Ingredient 1
Batch cost: $19.20
Free restaurant calculator
Restaurant Food Cost & Menu Pricing Calculator
Cost a recipe after unit conversion and waste, find a target pre-tax menu price, then calculate the sales and daily covers your restaurant needs to break even.
Example values are preloaded. Replace them with your own numbers; results update instantly.
Use pre-tax prices
GST/HST is a pass-through and is excluded from food-cost and margin math.
01
Cost one recipe batch
Ingredient 2
Batch cost: $6.67
Ingredient 3
Batch cost: $6.80
Ingredient 4
Batch cost: $1.66
02
Add direct per-plate costs
Food-only gross profit ignores labour and packaging. Add what you can measure here to get a more useful direct contribution estimate.
Live recipe result
Prairie burger
Food cost / serving
$3.43
Actual food cost
15.6%
Price at 30%
$11.44
Direct contribution / serving
$16.52
Total batch food cost
$34.33
Food-only gross profit
$18.57
Prep labour / serving
$1.20
Direct contribution is menu price minus entered food, packaging, direct prep labour, and other direct costs. It is not net profit; rent, management labour, fees, utilities, taxes, and other overhead still remain.
03
Calculate restaurant break-even
Use your whole restaurant’s total variable-cost percentage here, including food, hourly labour, merchant fees, and other costs that rise with sales. Do not reuse a single dish’s food-cost percentage.
Live restaurant result
Your break-even target
Monthly sales needed
$85,714
Covers needed / month
2,449
Covers needed / day
94.2
Daily cover gap
14.2
Estimated monthly operating result at current covers
-$4,520
Directional estimate based only on the fixed-cost and variable-cost assumptions entered above.
+$1 average check
-$3,792 / mo
+10 covers per day
-$1,335 / mo
Both changes
-$516 / mo
Optional follow-up
Email this results summary
No ingredient list is stored. We send only the high-level food-cost, price, and break-even numbers shown here.
How the calculator works
Food cost is one ratio. Break-even is the business test.
Recipe costing normalizes compatible weights, volumes, or counts, then adjusts purchased quantity for yield loss. The menu-pricing formula uses your chosen food-cost target. The separate break-even model uses whole-restaurant fixed and variable costs so one dish is never mistaken for the economics of the entire operation.
What the estimate does not include
- • Ingredient density conversions between weight and volume.
- • Theoretical-versus-actual inventory variance or theft.
- • Menu mix, price elasticity, tax advice, or a profit guarantee.
Restaurant food cost calculator FAQ
How do you calculate food cost percentage?
Divide the ingredient cost per serving by the pre-tax menu price, then multiply by 100. A $6 food cost on a $20 menu item is a 30% food cost.
How do you calculate a menu price from a target food cost?
Divide food cost per serving by the target food-cost percentage expressed as a decimal. If a serving costs $6 and the target is 30%, the formula suggests a $20 pre-tax menu price. That price is a target-cost result, not a guarantee of profit.
Does this calculator include GST or HST?
No. Canadian restaurants should enter the pre-tax menu price. GST, HST, or provincial sales tax collected from the guest is excluded from operational food-cost and contribution calculations.
What should be included in restaurant variable costs?
For break-even planning, include costs that generally rise with sales, such as food and beverage cost, hourly labour, card fees, disposables, and delivery commissions. Use your actual accounting data where possible.
Is contribution per serving the same as net profit?
No. The calculator's direct contribution subtracts only the direct costs you enter. Rent, management salaries, utilities, insurance, repairs, taxes, and other overhead still need to be covered.