Food cost is decided in a hundred small places: the price on the invoice, the yield on the trim, the portion on the line, the case that spoils in the walk-in and the dish that sells well but earns little. This hub collects our guides, calculators and templates for the kitchen side of the business: measuring food cost properly, costing every plate, running yield tests, counting and ordering to par, engineering the menu and keeping the kitchen inspection-ready. Start with the food cost guide, then move to actual versus theoretical to find exactly where the dollars go.
Guides
Long-form guides with the formula, benchmarks by concept, a worked example and a routine.
Free calculators
No signup. Load the sample numbers to see how each one works, then enter your own.
The numbers to know
Typical ranges by concept. Use them to orient, then manage to your own weekly trend.
| Metric | Full service | Bar-led | Quick service | Fine dining / club |
|---|
| Food cost (of food sales) | 28 to 34% | 28 to 34% | 28 to 32% | 30 to 36% |
| Food inventory on hand | 5 to 7 days | 5 to 7 days | 3 to 5 days | 6 to 9 days |
| Food inventory turns per month | 4 to 6 | 4 to 6 | 6 to 8 | 3 to 5 |
| Menu size (total items) | 25 to 45 | 15 to 30 | 15 to 30 | 15 to 25 |
| Stars as a share of items | 25 to 35% | 25 to 35% | 25 to 35% | 30 to 40% |
| Comps and voids (of sales) | Under 2% | Under 2.5% | Under 1.5% | Under 2% |
All forty benchmarks, with what moves each one, are on the benchmarks page. Terms are defined in the glossary.
Templates and workbooks
Excel and Google Sheets tools built from the same methods, one-time purchase.
FAQ
What is a good food cost percentage?
Most full service restaurants run 28 to 34 percent of food sales, quick service 28 to 32 and fine dining and clubs 30 to 36. Pizza can run 20 to 28 percent and steakhouses 35 to 40. Manage to your own weekly trend once you know where you sit.
What is the difference between actual and theoretical food cost?
Theoretical is what food should have cost based on the recipes and the sales mix. Actual is what it did cost based on the inventory count and purchases. The gap is waste, portioning, theft and receiving errors, and finding it by item is the fastest way to lower food cost.
How often should a kitchen take inventory?
Weekly for food cost, on the same day each week. Monthly is too slow to fix anything before the month is gone. High-value items like proteins can be counted daily.
How do I lower food cost without cutting quality?
Recost your top sellers against current invoices, weigh portions on the line for a week, run yield tests on your main proteins and order to par so less spoils. Most kitchens find two or three points this way before touching a recipe.
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