Screen printed chalkboard menu boards for American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco
American Grilled Cheese Kitchen at South Park and in the Mission of San Francisco asked Martin Sign Company to fabricate and install some custom screen printed chalkboard menu boards for both locations. American had chalkboard menus prior to calling Martin Sign Company, but the owner was tired of how messy the actual hand drawn chalk was looking. As menus change the layers of chalkboard paint and chalk was clouding up the surface and making it hard for customers to read.
Also American Grilled Cheese Kitchen was expanding to their 2nd location into the Mission district in San Francisco. With a 2nd location that meant that the chalkboard artist would have to double her efforts to maintain these menus. This method of constructing menu boards although unique and very artistic is a costly way to do business. It’s time-consuming and is hard to maintain over time.
American Grilled Cheese Kitchen wanted to maintain that chalkboard menu look but the owner wanted to clean it up. The owner also wanted to break up the menu boards into small boards so if the drinks prices changed they would only have to change the drinks menu and not have to do the grilled cheese sandwiches menu as well. So Martin Sign Company took on this challenge and the solution was screen printed white and red graphics onto the chalkboard. We broke down the menu into 3-4 sections and constructed wood frames for each menu board for a better presentation and ease of making changes.
Screen printed chalkboard menu boards are good solution because of a couple of reasons. Screen printing ink when applied to the chalkboard looks like paint and not like plastic vinyl. Screen printing is expensive to set up for large boards, but as American Grilled Cheese Kitchen expands to other locations menu boards can be done for all the locations at the same time and be delivered to the locations all at the same time for an easy roll out. This means no down time due to the artist not being fast enough.
For quick service restaurants like American Grilled Cheese Kitchen, the menu boards are very important. The menu boards must be clean, readable, and up to date to maximize their effectiveness. Menu boards are there to help the customer find exactly what they want to order and in some cases the customer may order more items if they can read the menu easily. If the menu board has too many items on one board the items are crammed into the board because not enough space was given people won’t order what they can’t read.
Menu boards need to be clean and up to date. If a customer walks into a restaurant and the menu boards look like they have not been cleaned or touched in forever it might be a turn off and the customer may leave. After the customer has seen the sign outside and then walking into the front door, the menu board is the next impression that the customer experiences. If the menu boards are covered in dust, and items are crossed out with masking tape and updated with magic markers this could be a turn off for the customer. After all if the restaurant owner is too cheap to up keep their menus then what corners are they cutting on the food?
Martin Sign Company specializes in custom screen printed chalkboard menu boards so contact us and chat with a sign professional today. Also check out more photos of The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen menu boards on our portfolio page.
