Pricing a menu without knowing your food costs is like driving blindfolded. Learn how to calculate plate costs, set target food cost percentages, and price every dish for sustainable profitability.
Stop guessing which dishes make you money. Menu engineering uses a simple four-quadrant matrix to classify every item by popularity and profitability, then gives you specific strategies for each category. Restaurants that adopt this system typically see profits increase by 10-15%.
Food cost percentage tells you how efficiently you are converting food purchases into revenue. Contribution margin tells you how much cash each dish actually puts in your pocket. You need both — and you need to know when to use each one.
Food cost percentage is not the same as profitability — and the difference can cost you thousands of dollars in misguided menu decisions.