Designing and printing various restaurant marketing materials is an effective way to entice customers with compelling visuals of food products and special deals. They are also crucial selling tools for your business. Whether you’re running a restaurant, a deli, or a local food stall, we pulled together a list of marketing materials must-haves that you should print and invest in to help you attract patrons and drive sales.

Take-out Bags

Instead of the usual doggie bag, why not design custom take-out bags you can use to wrap takeaway orders, deliveries, and leftovers? This way, you can turn your business into a recognizable brand beyond your restaurant or store.

Material: Frosted plastic, which is a high-density material that can hold heavy items.

Best for: Restaurants that offer food delivery services and take-out meals.

Design Tip: Incorporate foil imprinting into your design to give your take-out bags a sophisticated and elegant look.

Cost: Starts at $1.19 per piece (bulk order rate).

Printed Menus

Upgrade your customers’ dining experience easily. Use menu boards to highlight mouthwatering bestsellers and give customers the information they need before ordering.

If you’re going to put menu signs outside, choose those made from a PVC board, which is a weatherproof material. On the other hand, styrene might be a better choice for indoor use because it’s rollable, making it easy to store.

You can also print dine-in menus that come and present them in any of the different folding options available — half-fold, trifold, Z-fold, roll fold, and accordion fold. But if you want to keep it simple, skip folding altogether.

Material: Menu boards are typically made of white PVC (outdoor use) or styrene (indoor use), while dine-in menus are made of paper, which can have a glossy, matte, or uncoated finish. 

Best for: Restaurants, cafés, coffee shops, food trucks, ice cream shops, bakeries, juice bars, and diners Any company in the food service industry that wants to improve their customers’ dining experience.

Design Tip: You may want to invest in professional food photography to give your printed menus higher impact. But if you’re on a budget, you may use stock photos that feature generic food that looks like what you offer. Remember to use readable fonts, include descriptions of the items in your menu, and make reading your menu seamless by categorizing items into entrees, desserts, etc.

Cost: Starts at $0.07 per piece (bulk order rate).

Window Clings

One of the best things about window clings is that you don’t need any additional adhesive to install them. Simply spray water on the unprinted or shiny side and the window before you place them on the glass surface. Then, use a squeegee to remove any excess water and air bubbles. You can move window clings around as needed until you find the best spot.

Material: Static cling (available in white or clear film).

Best for: Displaying specials, promos, and store hours.

Design Tip: Use holiday-themed templates for your window clings to celebrate different seasons and festivities throughout the year. White static cling works great if you want your artwork to look vibrant, while clear static cling is great if you want it to look as if the design is printed on glass.

Cost: Starts at $17.20 per piece (bulk order rate).

Banners

If you need a large-format promotional tool, you can never go wrong with banners. You can use them outdoors and indoors, thanks to their durable and waterproof qualities, and they can be quite affordable, too.

Mesh banners are perfect if you need to advertise in windy locations. The wind can easily pass through the perforated surface, preventing them from ripping, while still giving your artwork ample mileage.

Material: 13 oz. standard vinyl, 18 oz. heavy-duty vinyl, and 9 oz. mesh vinyl.

Best for: Announcing grand openings and events, promoting specials and happy hours, and highlighting seasonal products.

Design Tip: Use fonts that look great in large-format materials (e.g., Gotham, Helvetica, Open Sans, Proxima Nova, and Montserrat); take advantage of color contrast (dark text and light background or vice versa); and utilize compelling images.

Cost: A 2’ x 4’ banner starts at $18.30 per piece (bulk order rate).

Paper Placemats

Single-use paper placements not only keep tables tidy, they also highlight your specials and strengthen your brand. Diners are able to read paper placemats as soon as they sit at their booths and may interact with creative ones.

Material: Uncoated paper.

Best for: Restaurants and cafes that want to save time on cleanup while maintaining a sanitary dining experience.

Design Tip: Dabble at being a family-friendly restaurant by printing kiddie placemats designed with mazes, puzzles, word searches, connect-the-dots games, and other fun activities. You can also use paper placemats to announce upcoming events or share your restaurant’s humble beginning or any light reading to keep your customers engaged.

Cost: Starts at $0.09 per piece (bulk order rate).

Table Tents

These small promotional tools are placed on tables and counters. Since they are made of heavy and rigid cardstock with interlocking slits, they can stand upright. Table tents are typically used in restaurants to spotlight bestsellers and seasonal products or to announce discounts and special promos.

Material: Thick cardstock.

Best for: Displaying specials, promos, and seasonal products.

Design Tip: Turn table tents into useful corporate giveaways. Simply print a calendar on one side so your customers can put them on display for the whole year.

Cost: Starts at $0.17 per piece (bulk order rate).

A-Frame Signs

These durable and foldable signs are often used for sidewalk advertising by restaurants and other retail businesses that rely on foot traffic. One notable benefit of A-frame signs is that you can replace the graphics easily, making them a great investment if you change your menu frequently, offer seasonal products, and host events.

A-frames provide a stable advertising tool you can leave outdoors. Just fill the frame with weight (such as water, sand, or gravel) to prevent strong winds from toppling it.

Material: Coroplast plastic for the frame and corrugated plastic for the sign; both are fade-resistant and water-resistant.

Best for: Directional signage, pop-up menus, and general information.

Design Tip: Use compelling images and legible fonts that are visible even from a great distance. Avoid text-heavy designs as your audience may have limited time to read your message.

Cost: Starts at $137.80 per piece (bulk order rate).

Discount Cards

Discount cards can be a great marketing strategy to nurture and grow an existing customer base. However, they need to have a compelling design and message for them to be effective.

Material: White plastic, frosted plastic, and clear plastic.

Best for: Nurturing existing customers and encouraging trial for new customers.

Design Tip: Make sure you include these details in your discount card design: company name, brand logo, store information, and discount percentage. Also, use bold, dark, or bright colors to make the graphics and text stand out from the background.

Cost: Starts at $0.14 per piece (bulk order rate).

Food Labels

These labels carry useful information to help customers make informed choices about what they eat and drink. As a result, these can help you present your restaurant as a trustworthy and reliable business.

Material: BOPP, a material that’s refrigerator-safe, oil-resistant, and waterproof, matte crack and peel sticker, and high gloss crack and peel sticker.

Best for: Food and beverage packaging.

Design Tip: Use a legible font and include these on the labels: your brand name, name of food, ingredients list, storage or instruction use, best before date, volume or weight, nutrition information, and allergen information.

Cost: Starts at $0.02 per piece (bulk order rate).

Flyers

Flyers are a versatile promotional tool you can use to announce grand openings, new products, promos, and events. You can display, hand out, and mail them to customers.

Although flyers can be a single page, they are also available in different folding options including trifold, Z-fold, gate fold, four-panel, and six-panel.

Material: Paper and cardstock, which are available in different coatings, such as matte, gloss, and high gloss (UV).

Best for: Grand openings, promos and discounts, bestsellers, and events.

Design Tip: Use a short but compelling headline in your design, include a clear call-to-action, choose legible fonts and recognizable icons (e.g., phone, social media logos, and email), and utilize high-quality images and graphics.

Cost: Starts at $0.05 per piece (bulk order rate).

Conclusion

With printed marketing materials, you can build credibility and trust, enjoy offline visibility, and promote excellent dining experience. Thus, it’s essential that these promotional tools are made of premium ink and materials and have a compelling design and legible text.

At UPrinting, we offer a wide range of print materials for restaurants, bars, cafes, bakeries and other food-related businesses. We use high-quality inks and materials to ensure that your message and visual brand identity will capture your customers’ attention.

Additionally, we have templates and a user-friendly design tool that you can access for free.