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Restaurant Menu Suggestor
Format + cuisine → optimized starter menu with dish roles, section structure, and menu engineering tips. 25-cuisine menu bank adapted for QSR to fine dining.
Format
Veg
Menu focus
What food are you serving? Format is how you operate; cuisine is what you cook.
Optimization tips
Menu-engineering moves for this format and cuisine.
Menu engineering70/30 rule: ~70% of revenue should come from ~30% of your SKUs. Mark signature and star dishes clearly on the menu.
Menu engineeringAnchor pricing: your highest-priced main should be 1.8–2.5× your median main — it makes mid-tier items feel like value.
Menu engineeringIngredient overlap: design so your top 5 ingredients appear in 60%+ of dishes. Fewer vendors, lower waste.
Menu engineeringSection caps: don't exceed 8–10 items per section at launch. A smaller, consistent menu beats a sprawling one.
Menu engineeringReserve 2–3 menu slots for seasonal/festival swaps — don't rebuild the whole menu every quarter.
Menu engineeringAttach rate: every main should have a natural beverage or dessert upsell. Train staff on one-line upsells.
Format tipCasual dining needs anchor items (thali, platter, chef's special) priced 2× median main.
Format tipBread/beverage attach drives margin — train servers to suggest naan/roti with every gravy.
Format tipKeep one premium anchor (mutton, seafood, tasting plate) to lift average ticket.
Cuisine tipSlow-cook items (nihari, haleem) are weekend specials — don't run daily unless volume justifies.
Ingredient overlap wins
Shared prep keeps waste and SKU count down.
- Ghee + cream + dry fruits across korma, biryani, and desserts
- Kebab mince prep shared across galouti, seekh, kakori, shami
- Saffron + kewra water in biryani, phirni, and shahi tukda
- Yoghurt marinade base for all tikka and kebab items
Equipment essentials
- Tandoor
- Heavy deg for slow cooking
- Marination walk-in
- Coal/gas dum setup for biryani
Your starter menu
LiveDishes recommended
30
Casual Dining · Mughlai · target 35–55
Veg / non-veg16 / 14
Avg prep time29 min
Food cost band32–40%
Cuisine note
Mutton + ghee variance is the silent margin killer.
Starters
| Dish | Role | Veg | Price band | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galouti Kebab | Signature | Non-veg | ₹320–550 | 20m |
| Seekh Kebab | Star | Non-veg | ₹280–480 | 14m |
| Kakori Kebab | Anchor | Non-veg | ₹350–580 | 18m |
| Paneer Tikka | Profit | Veg | ₹220–380 | 12m |
| Shami Kebab | Profit | Non-veg | ₹260–440 | 16m |
| Chicken Tikka | Traffic | Non-veg | ₹240–400 | 14m |
Mains
| Dish | Role | Veg | Price band | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nihari | Signature | Non-veg | ₹350–580 | 180m |
| Chicken Korma | Star | Non-veg | ₹300–520 | 30m |
| Mutton Korma | Anchor | Non-veg | ₹380–650 | 50m |
| Haleem | Anchor | Non-veg | ₹280–480 | 240m |
| Pasanda | Profit | Non-veg | ₹380–620 | 40m |
| Dal Makhni | Traffic | Veg | ₹200–340 | 20m |
Breads
| Dish | Role | Veg | Price band | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheermal | Profit | Veg | ₹60–120 | 8m |
| Naan | Traffic | Veg | ₹40–80 | 4m |
| Roomali Roti | Attach | Veg | ₹40–80 | 4m |
Rice & Biryani
| Dish | Role | Veg | Price band | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biryani (Chicken) | Star | Non-veg | ₹280–480 | 35m |
| Biryani (Mutton) | Anchor | Non-veg | ₹350–580 | 50m |
| Pulao | Attach | Veg | ₹180–300 | 20m |
Sides
| Dish | Role | Veg | Price band | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raita | Attach | Veg | ₹60–120 | 5m |
| Salad | Attach | Veg | ₹40–80 | 3m |
| Mirch Ka Salan | Attach | Veg | ₹80–150 | 15m |
Desserts
| Dish | Role | Veg | Price band | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shahi Tukda | Signature | Veg | ₹120–220 | 10m |
| Phirni | Profit | Veg | ₹100–180 | 10m |
| Gulab Jamun | Attach | Veg | ₹80–150 | 3m |
| Kulfi | Attach | Veg | ₹80–150 | 2m |
Beverages
| Dish | Role | Veg | Price band | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irani Chai | Profit | Veg | ₹40–80 | 5m |
| Sharbat | Traffic | Veg | ₹40–80 | 2m |
| Sweet Lassi | Attach | Veg | ₹60–120 | 3m |
Combos & Thalis
| Dish | Role | Veg | Price band | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kebab Platter | Star | Non-veg | ₹500–850 | 15m |
| Mughlai Thali | Anchor | Non-veg | ₹350–580 | 12m |
Casual Dining · Mughlai starter menu
Opening a casual dining with a mughlai menu? Start with 30 curated dishes adapted for this format — target food cost 32-40%. Rent + labour + interior depreciation are the big three.
Related: Mughlai menu pricing · viability score · cost to open
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Related reading
- menuMenu engineering matrix in plain English (with template)Menu engineering is just popularity × margin on a 2×2 grid. Most owners avoid it because it sounds like consulting jargon. Here is the plain-English version with a downloadable template.
- menuPlow Horse repricing: raise bestseller prices without losing volumeButter chicken and dal makhani sell every day but barely cover rent after food cost. Raising price on a bestseller feels suicidal. Here's when to do it, how much to move, and the three plays that lift margin without losing the order count.
- case studyMenu redesign case study: 15% margin lift in 90 daysA 1,400 sqft Kothrud casual dining grew contribution margin 15 points in 90 days without raising prices on bestsellers or losing covers. Here is the before after, the 8 menu changes that mattered, and what the data shows.
- menuCuisine pricing benchmarks India 2026: thali, biryani, dosa, pizzaPricing a chicken biryani in Hyderabad has nothing to do with pricing one in Pune. Here are the 2026 menu price benchmarks for the top 8 Indian cuisines across T1, T2, and T3 cities.
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