Menus that include prices curb guest spending, according to a recent study by The Culinary Institute of America and the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. The academic study, conducted in 2007 at the St. Andrew’s Café in Hyde Park, N.Y., and composed of a statistically significant sample that took into account various party sizes and demographics, found that checks increase 8.15 percent when menus without an overt reference to price are presented. There was no real difference between menus that spelled out prices and those that used numbers and a dollar sign, however.