Food cost,
per dish.
The universal restaurant ratio. Move the sliders to model your menu — every other margin number flows from this one.
What the customer pays for the dish
Raw materials per portion — protein, carbs, oil, spices
The small line most operators forget — garnishes, salads, sauces
What this dish costs you
Ingredients + garnish
Industry target: 28–32% QSR · 30–35% casual · 35–40% fine dining
68.8% of menu price — before labor, rent, utilities
Marker shows the 38% underwater line (scale: 0–50% food cost)
Healthy
This dish sits in the target band for most service formats. Watch ingredient inflation — a 5% spike in raw material costs flips this to tight.
68.8% gross margin gives you headroom for ~30% labor + ~15% rent and still leave ~10–15% operating margin.
Food cost % isn’t one number. It’s a menu of decisions.
The industry rule of thumb says 30–32% food cost. That’s a starting line, not a target. A QSR running at 28% with a focused menu is more profitable than a casual restaurant running at 35% with a sprawling one — even though the casual operator charges 3× more per cover.
What actually matters is the spread between this dish and the others on your menu. Your top sellers should sit at the lower end of your target band (smaller margin per dish, but volume makes the math); your high-margin specials should sit lower still to fund the spread.
The dial most operators sleep on: garnish. We routinely see operators model a dish at 30% food cost using the raw protein/carb number, then add sides, sauce, and salad and quietly slide to 34%. The calculator above forces that accounting honestly.
Want to fix the underlying problem?
Restronaut builds custom digital systems for F&B operators — including inventory-to-recipe costing dashboards that update in real time.
Frequently asked questions
How is food cost percentage calculated?+
Food cost % is your total food cost divided by menu price, times 100. Total food cost is ingredient cost plus garnish/condiments — and, for delivery orders, packaging cost too. For example, $4 of ingredients plus $1 of garnish on a $16 dish is a 31.3% food cost.
What's a healthy food cost percentage?+
The calculator flags 32% or under as healthy, 32–38% as tight, and above 38% as underwater. Industry targets vary by format: 28–32% for QSR, 30–35% for casual dining, and 35–40% for fine dining.
Does packaging count toward food cost for delivery orders?+
Yes. When you set service format to delivery in the calculator, packaging cost (containers, lids, cutlery, bag) is added to ingredient and garnish cost before food cost % is calculated. For dine-in, packaging is left out of the total.
What's the difference between food cost % and gross margin?+
Gross margin is menu price minus total food cost — the dollar amount left over. Gross margin % is that amount divided by menu price. This is what remains before labor, rent, and utilities are paid, so a healthy food cost % still needs enough margin left to cover those costs too.
Why does the calculator separate garnish and condiments from ingredient cost?+
Because it's the line most operators forget to price. A dish can look healthy on the core ingredient cost alone, then quietly slide several points higher once garnish, sauces, and sides are added — separating the two lines forces that accounting to happen honestly.