Dream MenuHow it works
- Week 1
The listen
15 to 25 structured interviews with food-literate diners who have visited in the last six months.
- Week 2
The look
Two unannounced visits as a paying guest: one at peak, one quieter.
- Week 3
The numbers
A unit economics conversation. No full P&L needed; what you are comfortable sharing.
- Week 4
The report
A written report with scored sections and recommendations ranked by impact and cost, plus a one-hour debrief.
Recommendations come in three groups: quick wins for this week, medium investments with clear returns, and strategic decisions only you can make.
The eight lenses
| Lens | What it examines | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Community advocacy | What your community says about you, unprompted, against the Glasgow hierarchy. | 0–10 advocacy score |
| Brand and signal | Whether your identity is legible and consistent across social, menu, room, team and online. | Brand scorecard |
| Menu intelligence | Length, dish naming, provenance, pricing architecture, the anchor item, the missing category. | Menu health score |
| Occasion design | Which occasions you are actually used for, and whether you are designed for them. | Occasion map |
| Psycho-logic | The peak-end experience, costly signals, friction points, context design. | Scored audit |
| Unit economics | Food cost, drinks share, RevPASH and dish contribution against benchmarks. | Benchmarked against targets |
| Social media and digital | Presence, posting, review replies, Google profile, authenticity. | Digital health score |
| Competitive position | Where you sit, who competes for the same occasions, where to differentiate. | Positional map |
Who it is for
- A quality independent not getting the advocacy its food deserves. A brand or communication gap: the food earns five stars, the first impressions earn three.
- A new opening approaching its first anniversary. A positioning gap, or being used for a different occasion than the one you designed for.
- An established venue that has changed and lost advocacy. A trust gap: the people who loved the original need a reason to reconnect.
- A venue considering a big change. A clear map of what belongs to the community and what belongs to the kitchen.
- A group wanting one framework across sites. Variance between sites that is hard to see from inside.
What it is not
Not a rescue package, not implementation support and not a guarantee. It is independent: Dream Menu has no financial relationship with any Glasgow venue and no advertising revenue. The operators who get most from it read it as a challenge, not a verdict.
The most valuable thing an outside view can give you is not the answer. It's the question you didn't know you weren't asking.
Commission a Restaurant MOT
It starts with a free conversation to check the MOT is right for your venue. Pricing reflects the time, community access and depth involved, and is available on enquiry. Group and multi-site packages are available.