How a Belgian restaurant can become more profitable: Menu engineering

INSIGHT – The excitement surrounding the 2026 Michelin Guide has barely subsided, and Belgian restaurateurs are facing a less glamorous reality: the grind of accounting and making ends meet down to the last euro. In starred establishments as well as less sophisticated ones, profitability is achieved through meticulous planning. It's a reminder that while cooking is an art, its long-term success relies on science.

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Congratulations to the new recipients of the Michelin Guide's stars ! But as iconic as the award may be, in Belgium, we don't pay rent or social security contributions based on praise from the Red Guide. Cuisine reigns supreme, whether it be exquisite, exceptional, or even unique. But culinary art cannot reach its full potential without a solid and efficient financial structure. While prestige is an intangible asset, profitability is the result of a mathematical equation in which the menu is a determining variable. And this applies to the entire hospitality industry.

Excluding high-end restaurants, the average Belgian bill is €25.90, with a transaction fee of €1.25. However, the reality lies in a sector that absorbs annual cost increases without being able to pass them on fully to its prices. In this context, profitability is built upstream, in the very composition of the menu.

Menu engineering

Menu engineering is not a concept reserved for large American chains. Groups like Darden Restaurants or Yum! Brands have been analyzing the profitability of each item for decades, down to the last line, cross-referencing food costs, preparation time and gross margin to decide what stays on the menu and what disappears.

This level of rigor is now accessible to any restaurant owner with the right tools to manage profitability by item, track orders, manage inventory, and analyze sales trends in real time. Beyond the kitchen and day-to-day operations, it's a task that every restaurant owner must prioritize.

Simplified is not simplistic

Operational simplification directly impacts the cost structure. A complex dish requires preparation time, generates stress during peak hours, and increases the risk of errors. In Belgium, where employer contributions remain among the highest in Europe, every minute not optimized weighs on the bottom line.

Ellis Gourmet Burger illustrates this principle, and today takes it even further with the Crousty , a concept that relies almost exclusively on two ingredients – chicken and rice – allowing for quick execution, minimal stock and staff training reduced to the essentials.

Cross-use of ingredients

Cross-referencing ingredients is the natural corollary. No SKU should enter the kitchen unless it contributes to at least two preparations. This principle reduces waste and optimizes inventory, but also produces an often underestimated effect: by purchasing larger volumes of fewer SKUs, the operator improves their negotiating position and obtains better supplier prices. What begins as a menu decision ends up in the profit and loss statement.

Perceived value is a powerful yet subtle lever. Statistics from the Cube, our proprietary data model, indicate that 73% of Belgians cite conviviality as their primary reason for dining out. What they pay far exceeds the cost of the meal itself.

A restaurant that tells its story, showcases its producers, or explains the technique behind a dish creates a perceived value that justifies higher prices without the customer feeling the strain. Comme Chez Soi capitalizes on three generations of family craftsmanship. Noordzee has made provenance a daily spectacle. Dierendonck maintains premium prices because the market understands what it's buying.

Like the "Crazy Tuesdays"

Managing prices over time is a lever that few Belgian operators use strategically. Pizza Hut and Domino's popularized it in Belgium with their Crazy Tuesdays and Saturdays, creating a weekly event embedded in consumer habits while optimizing periods of low activity.

This mechanism extends far beyond pizza: each seasonal trend is an opportunity to structure a limited-time offer around a flagship product. Mussels in September, game in November, a holiday menu in December – these are all key periods that allow for testing higher prices over short periods without disrupting the permanent menu structure, and then integrating the successful items into the regular menu at a consolidated price.

Attachment selling

Increasing the average order value involves what the Anglo-Saxons call "menu upselling" or "attachment selling." This is the art of enriching each order with additions that seem natural to the customer but are planned in advance by the operator. A tapas-style appetizer, a low-cost dessert like a tub of high-quality ice cream or a locally sourced charcuterie board, a bottle of wine opened in the dining room: these items generate a high gross margin without requiring any work from the kitchen.

Drinks remain the most immediate and most underutilized lever, with an attachment rate of only 50.8% in Belgium, with almost one in two orders leaving the room without a single drink being sold.

It is this dual action carried out simultaneously – cost optimization through simplification, increased revenue through customer loyalty – that transforms a culturally vibrant restaurant into a sustainably profitable business.