There are venues and there are menus…
and there are venues that don’t rely on conventional menus.
Bakeries or patisseries.
Pubs.
The corner deli.
Chalkboards or sandwich boards announce the bill of fare. This harkens back to provincial times. These days, there’s the LED Menu Board…a trending must-have…for daily specials or happy hours or classic sandwich board.
Artsy chalkboards are also trending. This is developing a new genre of chalkboard artists–parties already having studied formally, or a gifted knack at lettering and illustration.
Although every community must have their artist collectives, there are some specialty boutiques featuring solely chalkboard art.
The Menu Shoppe presents a few savvy studios.
Drawing Board Signs of Phoenix is an especially vibrant studio with regional and national clients.
The creation of Paul Valente–Drawing Board Signs specializes in restaurant menus,
coffee menus, and assorted other types of chalk art signs–including sidewalk chalk for local events.
Valente studied at the Parsons School of Design, though his chalkboard endeavors began at Trader Joe’s in the Phoenix area–and now his clientele extends from the southwest region to Maine, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma.
The secret to a national clientele is a special chalkboard sealant that binds and seals the chalk artistry–despite shipping and handling.
Valente is seeking to transfer same skill set to LED Boards.
Drawing Board Signs offers several options—
Full Chalk Menus—must include 9 or more lines of menu text.
Promotional Chalkboards—must have less than 9 lines of text.
Changeable Specials Chalkboards—must have at least 1/3 available space–blank…for client to write in changing specials/messages.
Pricing depends on design and layout time, also the actual hand lettering and art work.
Another fabulous chalkboard studio is Chalk It Up of British Columbia–though artist and owner Claire Watson beams about all the stateside clients including Ruby Tuesdays–that ordered 75 boards. Other clients include Dominos Pizza, CitiBank, and Notre Dame University.
Watson’s award winning chalkboard art illustrates why Chalk It Up’s funk-tional signs are leaders amid this emerging trend. Visit the Chalk It Up gallery that features trending menu boards, daily special boards, custom free-standing signs + stylish promotional murals.
Chalk it Up signs also promises smudgeproof designs. Options and pricing depends on size and content–graphics versus text. Chalk It Up is also a full service design studio offering the gamut from logos to newsletters, brochures and web design.
**Visit Chalk It Up for a download of “Chalk A Lot” font designed by Claire Watson.
If it’s on the menu…the Menu Shoppe has it covered.
America’s leading source for restaurant menu covers
The Menu Shoppe 
I learned the art of chalkboard art from one Ray Searage, (son was a major league pitcher), when with A&W Restaurants many moons ago. When it done correctly it looked great and did not look cheap. Eventually, restaurants went to printed materials to display specials and menu choices because they believed the chalkboards looked too mom and popish. Silly, we are full circle again. Great article.