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Restaurant Food Cost Percentage Calculator

Work out restaurant food cost percentage instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Restaurant Food Cost Percentage Calculator

Food cost percentage is ingredient cost divided by menu price; the price needed for a target percentage is simply the cost divided by that target as a decimal. Restaurants live on the gap between 28% and 35% food cost, and a single mispriced popular dish can move the whole menu's margin.

Formulas

Food cost percentage

food cost % = dish food cost / menu price x 100

Target price

price = food cost / target food cost percentage

Worked example

With the default values below, Restaurant Food Cost Percentage Calculator returns Food cost percentage of 28.00%. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Food cost of the dishminimum 0.01
4.2
Menu price excluding taxminimum 0.01
15
Target food costaccepts 1–100 %
30 %

Results

Food cost percentage
28.00%
Gross profit per dish
$10.80
Price as a multiple of cost
3.571
Price needed to hit the target
$14.00

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Food cost percentage
  3. 3Target price
  4. 4Food cost percentage= 28.00
  5. 5Gross profit per dish= 10.80
  6. 6Price as a multiple of cost= 3.571
  7. 7Price needed to hit the target= 14.00

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the Restaurant Food Cost Percentage figure worked out?

food cost % = dish food cost / menu price x 100. Food cost percentage is ingredient cost divided by menu price; the price needed for a target percentage is simply the cost divided by that target as a decimal.

Why does this matter?

Restaurants live on the gap between 28% and 35% food cost, and a single mispriced popular dish can move the whole menu's margin.

What do I need to enter?

Enter food cost of the dish, menu price excluding tax, target food cost. The defaults shown are a realistic worked example — swap in your own figures to get a result you can use.

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