Menu pricing
Menu Price Calculator
Calculate a recommended restaurant menu price from your food cost and target food cost percentage. Get an instant result in seconds with no signup.
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Recommended Menu Price
$0.00
This is your gross profit after food cost only — it does not include labor, rent or other operating costs.
Markup: 0.0% above food cost
Example Menu Prices at Different Food Cost Targets
These are examples, not universal recommendations — the right target depends on your restaurant.
Set a price three ways
Fill in one, two or all three methods to see the prices side by side. The three are different questions, so they rarely give the same price.
Food cost, margin, markup and multiplier side by side
Raise a price: how much volume can you lose?
A break-even on your own numbers, with the cost per portion held constant. It is not a forecast of what guests will do.
Delivery price with commission and packaging
Enter your own platform commission and packaging cost. No commission rate is assumed: use the figure from your contract.
Compare up to three dishes
Enter at least two dishes. They are ranked by gross profit per portion; without sales counts this does not show which dish earns most in total.
Please fix the following:
Get to know the tool
What Is a Menu
Price Calculator?
A menu price calculator turns the cost of one portion into a selling price. You choose how to think about the price (a food cost target, a gross margin target or a multiplier of cost) and the calculator does the arithmetic.
This one has two modes. Simple is the classic calculation: cost divided by target food cost %. Pricing studio adds the questions that come right after it: what menu price does that round to, what happens if I raise it, what should the same dish cost on a delivery app, and which of my dishes earns the most per portion.
The cost per portion is the one number the calculator cannot know. If you are starting from a recipe, work it out first in the Recipe Cost mode of the Food Cost Calculator and paste the result into the studio. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is stored or sent.
Menu Price Formula
Food Cost divided by Target Food Cost % = Menu Price
Example: $5.20 food cost ÷ 30% target food cost (entered as 0.30 in the calculation) = $17.33 before rounding.
Four steps
How to Price a
Restaurant Menu Item
Start from one portion
Use the cost of everything on the plate, after trimming and cooking loss. If you cost recipes in Recipe Cost, paste its cost per portion into the studio.
Compare pricing methods
Enter a food cost target, a gross margin target, a multiplier, or all three. Each price comes with its food cost %, margin, markup and multiplier.
Round up to a menu price
Choose a step ($0.25, $0.50, $1.00) or an ending (.95, .99). The price always rounds up, and you see what the rounding does to food cost and profit.
Check it before you print it
Test a price change, price the same dish for delivery, or set it beside your other dishes. Then weigh labor, rent, competitors and what your guests will accept.
The relationship
How the Target Food Cost
Changes the Price
Take a dish that costs $5.20 to make. The lower the food cost % you aim for, the higher the price, because the same cost is divided by a smaller number.
$20.80
Price before rounding at a 25% food cost target.
$17.33
Price before rounding at a 30% food cost target.
$14.86
Price before rounding at a 35% food cost target.
These are arithmetic, not recommendations: the right target is the one that fits your own costs and concept. The Food Cost Calculator shows how to set a target from your own budget instead of borrowing someone else’s.
Don't mix these up
Markup vs. Margin for
Restaurant Menu Pricing
Food cost %, gross margin and markup describe the same price from different directions. At $17.33 on a $5.20 dish, gross profit is $12.13. That is a 30.0% food cost, a 70.0% gross margin, a 233.3% markup, and a price 3.33 times the cost.
Markup
How far the price sits above the cost.
Markup % = (Price − Cost) ÷ Cost × 100
Gross Margin
The share of the price left after food cost.
Gross Margin % = (Price − Cost) ÷ Price × 100
| Food cost | Gross margin | Markup on cost | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25.0% | 75.0% | 300.0% | ×4.00 |
| 28.0% | 72.0% | 257.1% | ×3.57 |
| 30.0% | 70.0% | 233.3% | ×3.33 |
| 32.0% | 68.0% | 212.5% | ×3.13 |
| 35.0% | 65.0% | 185.7% | ×2.86 |
| 40.0% | 60.0% | 150.0% | ×2.50 |
The same number means very different prices depending on which one it is. On a $5.20 dish, a 30% markup gives $6.76, which is a 76.9% food cost. A 30% gross margin gives $7.43, a 70.0% food cost. A 30% food cost target gives $17.33. Before you copy a number from a book, a supplier or a competitor, check which of the three it refers to.
In the studio: under Set a price, enter 30 as the food cost target and 30 as the gross margin target, then calculate. The two cards show the gap side by side.
Worked example
Menu Pricing Example
$5.20 ÷ 0.30 = $17.33. Rounding up to a price ending in .95 adds $0.62 and brings the food cost to 29.0%. Each portion leaves $12.75 of gross profit, which is before labor, rent and every other cost: that is why it is called gross. The figures in this example are illustrative.
From formula to menu
Rounding to a
Real Menu Price
A calculated price such as $17.33 is rarely what ends up on a menu. Round up, not down: a price rounded below the calculated one puts the dish above the food cost you chose. Here is the same $5.20 dish at a 30% target under each rule.
| Rule | Menu price | Food cost | Gross profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exact price | $17.33 | 30.0% | $12.13 |
| Next $0.25 | $17.50 | 29.7% | $12.30 |
| Next $0.50 | $17.50 | 29.7% | $12.30 |
| Next $1.00 | $18.00 | 28.9% | $12.80 |
| Ending in .95 | $17.95 | 29.0% | $12.75 |
| Ending in .99 | $17.99 | 28.9% | $12.79 |
| Rounded down to $17.00 | $17.00 | 30.6% | $11.80 |
The last row is the one to avoid: rounding down to $17.00 turns a 30% target into 30.6%. Whether $17.95 or a flat $18.00 suits your menu is a matter of style and of how your guests read prices, which a calculator cannot tell you.
In the studio: under Set a price, open Round up to a menu price, choose a rule and calculate. Change the rule and calculate again to compare.
Before you change a price
Raising a Price:
The Break-Even Volume
Raising a price earns more on every portion, but you may sell fewer. The useful question is how many fewer you could sell before gross profit falls. The dish costs $5.20. At $16.00 each portion leaves $10.80 (a 32.5% food cost). At $17.50 it leaves $12.30 (29.7%).
Each portion earns $1.50 more, so you can lose some portions and still break even: $10.80 ÷ $12.30 is 0.878, so total gross profit is the same if you sell 12.2% fewer. A smaller drop leaves you ahead; a bigger one leaves you behind.
What this calculation assumes
- The cost per portion stays the same before and after the change.
- Gross profit is the price minus the ingredient cost only. Labor, rent and other costs are not in it.
- It is a break-even on your numbers, not a forecast. It does not tell you how many guests will order at the new price: only your own sales can.
In the studio: choose Raise a price, enter the current and the new price, and read the break-even volume. To see how many sales cover your fixed costs, use the Restaurant Break-Even Calculator.
Selling through an app
Pricing a Delivery Order
A delivery platform keeps a commission, and the order needs packaging. Both come out of what the dish earns. Take the $5.20 dish sold in-house at $17.50, which leaves $12.30. The example uses a 28% commission and $0.40 of packaging: illustrative inputs, so use the figures in your own contract.
Three words, three different things. Net revenue is what the platform pays you: the price minus its commission. Contribution is what is left of that after ingredients and packaging. Net profit is what remains after every cost of running the restaurant, labor and rent included; this calculator cannot know it, so contribution is never net profit.
The $24.86 keeps the same dollars of contribution as the in-house plate, which takes a price 42.1% above the in-house one. If you prefer to keep a ratio instead, price so that ingredients plus packaging are 29.7% of net revenue (the in-house food cost): that gives $26.18 and a contribution of $13.25. Neither is right in every case; they protect different things, and the studio shows both.
In the studio: choose Delivery price and enter your own commission; there is no default rate. To see what is left after labor and rent, use the Restaurant Profit Calculator.
Decide, dish by dish
Comparing Dishes
to Decide What to Do
One dish rarely tells you much. Set two or three side by side. These three illustrative dishes show why a low food cost % is not the whole story.
| Dish | Price | Cost | Food cost | Gross margin | Gross profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken plate | $15.00 | $4.20 | 28.0% | 72.0% | $10.80 |
| Brisket sandwich | $16.50 | $6.10 | 37.0% | 63.0% | $10.40 |
| Garden salad | $11.00 | $2.90 | 26.4% | 73.6% | $8.10 |
- Rank by gross profit per portion. The chicken plate earns $10.80 a portion, the brisket sandwich $10.40 and the salad $8.10.
- Then read the food cost %. The salad has the lowest (26.4%) and the brisket sandwich the highest (37.0%), yet the brisket earns more per portion than the salad.
- Add what the tool cannot see. How many of each dish you sell decides which one earns most in total. Pull the counts from your own sales report.
- Pick an action for each dish. Re-price it, change the portion or the recipe, move it on the menu, or leave it alone. Change one thing at a time so you can tell what worked.
In the studio: choose Compare dishes and enter the cost and menu price of two or three dishes. The ranking and a plain-language reading are built from your figures.
Avoid these
Common Restaurant
Menu Pricing Mistakes
Rounding Down
A price below the calculated one pushes food cost above your target. On the $5.20 dish, $17.00 instead of $17.33 turns 30% into 30.6%.
Costing the Purchase, Not the Plate
Cost what ends up on the plate, after trimming and cooking loss. The Recipe Cost mode of the Food Cost Calculator applies yield for you.
Confusing Markup and Margin
A 30% markup on $5.20 is $6.76, a 76.9% food cost. Check which of the three a number refers to before you use it.
Judging by Food Cost % Alone
A dish with a low food cost % can still earn less per portion than a dearer one. Look at both, then at how many you sell.
Forgetting Delivery Costs
Commission and packaging come out of the same price. Pricing a delivery order like an in-house one quietly lowers what each order leaves.
Reading a Break-Even as a Forecast
The volume you can lose is arithmetic with a constant cost. It cannot say how guests will react to a higher price.
Keep going
What Should I Calculate Next?
A price that meets a food cost target is a starting point. These two steps test it against the rest of the business.
See what the price leaves after other costs
The price above only accounts for ingredients. Enter your sales and your food, labor and other costs in the Restaurant Profit Calculator to see the estimated operating result.
Open the Restaurant Profit CalculatorCount the orders that cover your costs
The Break-Even Calculator works from an average check. Use a price you are considering as that check, with your fixed and variable costs, to see how many orders and how much revenue cover them.
Open the Restaurant Break-Even CalculatorAbout this page
The calculator does not predict how guests will react to a new price. These are estimates, not accounting, tax or legal advice.
Good to know
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the formula for pricing a restaurant menu item?
The starting formula is Menu Price = Food Cost ÷ Target Food Cost %. The same price can be reached from a gross margin target, Price = Cost ÷ (1 − Margin), or from a multiplier, Price = Cost × Multiplier. A 30% food cost target is a 70% gross margin and a multiplier of about 3.33.
How do you calculate a menu price from food cost?
Divide the cost of one portion by the target food cost expressed as a decimal. A dish that costs $5.20 with a 30% target gives $5.20 ÷ 0.30 = $17.33. You then round that up to a price you can print, for example $17.95, which brings the food cost to 29.0%.
What food cost percentage should I use?
There is no universal target. It depends on your concept, menu, ingredient costs and the rest of your cost structure, so work backward from your own budget rather than borrowing a number. The Food Cost Calculator page shows how to set a target from your own figures.
What is the difference between markup and margin?
Margin is profit divided by the price; markup is profit divided by the cost. At a $17.33 price on a $5.20 dish, gross profit is $12.13: a 70.0% gross margin and a 233.3% markup. A 30% markup on that dish would only reach $6.76, a 76.9% food cost.
Does the menu price calculator include labor?
No. Gross profit here is the price minus the ingredient cost only, so labor, rent and other operating costs are not in it. The delivery tool also stops at contribution, which is net revenue minus ingredients and packaging, not net profit. The Restaurant Profit Calculator covers costs below the food line.
How do I get the cost per portion for a recipe?
Cost every ingredient at the amount that ends up on the plate, after trimming and cooking loss, then divide by the number of portions. The Recipe Cost mode of the Food Cost Calculator does this with yields and units; copy its cost per portion and paste it into the Pricing studio cost field.
Why does the calculator round prices up and not to the nearest?
A price rounded down lands above the food cost you chose. On the $5.20 dish at a 30% target, $17.00 gives 30.6%. Rounding up to $17.50 gives 29.7%, to $17.95 gives 29.0%. How a price should look on your menu, such as .95 or a whole dollar, is your call.
How much volume can I lose if I raise a price?
The Raise a price tool gives the break-even: the largest drop in portions sold at which total gross profit stays the same. Moving a $5.20 dish from $16.00 to $17.50 allows a 12.2% drop. It holds the cost per portion constant and is not a prediction of how guests will react.
How do I price a dish for delivery apps?
Enter your own commission and packaging cost. The tool shows two prices: one that keeps the same dollars of contribution per order as your in-house plate, and one that keeps the same cost ratio on net revenue. No commission rate is assumed; use the one in your contract.
Calculate Your Menu
Price in Seconds
Enter your food cost and target food cost percentage to get an instant recommended menu price.