How restaurants can increase the value of the food served.

Have you ever walked out of a restaurant after eating a great meal feeling physically tired and mentally slow?  The food may taste great but the large portions take a long time to digest.  On the other extreme is the diet menu.  Restaurants may display the low number of calories of an item but the selection may be lacking in taste.

How would you feel after eating this?

Customers must choose between meals that taste great but have consequences after the meal and items that are low in calories but may not taste as good.  If people do choose the healthier choices on the menu and lose weight, Self Attribution Bias from Behavioral Science tells us that people will never give the restaurant credit for the weight loss.

I propose that there is another option.  People are more likely to mentally enjoy a meal if there is a reward that is delivered in the short term.  In this case, restaurants could use the Behavioral Science concept of Framing and tell people how the food will make the patron feel a couple of hours after eating the meal.  While some foods make you fell tired and slow, other foods can make you mentally awake and energized.  To increase value to customers, some restaurants should focus on how you feel after a meal and then advertise those effects on the menu.  Instead of focusing on what the food does not have like calories, or cholesterol, the restaurant should focus on the short-term benefits the food provides.

Here is how it would work.  Imagine you are working in a law firm and you need to prepare for big court case the next day.  The menu would list several dishes that support brain function.  The meal could start with a walnut spinach salad, the main course would be salmon and desert could consist of blueberries.  Of course a couple on a date might opt for the aphrodisiac menu that includes oysters, shark fin soup and chocolate.  Mararthon runners would be offered a meal high in carbohydrates that would increase the storage of glycogen (or energy) in their muscles.  

Your mind would be sharp after this meal.

In summary, restaurants should design a menu that provides known benefits in the hours after consuming the meal and then advertise those benefits.  This will bridge the gap between food that tastes great but makes you feel terrible afterwards and food that is less appetizing but may provide benefits 20 years latter.  This will make people enjoy meals that may not have as much taste but have short-term health benefits.  It will also increase the value that restaurants offer to patrons by highlighting the food body relationship.