May We Suggest?: Restaurant Menus and the Art of Persuasion

An art expert takes a critical look at restaurant menus—from style and layout to content, pricing and more—to reveal the hidden influence of menu design. We've all ordered from a restaurant menu. But have you ever wondered to what extent the menu is ordering you? In May We Suggest, art historian and gastronome Alison Pearlman focuses her discerning eye on the humble menu to reveal a captivating tale of persuasion and profit. Studying restaurant menus through the lenses of art history, experience design and behavioral economics, Pearlman reveals how they are intended to influence our dining experiences and choices. Then she goes on a mission to find out if, when, and how a menu might sway her decisions at more than sixty restaurants across the greater Los Angeles area. What emerges is a captivating, thought-provoking study of one of the most often read but rarely analyzed narrative works around. We've all ordered from a restaurant menu. But have you ever wondered to what extent the menu is ordering you? In this fascinating new book, art historian and gastronome Alison Pearlman takes a critical look at the design of physical restaurant menus--their content, size, scope, material, and more--to explore how they influence (or not) our dining experiences and choices. After years of collecting menus and studying their cultural significance through the lens of art history, Pearlman realized they were also profoundly important sales tools, affecting everything from a restaurant's operations and profits to a diner's expectations and behavior. There was just one problem: she wasn't exactly convinced that any menu had ever swayed her own choices. So she set off on a mission to understand if, how, and when menus work in appealing to us diners, visiting and meticulously documenting more than 60 restaurants of all stripes in the greater Los Angeles area. In May We Suggest, Pearlman applies her background in art to her love of cuisine by combining her own dining experiences with research from a broad range of disciplines, from experience design to behavioral economics. What emerges is a captivating, thought-provoking study of one of the most often read but rarely analyzed narrative works around: the humble menu. "An art expert takes a critical look at restaurant menus -- from style and layout to content, pricing and more -- to reveal the hidden influence of menu design. We've all ordered from a restaurant menu. But have you ever wondered to what extent the menu is ordering you? In May We Suggest , art historian and gastronome Alison Pearlman focuses her discerning eye on the humble menu to reveal a captivating tale of persuasion and profit. Studying restaurant menus through the lenses of art history, experience design and behavioral economics, Pearlman reveals how they are intended to influence our dining experiences and choices. Then she goes on a mission to find out if, when, and how a menu might sway her decisions at more than sixty restaurants across the greater Los Angeles area. What emerges is a captivating, thought-provoking study of one of the most often read but rarely analyzed narrative works around."-- Provided by Freading Art historian and food lover Alison Pearlman visits more than 60 restaurants to take a critical look at the design of physical restaurant menus-their content, size, scope, material, and more-to explore how they influence (or not) our dining experiences and choices.