It’s not just kitchen jargon. the meaning of a la carte comes to us through French. in the 19th century, English speakers adopted the phrase to refer to a certain type of menu item, occasionally a lamb wine pairing, and it stuck. Another word for a la carte is according to the menu or by the menu.
So what is this mysterious menu item, and why does it appear in so many high-end restaurants?
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In this post, we’ll first look at what a la carte means, then dig a little deeper. We’ll look at some popular a la carte menu items, what an a la carte table cover looks like, and the a la carte menus themselves.
There’s even a free downloadable a la carte menu template if you’re designing your own. In addition, we give you an example of what a complete à la carte menu would look like.
what does a la carte mean?
When a dish in a restaurant is offered a la carte, it means that the dish is ordered individually. It is not part of a larger meal or a plate of dishes. if you order steak a la carte you get a steak and only a steak. there may be garnishes or sauces with it. some guests may choose to order a side dish with their a la carte steak. but they would also order that side dish a la carte.
defining characteristic
That’s because the defining characteristic of an a la carte menu item is that it is served differently, separately, from the way the dish is offered on the restaurant’s full menu. contrast this with fixed menus such as the table d hote menu and the prix fixe menu.
more expensive dishes
Another defining characteristic of the a la carte menu is that it is priced differently from the rest of the menu. a la carte dishes tend to be a bit more expensive, ounce for ounce, compared to their regular menu counterparts. That’s mainly because the restaurant doesn’t sell you numerous side dishes with your entree.
garnishes that tend to have higher margins. therefore, they will increase the price of the a la carte menu item to compensate. Knowing how to price a menu is key to profitability.
a la carte menu card
A menu made up of numerous à la carte dishes is called an à la carte menu. it is also sometimes referred to as an a la carte menu card. it can be a paper menu or a digital menu like a qr code menu.
and if you order your food only from the a la carte menu card, the a la carte service is not necessarily different from the service that others receive. the only difference is that you’ll probably have to coordinate with your server when you want each a la carte dish to arrive at the table. if you’d like the sauteed spinach a la carte side to be included in everyone else’s appetizers, please let me know.
what are the common a la carte dishes?
The dishes found on a restaurant’s a la carte menu depend entirely on the type of cuisine the restaurant serves. there is no certain type of dish that is more inherently a la carte than any other.
again, what makes a dish a la carte is that it is served individually, separate from the full menu.
but here is a list of a la carte dishes that often appear on a la carte menus. this should give you a decent idea of what types of menu items are typically served as a la carte dishes. what will appear on yours is often what is most popular on its own, an important data point for food menu engineering.
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For this example, we imagine an American-style steakhouse that is open for breakfast (these items also answer the question “what is brunch food?”).
4 common a la carte breakfasts
- omelettes
- oatmeal
- waffles
- blintzes
an omelette a la carte, for example, would be just the omelette. no fruit slices, no pancakes, no hash browns. get it? let’s see a version for lunch.
4 common a la carte lunches
- sandwiches
- pastas
- soups
- salads
Looks like a normal menu, doesn’t it? That’s because the type of item on an a la carte menu is not fundamentally different from what’s on the regular menu. only sold individually.
how was dinner?
4 a la carte dinners
- steaks
- crab cakes
- ribs
- lasagna
Here, imagine ordering a steak and just getting a steak. as in our previous example. maybe it comes with a side dish, but usually it’s just the steak.
Are there a la carte drinks?
good question! The drinks portion of a menu is often considered a la carte, since drinks are ordered separately.
A drink menu is inherently a la carte in that sense. It can also be any type of drink menu, from a wine list to a cocktail menu. and can also be presented digitally, depending on the restaurant technology used.
We know what a la carte menus are like. Now let’s see what a table should look like when serving a la carte menu cards.
what is the standard tablecloth for the a la carte table?
All types of restaurants have a la carte menus, from fast casual to luxurious white tablecloth fine dining establishments. this section deals mainly with the latter.
A la carte table settings are simply how each guest’s place at the table is established when an a la carte menu is served.
so here’s how to do it. this generally applies when the entire group orders from the a la carte menu.
and that tends to be a more common dining experience in europe than in the united states.
These are the five steps to create an a la carte tablecloth:
- place the base plate in the center of the lid position
- place the fish knife and fork around the base plate
- place the side plate about 5-6″ to the left of the base plate and place the side knife on top, on the right, facing left
- place a napkin in the center of the base plate
- place a glass about 2-3″ and to the right about 2-3″ from the tip of the fish fork
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voilà, you have your configuration a la carte.
a la carte menu sample
To put it all together, here’s an example of a sample a la carte menu we put together for a fictional restaurant, le sanglier brûlant.
a la carte menu template
If you’re in business, you probably already have your own ideas for an a la carte menu.
That’s why we have this downloadable (and free) a la carte menu template pdf file. With your newfound expertise in a la carte menus, you can download it and use it to create your own a la carte menu.
a la carte digital menus
a great way to digitize an a la carte menu is to use a qr code. all you have to do is have a menu, be it a pdf document or a published html website. then it will link the qr code to the pdf or a url. there are some security issues of qr code if you use free online service for this please be careful.
then place your new qr code in a qr code template for easy scanning and place around your restaurant. It can also help to have visible material on how to scan qr codes on androids and iphones along with troubleshooting related to scanning qr codes.
Besides menus, a qr code is used for many other things. qr code marketing, for example.
the next level of a la carte menu
Regardless of what types of menus your business uses, it’s becoming increasingly clear that custom QR code menus are the future of the industry. various menus based on qr code, for example, are more hygienic and one of the best ways to increase restaurant sales. it even works for your food and wine pairing menu (see more on wine pairing with salmon and turkey wine pairing ideas).
4 reasons why digital menus are the future
- Digital menus save businesses a lot of time and money.
- More accessible to consumers seeking information electronically.
- The right partnership with a technology company gives you a compliant digital menu right when you start.
- more hygienic than its paper counterparts.
Also, any menu can be digitized. table d’hote, set menus, happy hour menus, a la carte menus, static menus, you name it. all available menus can be made cleaner, safer and more convenient.
frequently asked questions about a la carte menus
what is an a la carte menu?
an a la carte menu refers to the situation where a customer orders a type of dish that is separate from an original menu item. the meaning of the term is to go to the opposite side from the menu. it came into English in the 1830s and is the opposite of table d’hote, which means according to the menu.
what are the characteristics of an a la carte menu?
Five common characteristics of an a la carte menu include:
- a wide selection of dishes within each dish or category.
- each dish is priced separately and includes a description.
- dishes are cooked according to the but they can be partially prepared in advance.
- each dish has a waiting time.
- customers are billed based on the order they place.
what items are normally prepared for an a la carte dinner?
Cutlery is called covers (french=”couverts”). the cover includes the place for each diner, including crockery, cutlery, glassware, crockery, and napkin.
How is the menu different from the buffet?
A la carte is a type of service where each menu item is ordered and served separately, while a buffet is a type of meal where food is placed in a public area and diners are served themselves. A la carte is usually a meal served on plates, while a buffet can be sit-down or stand-up. Also, buffets often have a wider variety of foods than a la carte menus.
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