Most owners put off raising prices for longer than is reasonable. The fear is clear: we will lose guests. But more often the problem is not the price but the way the guest finds out about it. A person who sees a higher amount at the till without having expected it feels misled. A person who has seen it on the menu before ordering simply decides whether they like it. That difference is what this whole text is about.
First: why prices change at all
If you already know the answer, communication becomes easier. Typical reasons in the day-to-day life of a venue or a hotel restaurant are more expensive products from suppliers, higher labour and energy costs, a change in portions or in the recipe, and prices that have not been updated for a long time and have simply fallen behind. Write the reason down in one sentence, for yourself. If you cannot do that, you are not yet ready to explain it to your guests.
You do not need to raise everything at once. Go through the items with two questions: which are ordered most often, and which actually bring you the least after costs. Often a small adjustment to a few items helps more than raising everything across the board by the same increment, and guests feel the price most strongly on what they order every time: the coffee, the main course, the glass of wine.
When to do it
The best time is a quiet one. The start of the season, the time after a holiday period or the beginning of the week are more convenient than a busy evening. There are two reasons: the team has time to prepare, and few guests will see the change at the moment it happens.
Avoid a few things.
- Changing prices on the day of a big event or when the room is full.
- Changing prices in the middle of a lunch or set menu that the guest has booked at a different price.
- Changing prices from one day to the next with no preparation of the team.
- Changing prices and portions at the same time if you cannot clearly explain both.
If you have guests who have booked an overnight stay or a table with a menu that was announced, keep to what they were promised. New prices apply to new requests, not retroactively.
One day, one place for the truth
The most unpleasant surprise is inconsistency: the signboard says one thing, the menu another and the till a third. Before the day of the change, make a list of where prices are visible (there is a detailed method for this in the article on changing prices without reprinting).
- the printed menu and the menu for printing
- the signboard or the blackboard at the entrance
- the menu on the phone, reached from a QR code
- the website or the Facebook page
- the lunch menu and the day’s offers
- the internal price list at the till
The more of these places are changed from one and the same point, the smaller the chance that a guest has read the old price somewhere. If the menu is digital, a draft with the new prices can be ready in advance and published on the chosen day, while the link stays the same. Old printouts that have not been replaced are a frequent source of disputes. Remove them or replace them on the same day.
What the team says
The waiter is the face of the change. If a guest asks “why so much?” and the answer is a shrug, the price looks arbitrary. Prepare a short, honest answer. For example: “We have updated our prices because our products and our costs have gone up. The portion and the recipe are the same.” If it is true that you have improved the product or the portion, say so specifically, not in general terms.
Hold a five-minute conversation before the change. Discuss what guests will ask and what to say in reply. The second half matters too: the team should not apologise too much. An apologetic tone suggests that the new price is a mistake. A calm and specific tone shows that it is a decision.
Separately, decide what you do when a guest is unhappy. You do not have to give in on every price, but an attentive gesture, such as a glass of water, a small extra or simply taking the remark seriously, often settles the situation better than an argument.
How to preserve the sense of value
The guest pays not only for food but for the whole experience. When the price rises, the most visible things must stay stable.
- The portion and the quality of the main dishes. If you quietly reduce them and raise the price, the guest notices quickly.
- Speed and attention. A higher price with slow service is remembered for a long time.
- The clarity of the menu. Good descriptions, photos of the key dishes and clearly marked allergens show that you know what you are offering.
- A small visible improvement. It is not obligatory, but if the change coincides with something genuinely new, such as better coffee, a new cup or a tidier menu, the guest connects the price to something.
Do not promise anything you cannot keep, and do not count on guests not noticing. They notice. But if they have seen the price in advance and have not felt a drop in quality, most of them take it calmly. No one can guarantee that not a single guest will react; the aim is for the reaction to be smaller and shorter.
A short plan for the day of the change
- A week before: decide which items are changing and write down the reason.
- Three days before: prepare the new menu as a draft, and the team’s answer.
- The day before: hold a short conversation with the team and check the list of places where prices are visible.
- On the day: publish the new menu, replace the printouts, check at the till.
- A week later: ask the team what they have heard from guests and correct anything that has remained unclear.
Where the digital menu helps
A digital menu makes one of these steps easier: prices are changed in one place, not in every file and printout. In ISKA Menu, changes are drafts until you publish them, so you can prepare the new prices earlier and release them at the chosen time. The menu can also be edited from a phone, and the address stays the same, so the QR code (in the Plus plan) stays correct as well. This does not solve the question “how do we explain it”, but it reduces the risk that an old price remains somewhere.