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When we dine out, we’re in search of a great meal at a fair price. However, many restaurants operate on thin profit margins, especially in recent years with rising ingredient costs and a sluggish labor market. To attract and retain customers — and get them to spend as much as possible — restaurant owners employ a variety of strategies, from adjusting the ambience to how they design their menu. Such tactics can be essential for staying afloat in a competitive industry where a bad year, or even a few slow months, can mean the difference between a restaurant remaining open or closing their doors for good. While these practices aren’t dishonest — many are practical and based on common sense — they can involve subtle psychological manipulation designed to influence your perception, improve your experience, and increase your spending.  

From the layout of the menu to the brightness of the lighting and the tempo of the music, here are five tricks restaurants use to make us spend more.

They Use Menu Psychology

What catches your attention when you read a menu isn’t coincidence – it’s science. Every element of a menu is carefully chosen and research-based, from what colors are used to how many menu items are offered. For example, restaurant menus that feature appetite-stimulating colors such as orange, red, and yellow can effectively pull a customer’s eye to certain areas of the menu. The menu’s color scheme, such as blue for a seafood restaurant or green for a farm-to-table experience,  can also help define the restaurant’s brand and subconsciously build anticipation for the meal.

When it comes to the number of dishes offered, research suggests that fewer is better and that seven dishes per section is the magic number. Limiting the number of items offered keeps diners from feeling overwhelmed by choice and helps guide them toward specific, often high-profit-margin selections. This careful balance is designed to craft a menu that’s visually appealing and simple to read in order to enhance your dining experience.

They Know the Power of Buzzwords

Restaurants also use psychology to entice diners and encourage higher spending through the use of buzzwords. We typically ignore outrageous claims such as “the world’s finest ingredients” or “the best steak you’ve ever had,” but our interest may be piqued by appealing adjectives that spark the imagination and promise an elevated dining experience, such as “grass-fed,” “fire-roasted,” and “stone-ground.”

Detailed and engaging menu descriptions can also create a unique narrative and influence diners in a variety of profitable ways. We may feel nostalgic when we read a description of an apple pie that starts with a “golden, flaky crust just like Grandma used to make.” Our sense of adventure may be stimulated by a free-range chicken dish “marinated in sun-drenched spices from the Mediterranean.” Alternatively, we might be drawn to the familiarity of a beloved brand name, such as “a creamy and decadent Oreo cheesecake.”

They Charm Us With Strategic Prices

We have a lot of options when it comes to where we dine, so restaurants do their best to make sure their prices are competitive. They also employ psychological tactics when listing the prices of menu items, such as the common practice of not using currency signs. For instance, a salad that costs nine dollars might be listed as “9” rather than “$9.00.” Some restaurants even spell out the prices of menu items, which research shows can encourage people to spend up to 30% more.

Restaurants also use strategic pricing techniques to appeal to customers. Rather than listing prices in a column next to menu items, which forces you to compare prices, the cost of dishes will be listed directly below the description of the dish and in the same font. This directs your attention to the description and encourages you to skim over the price. When we do notice the price, it may be in the form of charm pricing, or left-digit effect, a technique businesses use to create perceived value. When a menu item is priced for $9.99 instead of $10.00, the brain reads the number nine first and interprets the cost of the dish as nine dollars.

They Use the Decoy Effect

In the restaurant industry, a high-profit-margin item is one that’s low-cost to make but that’s priced relatively high by comparison, resulting in a significant profit margin. For example, a pasta dish such as spaghetti with marinara sauce is inexpensive to prepare, but restaurants can charge a premium due to presentation and perceived value. To attract your attention to these profitable items, restaurants will often list them on the menu near a much more expensive “decoy” item.

Restaurants know most people likely won’t order the most expensive entrée on the menu, but they do expect you to notice how expensive it is. Known as the decoy effect, this psychological trick can make us spend more than we intend because we make our decision based on what seems like the more reasonable choice. For instance, when a high-profit item such as the aforementioned pasta dish is placed near a decoy item, such as a wagyu beef dish, the pasta dish seems even more appealing — and affordable. A couple well-placed high-ticket items on a menu can actually convince people to spend more than they would if every item was around the same price.

They Create An Ambience That Makes Us Want to Linger

From the color of the décor, to the brightness of the lighting, to the type of the music they play, restaurants are constantly looking for ways to create a welcoming environment that encourages you not only to linger, but also to spend more money. If your favorite restaurant is decorated in shades of red, it’s because that color has been shown to increase heart rate, quicken breathing, and stimulate the appetite, encouraging people to eat more than they typically would when surrounded by other colors.Researchers also know that light and sound can influence how we dine. Softer lighting and music have been linked to restaurant diners consuming fewer calories and enjoying their food more. Diners connect lower levels of light with higher prices and higher service quality, while slow, ambient music inspires more leisurely dining, which can ultimately result in higher spending. If people are eating slowly, restaurants can raise prices and cut menu portions to save money on ingredients, knowing diners will still feel satisfied when they leave.

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Humans have been cultivating fruit for around 11,400 years. Evidence suggests figs were the first, propagated by the people of ancient Jericho. Nowadays, there are estimated to be upwards of 2,000 varieties of fruit grown around the world. While we’re likely all familiar with apples, oranges, and bananas, there are also hundreds of fruits you may never have heard of, let alone tried for yourself. Many of these unfamiliar fruits are staple crops in the places they’re grown, but can be difficult to find in markets outside their native lands. So if you’re looking to expand your palate and try out some new delicious flavors, here are seven fruits you’ve probably never encountered.

Ackee

The ackee tree is native to West Africa, and it produces one of the tastiest yet potentially dangerous fruits grown around the world. The fruit itself is visually comparable to a peach on the outside, but on the inside, it contains three fleshy white arils, each with a large black seed. Eating ackee before it’s ripe can induce poisoning, so you need to be careful before consuming it. But a well-ripened ackee fruit is known for having a creamy texture and a mild, nutty flavor, making it an absolute delight.

While the ackee originated in West Africa, it’s now particularly popular in Jamaica. Back in the 1700s, the ackee was brought to the Caribbean aboard ships carrying enslaved people. In the years that followed, the plant thrived in the island’s tropical climate. Ackee is so beloved in Jamaica that it’s a key ingredient in the country’s national dish: ackee and saltfish. In this recipe, ackee is boiled until it looks like scrambled eggs and is then served alongside fried saltfish such as cod or mackerel. The completed dish is garnished with bacon, tomatoes, chiles, or whatever else the eater desires.

Mangosteen

Mangosteen is a sweet, juicy fruit that’s believed to have originated on the Sunda Islands of the Malay Archipelago. Today, the fruit is eaten throughout all of Southeast Asia and is particularly popular in Vietnam. Each mangosteen is roughly the size of a small orange, and features a hard purple shell on the outside with white fleshy fruit on the inside. It can be eaten fresh, dried, or canned and is often served in fruit salads, as a sorbet, or turned into a syrup or smoothie.

Mangosteen wasn’t introduced to the Western Hemisphere until the mid-19th century. It began to be grown in English greenhouses in 1855 and eventually made its way to the Americas. The fruit became particularly popular throughout Central America and the Caribbean, though it was actually banned in the United States until 2007 due to fears of importing fruit flies. Mangosteen must now be exposed to radiation to sterilize potential pests before it’s brought into the U.S.

Sapodilla

Cultivated throughout Mexico and Central America, sapodilla is a tan-colored fruit with a roughly textured coating. In much the same way you might determine an avocado’s ripeness, you should make sure a sapodilla feels hard to the touch before eating. In fact, if you eat an unripe sapodilla, the flesh will induce an unpleasant sensation akin to cotton mouth. Once the rind begins to soften, the sapodilla is ready to consume, and it should have a musky and malty flavor similar to molasses.

Sapodillas are often blended into smoothies, served alongside ice cream, or mixed with other fruits to create jams and jellies. Historically, chicle — milky sap from the sapodilla tree — was actually used as chewing gum by the ancient Aztecs. The tree was also cultivated by the Maya, who used its wood for carving; these 1,000-year-old carvings can still be found throughout Maya ruins in the region.

Kiwano

The kiwano melon is a fruit native to Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone, and other parts of Africa that’s known for its striking appearance. On the outside, the fruit has a spiky yellow shell, which explains why it’s been given the moniker “African horned cucumber” in the U.S. On the inside, however, the fruit is full of gooey green flesh and seeds. If eaten when still immature, the flesh of the kiwano is said to taste like a cucumber. But once it’s ripe, the fruit develops flavors reminiscent of melon and kiwi.

The otherworldly appearance of the kiwano melon has also earned it a unique place in American pop culture. The fruit was used as a prop in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine titled “Time’s Orphan.” In the episode, the kiwano was referred to as a  “Golana melon” and is said to be cultivated on the alien planet of Golana.

Durian

The durian is one of the most notorious fruits in Southeast Asia, as it’s both beloved for its flavor and reviled for its odor. Each durian has a large spiky shell that protects the creamy and almost custard-like flesh inside. This soft interior is said to taste like a mix of caramel, vanilla, almonds, and even cheese. Durian fans adore the complex flavor profile and will eat it on its own, bake it into cakes and pastries, or serve it up in a smoothie. Some even say durian is best enjoyed when it’s overly ripe, as it develops a texture akin to sour cream.

But when you crack open a durian, you’re also overcome by a pungent aroma that’s been compared to rank garbage or rotten eggs. Because of its powerful and off-putting smell, durian has been banned in many Southeast Asian countries on public transport and in other communal gathering places such as hotels.

Jackfruit

Jackfruit is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world, weighing anywhere from 10 pounds to a whopping 80 pounds. The fruit is particularly popular in Bangladesh, where it’s considered a staple crop, though it’s also widely popular throughout the rest of Southeast Asia. It takes five to seven years for a jackfruit tree to begin producing fruit, but once it does, it’s likely to produce between 150 and 200 fruits annually. The jackfruit has a spiky rind with a yellowish-green color, and the creamy flesh inside is said to bear a similar texture to an overripe banana.

While jackfruit has been cultivated for thousands of years, it’s become particularly popular in recent years among vegetarians and vegans. When it’s cooked and shredded, jackfruit develops a texture akin to pulled pork, and it’s great at absorbing the flavors of the other foods it’s cooked with, making it a fantastic alternative to meat.

Monstera Deliciosa

The name monstera deliciosa means exactly what it sounds like — “delicious monster.” The fruit comes from a plant native to Central America that’s also known as the “swiss cheese plant,” as its leaves are riddled with natural holes, resembling swiss cheese. The shell of the fruit looks like an ear of corn, only harder and greener. The fruit inside even resembles the kernels of a corncob — but the flavor isn’t corn-like at all.

If you eat monstera deliciosa too soon before it ripens, you’re bound to have a deeply unpleasant experience. The sour, bitter taste is no friend to your tastebuds, and the oxalic acid can irritate your throat. But that acid dissipates as the fruit ripens, and the flavor becomes more akin to a blend of pineapple and banana. You can tell the fruit is ripe once its outer scales begin to naturally peel. When that happens, throw it in a fruit salad or just eat it on its own for a wonderfully sweet treat.

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Pasta is a wonderfully simple foodstuff that has become a staple in many parts of the world over the thousands of years since its creation. Made, at its simplest, from just wheat flour or semolina mixed with water, it comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, from wiry spaghetti strands to flat sheets of lasagna. 

The precise origins of pasta are the source of ongoing debate, not to mention a fair amount of national pride. Both China and Italy have claimed its invention, while pasta-like foods — albeit not quite the same as what we eat today — were consumed in ancient Greece and Rome. Whatever its true origins, pasta is undoubtedly most associated with Italian culture. References to various common pasta dishes, including macaroni, ravioli, gnocchi, vermicelli, and more, have come out of the Italian Peninsula since at least the 13th century. 

Here are seven facts about pasta, from its multitude of shapes to why you should refrain from throwing spaghetti at the wall. 

There Are Hundreds of Different Pasta Shapes

Bigoli, capellini, fettuccine, pappardelle, linguine — the list of pasta shapes goes on and on. According to the International Pasta Organization, there are more than 500 different shapes of pasta, while the Encyclopedia of Pasta lists a whopping 1,300 shapes. Nailing down a precise number is complicated by the fact that one particular form of pasta can have many different names. Cavatelli, for example, are known by at least 28 different names depending on where in Italy you eat them. 

Thomas Jefferson Was a Prominent Proponent of Pasta

Thomas Jefferson often traveled to Europe, where he fell in love with pasta. He made notes and drawings on how to make the food with a pasta machine while traveling in Italy, and in the 1780s he procured a pasta mold from Naples, Italy, which he had shipped to the U.S. While he was not the first person to introduce pasta — or “maccaroni,” as he called it — to America, he certainly helped popularize it, and he may have been one of the first Americans to own a pasta-making machine, which he kept at his Monticello home. 

Pasta Played a Key Role in One of the First Televised April Fools’ Pranks

On April Fools’ Day in 1957, 8 million Brits tuned in to watch the BBC’s flagship current-affairs program Panorama. Unsuspecting viewers were then presented with a three-minute feature on the “Swiss spaghetti harvest,” which showed a family harvesting spaghetti from a “spaghetti tree” amidst a bumper harvest caused by a mild winter and the disappearance of the “spaghetti weevil.” The spoof report was broadcast in an era before pasta became a staple part of the British diet (which began in earnest in the 1960s), and so a large number of viewers were entirely fooled. A few concerned audience members even phoned the BBC asking where they could buy a spaghetti tree of their own. The clip is believed to be one of the first — and greatest — televised April Fools’ pranks.

Italians Eat a Whole Lot of Pasta

Unsurprisingly, Italy is the world’s largest consumer (and producer) of pasta. On average, Italians eat a whopping 51 pounds (roughly 23 kg) of pasta per year. That’s significantly more per capita than their closest pasta-eating rivals, which include Tunisia, Venezuela, and Greece. The average American, by comparison, eats approximately 20 pounds (9 kg) of pasta each year, which really puts the Italian love of pasta into perspective. 

The First American Pasta Company Was Founded in Brooklyn

In 1848, a 32-year-old French émigré named Antoine Zerega founded the first pasta factory in the United States: A. Zerega’s Sons, Inc., now a subsidiary of Philadelphia Macaroni Company. Located on the waterfront in Brooklyn, New York, the factory had just one horse to power the machinery, and the strands of pasta were laid out in the sun to dry. The business was passed on from one generation to the next, and by the 1960s, the factory was providing pasta to hungry customers across the nation. 

October 25 Is World Pasta Day

In October 1995, pasta aficionados gathered in Rome for the inaugural World Pasta Congress. They enthusiastically agreed that pasta was in need of its own official day of recognition, and thus was born World Pasta Day, to be held annually on October 25. If nothing else, it’s an excellent excuse to go to your favorite Italian restaurant and load up on some delicious carbohydrates. 

Throwing Spaghetti at a Wall Doesn’t Actually Work

An oft-repeated piece of kitchen wisdom recommends testing the readiness of cooked spaghetti by throwing a strand or two at a wall (or fridge, or ceiling). If it sticks, we’re told, it’s cooked and ready to serve. However, this theory has been tested and debunked. As it turns out, all boiled pasta will stick to the wall whether it’s undercooked, perfectly done, or overcooked. Rather than mussing up your wall with a piece of stuck spaghetto (the correct word for a single strand of spaghetti), it’s more effective — if less fun — to simply take a bite or pinch a strand to test the resistance and see if it’s ready.