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Plate cost, food cost %, prime cost, covers, average ticket and break-even: how the six numbers fit together and which one to fix first in a small restaurant.
Read the guide: How to make a restaurant profitable: the numbers
- How to make a restaurant profitable: the numbersPlate cost, food cost %, prime cost, covers, average ticket and break-even: how the six numbers fit together and which one to fix first in a small restaurant.→
- How to cost a plate for your menu, step by stepBuild a plate cost card with the protein, sides, sauces, fryer oil and the waste of the line. A full worked example with a burger and fries, in dollars.→
- Menu engineering: which dishes to push, fix or dropSort your dishes by how much they sell and how many dollars each leaves: stars, plowhorses, puzzles and dogs. One month of sales and what to do next.→
- How to price a set lunch or lunch specialCost a set lunch by what guests actually order, find how many you need to sell each day, and set the price that covers your costs. With an example.→
- Prime cost: food plus labour as a share of salesWork out your restaurant's prime cost every week, food plus labour with your own hours included, and read it against sales. With a worked example.→
- Covers, average ticket and table turnoverRead daily sales as covers times average ticket, work out table turnover and decide which lever to pull. Includes a simple daily log to start with.→
- How to schedule restaurant staff to your salesMatch kitchen and floor shifts to your covers by the hour, work out labour cost per cover, and see exactly when one more person on shift pays for itself.→
- When and how to update your menu pricesThe signals that say your menu prices need updating, how much to raise at once, which dishes to move first and how to tell your regulars without losing them.→
- Drinks, sides and extras: where restaurants make marginHow much a lemonade, a side of fries or a dessert leaves you next to the main dish, and how to sell them in your restaurant without discounting the meal.→
- How to track food waste in a restaurant kitchenHow to log prep trim, spoilage, overproduction and plate returns on a simple waste sheet, cost every line and work out what waste costs you per cover.→
What does it really cost you?
Put your recipe into the free calculator: ingredients, packaging, your time and the gas. You get the cost per unit and your margin in two minutes, no account needed.