Menu Price Calculator
What to charge for a dish, so the food cost comes out where you want it.
Part of the 👨🍳 Chefs and Cooks toolkit, with more tools made for the job.
What the dish costs you
The cost of the ingredients in one portion. The recipe cost calculator works it out.
What you want from it
The share of the price you are happy to spend on ingredients. Every kitchen sets its own, and it depends on your other costs.
Ingredient cost as a share of the price.
Only if your menu shows prices with tax. Leave empty for none.
Shows your food cost today and how far it is from the target.
Type the cost of a portion and a target, and the price to charge appears here.
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Type what a portion costs you and the food cost percentage you aim for. This shows the price to charge and what is left from each portion. Add your current price to see the food cost you have today.
A food cost percentage is how much of the price goes on ingredients. If a dish costs 3 to make and you want a 30 percent food cost, the price is 10. Kitchens choose their own target, because it depends on how much labour a dish needs, the rent, and the kind of restaurant. A lower percentage leaves more to cover everything else. This tool does the sum both ways: from a target to a price, and from your current price to the food cost you actually have. It rounds the price up to the cent, so you never land just under your target.
How it’s worked out
- The price is the cost per portion divided by the target food cost percentage, rounded up to the next cent.
- What is left from each portion is the price minus the cost per portion. It has to pay for labour, energy, rent, card fees and tax.
- If you add a tax rate, the menu price with tax is the price plus that tax.
- If you add your current price, the tool shows your food cost at that price, and how far it is from the price that hits your target.
A dish costing 3 per portion with a 30 percent target needs a price of 10, which leaves 7. With 20 percent tax added the menu shows 12. If you sell it at 9, the food cost is 33.3 percent, which is 1 under what you need.
Common mistakes
- Copying a target from another restaurant. A good food cost depends on your labour, rent and style of food, so work out your own from your costs.
- Pricing every dish at the same percentage. A cheap, popular dish and an expensive cut can need different margins.
- Forgetting the rest of the costs. A 30 percent food cost leaves 70 percent, but labour, energy and rent come out of it before any profit.
- Ignoring what customers will pay. The calculated price is a starting point, and the market sets the limit.
Questions
What food cost percentage should I aim for?
There is no single right answer. Guides quote ranges, often somewhere between a quarter and a third, but yours depends on your other costs. Work it out from your own accounts, and use the percentage you choose here.
Should the price include tax?
It depends where you are. In some places menu prices include tax and in others it is added. Type the tax rate if you want to see the price with tax added on top.
Where do I find the cost per portion?
From the recipe cost calculator. Include everything in the dish, even the garnish.
Is food cost the same as profit?
No. Food cost is only the ingredients. What is left has to pay staff, rent, energy, fees and tax before there is any profit.
Where the method comes from
Estimates only
These are estimates and general information, not financial, tax or food safety advice. Prices, yields, portion sizes and target percentages depend on your kitchen, suppliers and menu, so use your own figures, and follow your local food safety rules.
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