Why every restaurant has the same desserts

There's something you might notice when you go out to eat.

Depending on the restaurant you go to, the entrees and drinks can vary a lot.

But then, the dessert menu drops, and you're almost always left staring down the same options.

A cheesecake, maybe a chocolate lava cake and some type of fruit pie, probably a sorbet

or ice cream.

Desserts in a lot of restaurants are kind of boring.

There's a reason why, but it doesn't have to be this way.

Menu curation can make or break a restaurant, because frankly, it's really hard to make

money in this business.

Profit margins for restaurants are not particularly high.

It's interesting because so many people want to go into the restaurant business because

they think it's glamorous or whatever.

It's definitely less than 10%.

Katherine Gordon teaches restaurant and culinary management at the Institute of Culinary Education

in New York.

The revenue is going to come in on the food and the beverage sales, and then there's going

those food and beverage sales.

Things like ingredients and staff salaries, rent, electricity, and more.

What's left is a low number, and then of course it has to be taxed after that.

The menu is really their one chance to maximize profits.

But it's a delicate balance.

Charge too much and people won't buy it.