Free tool
Food cost calculator for restaurants
Cost a dish ingredient by ingredient, see its food cost percentage, and get a target menu price. Free, no signup, and the math is the same one lenders and buyers use when they look at your menu.
1. What does the dish cost to make?
Add each ingredient and what it costs per serving, including packaging and add-ons.
Dish cost: $0.00
2. What is your food cost percentage?
Food cost percentage = dish cost divided by menu price, times 100.
Food cost: enter a price
3. What should the menu price be?
Target menu price = dish cost divided by your target food cost percentage.
Target menu price: $0.00
New to the formula? Read how to calculate food cost percentage for worked examples, or see how Smooth Ops keeps these numbers current automatically as food cost software for Square restaurants.
The catch with any calculator
This page tells you a dish's food cost for the prices you typed in today. The number starts drifting with the next delivery, because vendor prices move and menus do not. That is the whole problem with manual food costing: the math is easy, keeping the inputs current is the job. Smooth Ops does that job by reading your supplier invoices from a photo and re-costing every dish when a price moves, with each change waiting for your approval.
Prices drift week to week. Track them with the free vendor price book template and a 10 minute weekly invoice audit checklist.
Food cost math, answered
How do I calculate food cost percentage?+
Divide the ingredient cost of the dish by its menu price, then multiply by 100. A burger that costs $4.85 in ingredients and sells for $15.00 has a food cost of 32.3 percent.
What is a good food cost percentage for a restaurant?+
Most full-service restaurants aim for 28 to 35 percent. Bars and cafes with high-margin drinks often run lower. The right target depends on your concept, labor model, and rent, so treat the range as a starting point.
How do I turn a target food cost into a menu price?+
Divide the dish cost by the target percentage expressed as a decimal. A $4.00 dish at a 30 percent target is $4.00 divided by 0.30, which is $13.33, then round to a clean menu number.
Is this calculator really free?+
Yes. No signup, no email, no catch. It is made by Smooth Ops, the back-office app for independent restaurants, and if you want the same math running automatically from your real invoices, the app is 30 days free, no credit card.
Stop recalculating by hand
Smooth Ops keeps every dish costed from your real invoices. Start with one module at $25 a month per location.
30 days free, no credit card