Picture this: A table of four Instagram-obsessed foodies is about to post your brand-new truffle-something-or-other. Then they see “truffle desert.” Boom—phones down, eyes rolling, free PR gone. Typos aren’t “cute,” they’re silent revenue leaks, and you sure can’t comp every disgruntled influencer, especially in this economy.
To stay on the right side of your influencers, here are ten mistakes to avoid:
- $0 Cocktails – Fat-fingered prices can turn Happy Hour into Broke-Owner Hour. Double-check every price field after the POS export.
- “Angle” Steak – Angles are for geometry, Angus is for dinner.
- “Crap” Cake Sliders – Crab cakes sell. Crap cakes trend on Reddit. Enough said.
- “Vegetarian Chicken” – Unless you truly invented plant-based poultry, add a modifier: Vegetarian-Style Chicken.
- Misplaced Decimals – $12.00 sushi becomes $1,200 sashimi quicker than you can say, “Oops.”
- Foreign Language Faux Pas – It’s “crème brûlée,” not “cream brule.” Borrowed words deserve their accents; diners notice.
- Capitalization Chaos – “House Salad” vs. “house Salad” screams “We copy-pasted from three PDFs.” Pick a style and stick to it.
- Dietary Symbols Gone Wild – Gluten-free (GF) next to sourdough? Cue one-star review plus potential lawsuit. Audit icons every menu cycle.
- Commas That Change Everything – “Let’s eat, Grandma!” vs. “Let’s eat Grandma!”
- Invisible Allergens – Labeling laws are catching up fast. Miss a peanut call-out once and you’ll be explaining it to your insurer.
Quick Fix Checklist
- Freeze the design file. Nobody touches anything after final proof.
- Export to PDF and proof the PDF, not the design view.
- Read printouts backward (line by line) to force your brain off autopilot.
- Bring in a fresh set of eyes—ideally mine, but I’m biased.
