Summary

• Margot's request for a cheeseburger offers Chef Slowik a glimpse of his past happiness at Hamburger Howie's.
• Margot stands out from the elite guests and symbolizes a simple, genuine connection with food.
• Despite escaping, wild fan theories suggest Slowik may have poisoned Margot with the special Menu cheeseburger.

Chef Julian Slowik projects his anger and frustrations on his oblivious guests through his food in The Menu, but he makes a surprising exception when he lovingly serves The Menu cheeseburger to Margot. Each course in The Menu was prepared by Slowik and his kitchen staff at Hawthorne. While the first three courses and their corresponding monologue evoke suspicion among the guests, the fourth instills panic and fear when a sous chef shoots himself before the elite clientele. With what follows, Slowik wreaks havoc in Hawthorne by revealing his sinister murderous plan for the evening.

It's revealed that Chef Slowik has it in for the entire fine-dining industry and anyone involved, be it food critics or the wealthy who don't know about food and just want that Instagram pic. Slowik intends to kill every one of them. but just when it looks like all hope is lost, Margot demands a cheeseburger, which isn't on the menu. Chef Julian complies with Margot's request by preparing The Menu cheeseburger and eagerly awaiting her . Slowik then allows Margot to leave before burning the place down, indicating there is more to The Menu cheeseburger than meets the eye.

The Cheeseburger's Significance To Chef

Making A Cheeseburger Is The Only Time Slowik Was Happy

When Margot breaks into Julian's private room, she finds an Employee Of The Month award from his first job at Hamburger Howie's. In the picture on the trophy, Julian is almost unrecognizable as he sports a pleasant smile and has the demeanor of a cheerful, carefree man. The trophy becomes the final piece of the puzzle surrounding Slowik's motives since it reveals that the chef had humble beginnings in the culinary world. Over time, Ralph Fiennes' character in The Menu grew from strength to strength as a chef and eventually earned the opportunity to cook for the elites.

However, what started as a ion-fueled and satisfying pursuit of making burgers for customers at Hamburger Howie's took a grim turn when he started catering to the rich. Slowik brings this to light in The Menu by exposing how his elite customers know nothing about food and are only at Hawthorne to boast about their social status. While Richard and his wife only eat there because they have nothing better to do with their money, Lilian gives mindless metaphors to her food but cares little about the livelihood of the workers in the industry.

Bryce and his finance buddies know nothing about the culinary arts yet have the audacity to threaten Slowik. John Leguizamo's movie star in The Menu, on the other hand, just becomes a frustrating reflection of Slowik's inability to stay true to his art. Worst of all, Tyler proves to be an egotistical social media foodie who belittles Chef's food by calling out each ingredient without understanding the effort that goes behind its preparation. Margot eventually sees eye to eye with the chef and realizes that he yearns for the gratification of the early days of his cooking endeavors.

Margot connects the dots and asks for The Menu cheeseburger because she understands it would remind Slowik of the time when he genuinely enjoyed cooking. As anticipated, Slowik pours his heart and soul into preparing her a cheeseburger since he sees it as an opportunity to redeem himself and make up for the ionless meals he made for the upper class. When Margot takes a bite and appreciates the burger, the chef feels proud and fulfilled because he understands that she is not like the others who only eat and compliment his food for the sake of it.

Why Chef Lets Margot Go After The Cheeseburger

Margot Stands Out From The Upper-Class Guests That Slowik Hates

Margot establishes that she does not belong at the restaurant. By demanding The Menu cheeseburger with fries, she proves that her relationship with food comes with no shallow agendas, and she only craves a filling meal that satisfies her hunger. This makes Margot stand out from the upper-class guests at Hawthorne and gives Chef Julian the satisfaction he longs for.

As a result, Julian cannot help but treat Margot as a regular customer like the ones from his time at Hamburger Howie's and lets her leave when she asks if she can get the rest of her burger to go.

What The Menu's Final Shot Means

Margot Savors Every Bite Of The Cheeseburger

Parts of the reason Margot relates to Julian's struggles toward The Menu's ending is that she, too, works in the service industry. Just like Julian, she seems to go through the motions of her job just because she is being paid for it but is not fulfilled. Similar to the chef, Margot also feels betrayed upon realizing that Tyler misused her escort service by not telling her that she would die by accompanying him to Hawthorne. She and Julian become mere victims of the rich, who only take their services for granted and never give anything in return.

By asking for The Menu cheeseburger, Margot rekindles herself with the give-and-take aspect of every service and helps Julian achieve the same. The Menu's final shot captures this by showing how Anya Taylor-Joy's character savors every bite of the cheeseburger while watching Hawthorne burn into ruins. Margot, like Julian, taps into a forgotten feeling of contentment in The Menu's closing scene, and the hamburger symbolizes that.

There Are Wild Theories About The Menu Cheeseburger

Slowik Might Still Have Killed Margot

While Margot's request ultimately led to her escape, it hasn't stopped fans from creating wild The Menu ending fan theories, and one of them makes sense. One theory suggests that The Menu cheeseburger is made of human meat, which would add an interesting horror element to the movie. Before The Menu was released, it was heavily speculated that the movie was going to be about cannibalism given its clear kill-the-rich themes paired with being marketed as a satirical thriller about fine dining. Unfortunately, there's no clear evidence that the burger is made of human meat.

However, one theory actually has some merit to it, as some have argued that Chef Slowik used The Menu cheeseburger to poison Margot. While Margot and Slowik bonded, she also constantly disrupted his very specific plan and killed his sous chef, Elsa, so it's unlikely that Slowik would have simply allowed Margot to walk out. At the beginning, Elsa reveals that if the 152-day-old beef was left one more day, the person who eats it would be poisoned by the bacteria and quickly die. Slowik could've used 153-day-old beef for The Menu cheeseburger, which would have killed Margot.