A cocktail list is part menu, part invitation. Guests settle in, read slowly, and choose a drink partly for how it sounds. This Bar and Cocktail Menu Template leans into that with the glamour of a 1920s speakeasy: a black page, a gold Art Deco frame, a sunburst over the bar’s name, and drinks set in refined type. It is also practical, with wine and beer in clean price tables and happy hour in a panel your guests won’t miss.
Gold on Black, the Deco Way
The template is sized for US Letter, 8.5 x 11 inches, portrait. The background is near-black. A double gold frame (a heavier outer line and a fine inner line) runs around the page, and in each corner three nested gold squares step outward, a typical Art Deco motif. At the top, a gold sunburst fans out above a small half-sun, with thicker and thinner rays alternating like the grille of an old cinema.
Beneath the fan, the bar’s name, The Gilded Hour, is set in gold Cinzel Decorative, whose ornate capitals feel carved rather than typed. COCKTAIL BAR · EST.1924 follows in widely spaced cream Josefin Sans, a geometric typeface drawn in the spirit of the period.
Then the menu:
- SIGNATURE COCKTAILS: six drinks in two columns, each with its name in cream Playfair Display, its price in gold, and a one-line list of ingredients in muted italic.
- WINE: a table with Glass and Bottle price columns for five wines.
- BEER: a matching table with Draft and Bottle columns for five beers.
- HAPPY HOUR: a deep emerald panel with a gold outline, listing days, times, and deals.
Near the foot, a row of gold glass icons (a martini, clinking wine glasses, a highball with a paper umbrella, a beer mug and a citrus cocktail) forms a decorative bar shelf. Beneath it are a note about zero-proof drinks and responsible drinking, the address and opening hours, and our gold logo.
Writing Cocktail Descriptions That Sell
Great cocktail menus use a simple formula for each description: base spirit, then the supporting ingredients, then one sensory detail. Keep it under eight words so it fits on one line in the template. For example:
- bourbon, honey, fresh lemon (clean and classic)
- rye, maple, bitters, cherrywood smoke (the smoke is the sensory hook)
- tequila, pink grapefruit, lime, salt (bright and easy to picture)
Put the drink’s personality into its name rather than the description: Midnight Negroni and Velvet Espresso do more than House Negroni or Espresso Martini. Save long stories about a drink’s history for your bartenders to tell.
Pricing Drinks: A Pour-Cost Primer
Most bars price drinks from their pour cost: the cost of the ingredients in a drink divided by its menu price. Many bars aim for a pour cost of roughly 18-24% for cocktails and spirits, often a little higher for wine and beer, but targets vary widely with location and style. The arithmetic is simple:
| Step | Example |
|---|---|
| Add up the ingredient cost of one drink | 2 oz bourbon $2.00 + honey syrup and lemon $0.60 = $2.60 |
| Choose a target pour cost | 20% |
| Divide cost by target | $2.60 ÷ 0.20 = $13.00 |
| Round to a clean menu price | $13 or $14 |
Whole-number prices without a currency sign, like the ones in this template, are standard on cocktail lists. They look cleaner and keep the focus on the drink.
Tailoring the List to Your Back Bar
- Name and establishment line: double-click to replace The Gilded Hour and EST.1924 with your own. For long names, reduce the size a step so it stays on one line inside the frame.
- Cocktails: each cocktail has a name, a price, and a description line. Retype them, or swap two cocktails by dragging.
- Wine and beer tables: double-click a table (or use Edit Table Data) to change names and prices, press + Row to add labels, or use Import CSV to load your list from a spreadsheet.
- Happy hour: rewrite the times and deals in the emerald panel. Change the panel to burgundy or navy if you prefer.
- Glass icons: the row is a group of editable vectors, so recolour them together from the swatches, or ungroup and remove one.
The frame, corners, and sunburst are grouped as well, so the whole Deco structure can be recoloured at once, for example silver on navy for a hotel lounge.
Displaying Drinks Menus in a Low-Light Bar
Bars are dark, and dark menus need to be legible by candlelight. The cream and gold text in this template is sized for that. When printing:
- Use heavy matte or soft-touch card stock. Gloss reflects spotlights and makes the gold hard to read.
- Print at a copy shop for deep, even blacks. Home inkjets can leave faint banding on large black areas.
- Put copies in black leather or wooden menu covers, or clip them to a brass clipboard for a speakeasy feel.
- Download a PNG for your website and a screen-friendly JPG for a QR-code menu. Black backgrounds look striking on phones.
Bar Owners’ Questions
Can I add a spirits list?
Add a third table under the wine and beer tables with Spirit, 1 oz, and 2 oz columns, or replace the happy hour panel with it during busy seasons.
How do I show zero-proof cocktails?
Mark them with a small (0%) after the name, or rename one column of signature cocktails Zero Proof and list three alcohol-free drinks there.
Is the Deco look suitable for a wedding bar?
Very much so. Remove the prices, list the couple’s signature drinks, and change the name to something like The Parker Wedding Bar. Gold on black is a popular wedding palette.
Can I change the typefaces?
Yes, any text can use another font from the editor’s list. To stay in the period, keep Cinzel or Cinzel Decorative for headings and a clean geometric sans such as Josefin Sans for the details.
Raise a Glass
Swap in your signature serves, set your wine and beer prices, and put happy hour front and centre. Print it on good paper, slide it into a handsome cover, and let your menu set the scene for the evening.
