Enter what a plate costs to make and your target food cost percentage — get a menu price with margin, markup, and charm-price rounding built in.
Exact price before charm rounding: $16.17. Quick-service typically targets 25–30%; full-service 28–35%.
The standard method is cost-based pricing: divide the plate cost by your target food cost percentage. A $4.85 plate at a 30% target prices out to $16.17 — which you'd round to $15.99 or $16.49 on the menu. (Don't know your plate cost yet? Start with the food cost calculator.)
Cost-based pricing keeps you from losing money, but the ceiling is set by perceived value: what the dish looks like, what competitors charge, and where it sits on the menu. High-demand signature items can carry a lower food cost percentage; commodity items (wings, fries) get compared across town, so they can't.
One more thing: if a third-party marketplace takes 20–30% of the ticket, your effective food cost on those orders explodes. Many operators raise marketplace prices 15–20% and keep direct ordering at menu price — guests get the better deal on your own channel, and your margins survive.
Get the operator margin playbook — food cost targets, pricing moves, and win-back flows that pay for themselves. One or two emails a month, no spam.
Score your site on online ordering, mobile, speed, menu and Google-readable details, with a fix for each.
CostingCost a recipe ingredient by ingredient, get cost per serving and food cost percentage.
FinanceEnter monthly revenue and costs to see prime cost, net margin, and break-even.
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