Restaurant Food Cost Calculator
Calculate food cost percentage per dish from ingredient costs and menu price.
Returns whether pricing hits the 28-35% target food cost range.
Restaurant food cost percentage is one of the most critical metrics in the food service industry — it measures what fraction of each dollar of revenue is spent on raw ingredients.
Core formula: Food Cost % = (Cost of Goods Sold ÷ Food Revenue) × 100 Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) = Opening Inventory + Purchases − Closing Inventory
Per-dish food cost: Dish Food Cost % = Ingredient Cost per Serving ÷ Menu Price × 100
Industry benchmarks:
| Segment | Target Food Cost % |
|---|---|
| Fine dining | 28–35% |
| Casual dining | 28–35% |
| Fast casual | 25–35% |
| Fast food / QSR | 25–31% |
| Pizza (dough-heavy) | 20–28% |
| Bar food | 22–32% |
| Bakery | 25–40% |
The Prime Cost Rule: Food cost + labor cost = prime cost, which should be below 60–65% of revenue for a healthy restaurant. Food cost alone should sit between 28–35% for most full-service restaurants.
Worked example: Opening inventory: $8,500 Purchases this week: $12,200 Closing inventory: $7,800 Food revenue this week: $38,000
COGS = $8,500 + $12,200 − $7,800 = $12,900 Food Cost % = ($12,900 ÷ $38,000) × 100 = 33.9%
This is within normal range but toward the high end — reviewing portion sizes, supplier pricing, and waste/spoilage would be the next steps.
Per-dish example: A pasta dish costs $4.20 in ingredients and sells for $14.00. Dish Food Cost % = $4.20 ÷ $14.00 × 100 = 30% ✓
Tracking both overall and per-dish food cost reveals which menu items are profitable and which are dragging margins down.