FREE CALCULATOR
Enter what a plate costs you. Get the menu price for your target food cost %, or check the food cost % of the price you charge now.
Menu price = plate cost ÷ target food cost %. A plate that costs $4.50 at a 30% target sells for $15.00. Price it at $13.99 and that item runs about 32% food cost on every plate.
Food cost % = plate cost ÷ menu price. Many restaurants aim for roughly 28–35%, but the right number depends on your concept, labor and rent.
If you trim 10% off a 50 lb bag of onions, the usable onions cost about 11% more than the bag price suggests. And in-house items — dough, sauces, dressings — have a cost per ounce too. Leaving them out is the most common reason plate costs come out too low.
Enter ingredient prices once with yield %, build prep recipes like dough and sauces, cost every menu item in any unit (lb, oz, cups, tbsp, each), get suggested prices and flags for items over target. Excel and Google Sheets.
Divide the cost of the ingredients in a dish by its menu price and multiply by 100. A $4.50 plate sold at $15 is a 30% food cost.
Many restaurants target roughly 28-35%. Higher-volume or premium concepts can differ; set a target from your own labor and overhead.
Divide the price per unit by the usable yield. Onions at 90% yield cost the bag price per pound divided by 0.90.
Free to use, no sign-up. Built by Gragg Robotics, LLC in Waterville, Maine. More free tools: all calculators.