diff --git a/menu/lib/_menu.scss b/menu/lib/_menu.scss
index 53b1a0ae2a..3919405eee 100644
--- a/menu/lib/_menu.scss
+++ b/menu/lib/_menu.scss
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ $_custom-property-prefix: 'menu';
 
 @function _resolve-tokens($tokens) {
   $menu-tokens: _remove-unused-tokens($tokens);
-  @return elevation.resolve-tokens($menu-tokens, 'elevation-key');
+  @return elevation.resolve-tokens($menu-tokens, 'container-elevation');
 }
 
 // removes unused tokens
diff --git a/menu/lib/menu.ts b/menu/lib/menu.ts
index a4900acce8..c080624de4 100644
--- a/menu/lib/menu.ts
+++ b/menu/lib/menu.ts
@@ -240,11 +240,13 @@ export abstract class Menu extends LitElement {
    * Renders the positionable surface element and its contents.
    */
   protected renderSurface() {
+    // TODO(b/274140618): elevation should be an underlay, not an overlay that
+    // tints content
     return html`
        <div
            class="menu ${classMap(this.getSurfaceClasses())}"
            style=${styleMap(this.menuPositionController.surfaceStyles)}>
-        ${this.renderList()} 
+        ${this.renderList()}
         ${this.renderElevation()}
         ${this.renderFocusRing()}
        </div>