noodles’ also moved mention of protein options (chicken, beef, shrimp or tofu, $6.95 regular; $5.65 small) to the front of the menu, which resonated with guests. "They felt that doing it this way made including protein in the dish a front-end decision, rather than an afterthought," he says.
Small Experiments
Picturing three plate sizes at the front of the menu was also new. Unlike the previous menu, the new menu offers a small portion for all items.
And the new $6.95 Trio option—a small serving of any noodle or soup entree, choice of protein and choice of tossed green or Caesar side salad—has encouraged experimentation. "A large percentage of our guests order the same thing from visit to visit," says Chambers. "But 60 percent of guests who order the Trio option say they are including something new to them on the plate. The small portion seems to lessen the risk."
Chambers also says that rather than order a vegetarian option of a regular-sized bowl for $5.25, more guests are ordering a small-sized bowl and upgrading to include a protein for $5.65, or they are ordering a Trio option, which includes a protein. Resulting sales of small-portioned entrees are up 30 percent and protein upgrades have increased 10 percent.
Supporting all of the changes, Kamens and Chambers say Noodles’ "Food Focus" employee training program has been crucial. Each period, rather than feature a limited-time offer, units use signage to promote an item from the regular menu. Team members are familiarized with that item by cooking it, tasting it and learning which flavors it works best with. "The whole idea is to help team members get to know the food so well that they can then comfortably recommend good matches to the guest," says Chambers.
Encouraging enthusiasm in the ranks, local managers may add their own incentives. "You know, offering a goofy little prize to whomever can describe an item best or something," says Jason Snipes, assistant manager of the Evanston, Ill., store.
With Noodles’ menu so lean, Kamens says the challenge moving forward will be keeping it that way. "We’ll want to add new news," he says. "But to do that, we’ll also have to make the hard decision what should come off."
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