Menu engineering basics for independent restaurants

Why the number matters

Menu engineering basics for independent restaurants always starts from true usable portion cost — not the raw purchase price. Skip yield or unit conversion and your spreadsheet quietly lies.

The formula

Food cost % = (portion cost ÷ ex-tax menu price) × 100. Pick a target (often 28–35% for full-service), then suggested price = portion cost ÷ (target ÷ 100).

| Item | Example |

|---|---|

| Portion cost | $3.60 |

| Menu price | $14.00 |

| Food cost % | 25.7% |

Concrete steps

1. List every ingredient with pack size and price.
2. Apply yield (trim loss).
3. Convert units (kg → g, L → ml).
4. Sum and divide by portions.
5. Compare to your target.

Where kitchens go wrong

Ignoring sub-recipes, forgetting cooking oil, mixing tax-in and tax-out prices, or never updating a supplier quote. That is exactly what ingredient price propagation is built to stop.

Try it now

Run the math in the browser food cost tool, then keep live recipes in the 14-day FoodCost trial so threshold alerts fire when prices move.

One last habit: date every price. Without history you cannot explain last week's margin slide — or an inventory variance — to your team.