Where a restaurant's printed menu earns its keep
A restaurant menu in a kitchen drawer is still how a lot of households decide what to order on a busy night. Mailing that menu to the homes inside your delivery area puts it in the drawer, and an offer on the first order gives people a reason to try you instead of their usual place.
Inside the restaurant, print does a different job. A table tent sells the dessert, the drink special or the catering menu to guests who are already sitting down, which raises the check without any extra traffic.
Two audiences, two pieces: the mailer brings new households in, and the table tent earns more from the ones already there.
Menus, mailers and table tents compared
Mailing the menu
The Gold EDDM package is an 8.5″ × 11″ vertical bifold on 100lb coated text, so it opens like a small menu and still goes through EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail), reaching every address on the carrier routes you choose without a mailing list. 10,000 cost $679. A larger menu can go out as the Platinum EDDM package, an 11″ × 17″ bifold, 5,000 for $1,139.
The take-out menu at the counter
For bags, the counter and delivery orders, an 11″ × 17″ menu folds to a size that fits a take-out bag and has room for a full menu. 2,500 cost $709, and menu design is $159 if you want us to lay it out.
Table tents
A 4″ × 6″ table tent stands on every table and holds one promotion per side. 2,500 cost $695, enough to replace tired tents through the year.
Menu prices, offers and how long a print run lasts
Prices on a printed menu age, so plan the run around how often you change them. If you raise prices twice a year, order what you will use in six months rather than the largest tier, or print a menu without prices on the mailer and keep current prices online and on the counter menu.
The mailer's offer should be easy to redeem and easy to track: a code for online orders, or "bring this menu" for dine-in. Use one offer per mailing so you know what worked.
Put the delivery area, hours, phone number and ordering link on every panel a reader might see first. Our take-out menu printing guide covers sizes and folds in more detail.
When restaurants should mail
Mail when there is news: an opening, a new location, a new menu, catering for the holidays, or a slow season you want to fill. A grand opening mailer to every home within your delivery radius is the single most common restaurant mailing.
After that, a menu mailer two to four times a year keeps a fresh copy in the drawer. Draw your routes around your actual delivery radius with our guide to choosing carrier routes, since homes outside it cannot order delivery from you.
Catering menus and opening signage
Catering is a different buyer: an office manager or event planner ordering for a group. A separate catering menu works better than a line on the take-out menu. An 8.5″ × 11″ trifold brochure holds package options and ordering details, and 2,500 cost $349.
For a grand opening or a new patio, a vinyl banner on the building tells passing traffic before any mail arrives. Banners are $5 per square foot with a second banner free, so two 3′ × 6′ banners cost $90.
Bringing first-time customers back
A mailer earns its cost when a first-time customer becomes a regular. Put something in every take-out bag that brings them back: a menu for the drawer, and a loyalty card that gets stamped with each order.
A punch-style loyalty card prints on a standard 3.5″ × 2″ business card, and 2,500 cost $69. Pair it with a reason to order again soon, such as a reward on the fifth visit, so the habit starts while your food is still fresh in their mind. Print your phone number and ordering link on the back.
Pricing a restaurant print order
A new restaurant's opening order: 10,000 Gold EDDM menus ($679) for the delivery area and 2,500 11″ × 17″ take-out menus ($709) for the counter and bags. The printing total is $1,388 before shipping.
Run your household count through the EDDM cost calculator to add shipping and postage, and use the break-even calculator with your profit per new regular, not per single order, since a household that keeps ordering is worth far more than one ticket.
Prices from our current price list. Content reviewed October 4, 2026.