Pictures That Show The Evolution Of Menus Over The Years

Though prehistoric evidence exists of restaurant listings in ancient civilizations, it was the New York City restaurant Delmonico's that first utilized a menu to present its offerings in the U.S. This upscale eatery is the modern ancestor of menus you've found in almost every sit-down restaurant you've been in. In olden times, there were no coordinated restaurants in the Big Apple. Rather, customers frequented smaller eateries where dining selections came on a whim. The Delmonico brothers changed the scene with their formal restaurant, complete with tablecloths and a chef-curated listing of dishes patrons could choose from — in other words, a menu.

Though this development changed the dining landscape in America, it didn't come at a leisurely pace. Early on, dinner at Delmonico's was a speedy affair, with each plate in a whopping 14-course meal being allotted around 10 minutes for diners to complete. Every element had a section on the menu, with an impressive array of dishes and prices listed. So, while choosing your own order from a set list was now a thing, it came with a frenzy attached. Eventually, the number of courses leveled off and possible selections for each were pared back.

As long as restaurants have been a commercial enterprise, there have been kids' menus dedicated to the tastes of younger diners. The earliest children's menus were illustrated and included simple items that were relatively similar to the adult fare. Nutrition seemed to be a key factor in early children's menus, though decades of development in casual dining would eventually bring us to the Happy Meal era where fun and comfort became favored over health benefits.

But it was only in the mid-20th century that the idea of turning menus into fun activities for little eaters to enjoy came into vogue. As children's eating shifted to more frivolous fare, children's menus also took on a more playful dimension. Eventually, the disposable placemat-style menu we've all become accustomed to appeared. Akin to a coloring book, this activity sheet with food listings was served with crayons and was meant to keep tots occupied while waiting for their food to arrive. Menus in this form serve both the pre-iPad parents who had limited options for entertaining their children and waitstaff eager to keep control over the atmosphere by limiting hungry wails.

With the advent of the chalkboard as a tool for creating signs, the work of customizing menus at a moment's notice became a simple task for restaurants. This erasable menu allows restaurateurs to place their regular orders and daily specials outdoors to draw passers-by in for additional business. Indoor chalkboard menus allow changes to be made on the fly when new recipes spring from the chef's imagination or when customers show preference for certain dishes over others. Rather than having to reprint paper menus, cafes and bistros can simply wash their chalkboard and start fresh.

Chalkboard menus still capture the carefree charm of bygone days when cafés and bistros would use A-frame signs to advertise their daily specials on sidewalks in front of their locations. The tradition has never fully vanished — instead, it became an artform that lets illustrators and letterers display their work while providing winsome accents for contemporary eateries. Professionals like John Rozich have made careers out of designing chalkboard menus. As Rozich told the Seattle Met, "The artwork is central with the menu worked in, versus the other way around."

When color photography became affordable and easy to reproduce, pictures of the items listed on the menu began appearing as part of the listing. This development added a whole new dimension to the ordering experience, allowing customers to view the food before ordering. Earlier menus had featured illustrations on postcards made from linen paper, but they could only go so far. Once color photography took over, the glory of visual eating became a part of the menu experience for diners to savor.

With photographic images to represent dishes rather than verbal descriptions, customers were able to make more informed choices about what they wanted to eat. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that the photographs measured up to the finished dishes when they finally arrived at the table. The same is true for anyone who's ordered a Big Mac based on an image, only to receive a much flatter, less attractive version of the sandwich. But a drool-worthy picture is worth a thousand words when it comes to getting restaurant visitors excited about what they'll be eating.

With the development of the Internet, restaurants gained the ability to post their menus online. Presenting a web-based list of food options provided customers the freedom of viewing and even choosing their dishes before they even left for the restaurant. It seems Pizza Hut was the first chain to take advantage of the new format, with its pizza becoming the first food sold via the Internet. A company called World Wide Waiter, which became Waiter.com, was the first food delivery company to offer a web-based menu — a hint of great things to come.

Once menus began appearing online, patrons were able to view new options before settling on a restaurant, expanding their possibilities for dining enjoyment. Likewise, restaurants found a new way to excite potential customers by reaching them in a digital format that could be advertised via email and eventually text message. This powerful development put restaurant menus in the homes of hungry patrons, who had yet to decide on what they were most hungry for. By offering special discounts available only to newsletter subscribers, restaurants could make a visual impact with their audience on a regular basis. Menus had entered the Information Age.

Once smartphones hit the market, restaurants began developing apps that would take the digital menu mobile. Menu apps made it even easier for hungry diners to submit their orders remotely. It's been said that Taco Bell was the first chain to create an app-based menu. Users can queue up their selections and schedule pick-up whenever suitable, putting the power of time management in their mobile devices. These app-based menus quickly went beyond the usual food listing to include daily specials tailored to the user's most frequent orders and loyalty reward programs that automatically converted dollars spent to points earned. And apps allowed food delivery services to evolve entirely and make it possible for restaurants to meet customers wherever they are.

As today's diners know, app-based menus make ordering from mobile devices as simple as a screen tap. Where written descriptions once enticed the indecisive into choosing something that sounded fantastic, vibrant visuals give patrons a clearer idea of their options, allowing them to track their history and lock in their favorites for future orders. This high-tech table-turning also allows restaurants to easily review the most popular items on the app and tailor their offerings to maximize traffic.

Rather than leaving customers to download an app or find their way to a website to view a menu, restaurants now use QR codes. These modernized barcodes can be scanned with a smartphone, allowing smartphone and tablet users to access entire restaurant listings without having to spell the web address correctly or even know the name of the restaurant they're ordering from. It's a direct link to the restaurant's website, available at a click for the utmost in digital menu convenience.

Additionally, QR-encoded menus introduce the element of surprise, letting users discover something available only via scan. Offering codes for special items or temporary promos creates a sense of fun for the user. QR codes also reduce space required for a restaurant's marketing and advertising strategy. A single QR code can be printed on business cards, flyers, and t-shirts to be used repeatedly by simply updating the URL the code leads to. This flexibility creates a powerful, instantaneous connection between patron and restaurant, fulfilling the need for fast gratification from tech savvy consumers in the dining world.

All this change is enough to make us wonder — what will the future of menus look like?