I translated my menu into spanish, and my few hispanic customers are extremely appreciative . . . however my front staff are tragically English speaking, so I still have to go up front to help. They customers can speak English, but sometimes have vocabulary issues knowing what is on the menu or how to ask for what they want exactly.
If ity is low or no cost, I would recommend it for the goodwill.
In our area, despite Spanish being very common in Texas, we have a significant population of Vietnamese, Chinese, Koreans and Cambodians. Fortunately, their children speak English even if the parents have difficulties. I had six years of Spanish classes 25 years ago and minored in German in college. But am really rusty with both. I really should relearn Spanish. It is an easy language and very useful here.
There are some decent websites out there that offer translations of common food items. Some pizza related terms are missing, but you can get a good start there. Here are a couple
I was thinking a Spanish menu may be a good thing for me, since my local demographics show a 24% Hispanic population. I figured I’d put numbers next to my food items and we can just match them to a corresponding English menu.
I also asked Santa for a Spanish speaking program so I can make a better attempt at speaking it.
Why couldn’t you have a “point and check” menu designed?
Consider this.
If you are catering to a hispanic market, sure, have a bilingual menu for them, but also have little check boxes to the left of the picture, with spanish instructions that say “check the box for the pizza you want, mark through any toppings you do not want”.
Make sure the toppings in English and Spanish are printed in the exact order so it’s easy for your wait staff to transcribe.
Then, let them hand that to your wait staff/cashiers.
Or is that too cumbersome?
I think it’s a good idea, and would also be great for deaf people to relay what they want, too…but, without the idea in real practice…you tell me.
