Restaurant costing calculators

Cost the plate, keep prime cost under 60%, and see what a wrong price leaks over a year. 5 free tools, every formula shown, CAD before GST/HST.

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Plate Cost Calculator

Add ingredients, set your target food cost percentage, and get the menu price that protects your margin.

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Ingredients per batch

Ingredient

Unit cost

Qty used

Ingredient

Unit cost

Qty used

Ingredient

Unit cost

Qty used

Plates per batch

How many plates the ingredients above make.

Target food cost

Most full-service kitchens aim for 28-32%.

Your menu price (optional)

Leave blank to use the recommended price.

How this is calculated

Plate cost = sum of (unit cost × quantity) ÷ plates per batch.

Recommended price = plate cost ÷ target food cost %. At 30% target, a $4.50 plate should sell for $15.00.

Food cost % = plate cost ÷ menu price. Green when at or under your target.

Gross margin % = (menu price − plate cost) ÷ menu price. Labor, rent, and waste come out of this later.

Prices are before GST/HST. Add tax on top of the price shown, never inside your margin. Estimates, not advice.

Verdict

This plate makes money

Recommended menu price$10.05

Food cost 30.0% — under your 30% target.

Plate cost: $3.02
Batch cost: $3.02
Food cost %: 30.0%
Gross margin %: 70.0%

Conservative yearly leak$0

Cents over target on this plate, at 400 plates a month, halved. Zero means it is priced right.

Save in workspace

More restaurant tools, by job

Price · What it costs and what to charge

Labor + Prime Cost CalculatorFood cost plus labor cost against revenue. See your prime cost and whether it is under the 60% benchmark.Open What Is It Costing You?Food cost drift, hours costing by hand and never-costed menu items, turned into one yearly number. Drag the sliders to what you believe.Open Delivery App BreakevenWhat a delivery-app order really earns after commission and packaging, and the markup that matches your in-house margin.Open

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Restaurant guides

All guides

Food cost percentage, explained in five minutesWhat the number means, what a healthy range looks like, and why one point is worth more than you think.5 min read Prime cost: the one number that says if you surviveFood plus labour as a share of sales. Under 60% and you have room. Over 65% and the rent is eating you.4 min read How much does a plate actually cost to make?Every ingredient at what you pay per unit, times what goes on the plate, divided by plates in the batch. Then the price that protects your margin.3 min read Restaurant prime cost calculator: are you under 60%?Food plus labour, as a share of sales, for one period. The one number that says whether there is room for rent and profit.2 min read What is it costing you to not cost your menu?Food cost drift, hours spent costing by hand, and the items nobody has costed. A conservative yearly number to argue with.3 min read Delivery app breakeven: what markup covers the 30% commission?The commission comes off the top, then packaging. The markup that makes an app order earn what an in-house order earns.3 min read Tip pool calculator: split tips by hours and roleHours times role points gives each person a weight. The pool is shared by weight. Everyone can check the maths.2 min read

Keep it

Your restaurant workspace

One ingredient list feeds every plate, the menu, the bar and labour. Change a supplier price and every plate re-costs. Saved on this device, free.

Open the restaurant workspace

Field Pack

Restaurant Prime Cost Recipe Book

The printable worksheets, templates, and benchmarks behind this calculator. $29, one-time.

Pack sizes we price from

The case prices in these tools come from products sold at ChickenPieces. Plain links to our own store.