Evaluate Your Best-selling Dishes and Their Costs when Considering New Menu Items
(Editor’s note: This article is based on a Pizza Expo 2025 session led by Melissa Rickman, co-founder of Wholly Stromboli in Fort Lupton, Colorado.)
Restaurant operators often assume that offering more menu items will attract more people. In reality, doing too much can stretch your staff thin and dilute your brand. That’s where menu diversification comes into play.
“Your menu is the roadmap to your restaurant,” says Melissa Rickman, co-founder of Colorado-based Wholly Stromboli. Before considering new menu items, Rickman advises operators to evaluate what the current menu says about their brand. For example: What dishes are top performers? What do your guests love most?
Once you have answered these questions, she suggests sticking to areas where your pizzeria already excels. Specialty dishes shine because you’ve put in the time to perfect the recipe, train your team and price it properly. If you can’t deliver a knockout experience, why put it on your menu?
Why Diversify Your Menu?
Broaden Appeal
You can’t expect everyone visiting your restaurant in a group will order the same thing. Three out of five people might want pizza, but one person insists on a salad. Your choice of whether to offer the salad could be a make-or-break decision that gets the whole group through the door.
Increase Check Averages
Expanding appetizer and dessert offerings can encourage guests to add a little more to their order. Tempting side dishes and desserts don’t just satisfy guests; they boost revenue.
Drive Repeat Visits
If you’re operating in a smaller community, getting customers to visit more than once per week is essential. Adding creative options such as Italian nachos or seasonal specialties can keep them coming back without tiring of the same offerings.
Key Factors to Adding New Items
Want to try something new without committing? Make it a special! Specials are an excellent way to gauge customer interest without ending up with 12 specialty Strombolis on the menu. But beware of acting in a silo.
“Don’t be the corporate boss who makes changes without asking the people it affects,” Rickman says. Including kitchen staff in discussions about new menu items is critical to proper execution. Customizable options such as swapping pasta with zoodles for carb-conscious diners can meet dietary trends without adding new dishes. Other concerns include:
Stick to Your Brand: Your brand is the ultimate decision-making tool. Ask yourself, “Does this new item align with who we are and what we stand for?”
Know Your Food Costs: Adding menu items without knowing the food costs can lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for profit. Make sure you know the cost of ingredients, prep time and packaging for any new dish before putting it on the menu.
Cross-Utilize Ingredients: One of Rickman’s favorite hacks is making the most of existing ingredients. For example, she uses pasta chips as the base for Italian nachos, repurposing items she’s already ordering for other dishes. This keeps inventory manageable and prevents waste.
Keep Guests at the Center of Decisions
Understanding your customers is key to providing them with the food that creates return guests. Whether it’s through direct feedback, social media polls or listening in on conversations around the restaurant, she emphasized the value of being in tune with your customers’ preferences while staying true to your brand.
Menu diversification isn’t about pleasing everyone or throwing everything on the menu. It’s about finding ways to delight your guests, drive profitability and stay true to your restaurant’s identity. If you approach menu diversification with intention, data and a clear sense of your brand, you’ll not only make your menu stronger but also build a crowd of loyal customers.
“Don’t aim for perfection,” Rickman says. “Aim for better.”
