Free restaurant calculators
Know Your
Restaurant Numbers
Free calculators for restaurant owners, operators and chefs in the United States: cost a plate, set a price, read your profit, plan labor, find your break-even point, size your room and split tips. Each result shows the formula behind it.
- 7 free calculators
- Formulas shown
- Works on mobile
Free to use · No signup required · Formulas shown
Results are estimates from the numbers you enter. How they are built and checked.
The tools
What Do You Need
to Figure Out?
Start from the question you have. Each calculator opens in a simple mode for a quick estimate, and most also have a Studio for exploring scenarios.
What does this plate cost me?
Food cost percentage and gross profit from a dish’s cost and its menu price. Recipe cost prices a recipe from its ingredients, with yield.
Use it when you cost a new dish or check an old one.
Open Food Cost 02 Menu Price CalculatorWhat should I charge for it?
A menu price from ingredient cost and a target food cost or margin. It can also test a price increase and price for delivery.
Use it when you price a dish or costs go up.
Open Menu Price 03 Restaurant Profit CalculatorWhat is my estimated profit?
Revenue minus the expenses you list: prime cost, operating profit and margin, with what-if changes.
Use it to see where a month’s sales go.
Open Profit 04 Restaurant Break-Even CalculatorHow much do I need to sell?
The sales and orders that cover the fixed and variable costs you list, and how that changes with a new cost or price.
Use it when you weigh a lease, a channel or a price.
Open Break-Even 05 Restaurant Labor Cost CalculatorWhat does my payroll really cost?
Labor cost and its share of sales from pay, hours and the employer costs you enter, plus sales per labor hour and overtime.
Use it when you build or review a schedule.
Open Labor Cost 06 Restaurant Tip CalculatorWho gets what from this check?
A tip on a bill, a split by amounts or weights, or a tip pool by hours or points, all to the cent.
Use it when you split a check or divide a pool.
Open Tips 07 Restaurant Table Capacity CalculatorHow many guests can I seat?
Seats, turns and covers from your tables and a service window, with reservation and duration scenarios.
Use it when you lay out a room or plan a service.
Open Table CapacityNot sure where to start?
Food cost is the easiest first number: two fields and a result. The guide explains it from the beginning.
Start with Food CostTwo ways to use each tool
Quick Estimate
or Full What-If?
Simple mode is the default: a few fields and one result, in seconds, using the formula printed on the page. Studio is an optional mode you switch on above the calculator, for exploring scenarios with more detail.
Studios are not all alike. Each one is built for its own tool, and its page lists what it does. Nothing is pre-filled with an industry average.
See What Each Studio AddsExamples of what a Studio does
- Menu Price: test a price increase and see how many fewer sales you can lose before gross profit falls.
- Break-Even: put two cost structures side by side, for example a new lease.
- Labor Cost: compare two schedules and estimate overtime.
- Tip: share a tip pool by hours or points, with leftover cents given by a fixed rule.
- Table Capacity: test reservations and meal durations against your tables.
See a result and read it
A Worked Example
A made-up dish, chosen to keep the arithmetic easy to follow. It is not an industry average and not a real restaurant: the numbers are only there to show the method.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Inputs | Ingredient cost $5.40 per plate. Target food cost 30%. |
| Calculation | Menu price = $5.40 ÷ 0.30 |
| Result | $18.00. Check: $5.40 ÷ $18.00 = 30%. Gross profit: $18.00 − $5.40 = $12.60 per plate. |
How to read it
At $18.00, ingredients take 30 cents of every dollar. The other $12.60 has to pay for labor, rent, utilities and everything else, and leave something over.
The limit that matters
The 30% target is your choice, not a norm, and the result says nothing about whether guests will pay $18.00. It looks at ingredient cost only.
Try your own numbers in the Menu Price Calculator.
Three steps
How Our Restaurant
Calculators Work
Enter your numbers
Ingredient cost, menu price, sales, payroll — whatever the tool asks for.
Click Calculate
The calculator applies the restaurant formula behind it. No signup, no spreadsheet formulas to remember.
Get your result instantly
Read your result and the assumptions behind it, and use it to make a better decision today.
Try it — food cost in one click
This is a preview of one formula. The full Food Cost Calculator adds a target food cost percentage and a recommended menu price, and its Recipe cost mode prices a whole recipe.
Method and transparency
How to Read the Results
A calculator can only work with what you give it. Keep these four points in mind and you will use the results well.
Your Numbers In, Your Numbers Out
A result counts only the costs and sales you enter. Leave a cost out and it is not in the answer.
Estimates, Not Forecasts
Scenarios are arithmetic on your own entries. They do not predict how guests will react, and they are not accounting, tax or legal advice.
Limits Are on the Page
Every calculator page explains its formula, a worked example and what the result leaves out.
Learn
Restaurant Calculator Guides
Three in-depth guides are published today: food cost, break-even, and profit with prime cost. For every other number, the calculator page explains the formula and shows an example.
How to Calculate Food Cost for a Restaurant
Learn how to calculate food cost percentage, understand the food cost formula and use food cost when pricing restaurant dishes.
Read the guideHow to Calculate a Restaurant's Break-Even Point
Fixed and variable costs, the contribution ratio, break-even sales and orders, a profit target and the margin of safety, with worked examples and the limits of the model.
Read the guideRestaurant Profit and Prime Cost: How to Read Your Numbers
Food cost, labor cost, prime cost, operating profit and net profit defined and read line by line, with worked examples, scenarios and the limits of each figure.
Read the guideGood to know
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the restaurant calculators free?
Yes. Every calculator on RestoCalculator is free to use, with no signup and no usage limits.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no signup, no login and no email required. Open a calculator, enter your numbers and get your result.
What is the difference between simple mode and a Studio?
Simple mode gives a quick estimate from a few fields. A Studio is an optional advanced mode for exploring scenarios, such as what-if changes or comparing two situations. Each Studio is built for its own tool, and its page says what it does.
Which calculator should I start with?
Start from the question you have: what a plate costs (Food Cost), what to charge (Menu Price), what you earn (Restaurant Profit), what payroll costs (Labor Cost), how much you must sell (Break-Even), how many guests you can seat (Table Capacity) or how to split a check (Tip). Food Cost is the easiest first number.
Are the results estimates?
Yes. A result is arithmetic on the numbers you enter, so it is only as accurate as those numbers. Scenarios are not forecasts, and the results are not accounting, tax or legal advice.
Can I use these calculators on my phone?
Yes. Every calculator works in any modern browser on mobile, tablet and desktop, with nothing to install.
How do I report a mistake?
Use the contact page and tell us which calculator you used, the values you entered and the result you got.
Pick the Number You
Need to Figure Out
Seven free calculators for restaurant owners, operators and chefs.