Menu Pricing Calculator

A common formula is: Selling Price = Food Cost ÷ Target Food Cost %. For example, if a dish costs $4 to make and you want a 30% food cost, the selling price would be $4 ÷ 0.30 = $13.33. This calculator can also work from a target gross margin if that’s how you price your menu.

Food cost percentage measures how much of the selling price is spent on ingredients. Gross margin is the percentage left after ingredient costs are deducted. If your food cost is 30%, your gross margin is 70%. Together they always total 100%.

Gross margin only accounts for ingredient costs. Net margin also considers other operating expenses such as packaging, delivery commissions, payment processing fees, and labor. A dish with a healthy gross margin can still have a low net margin if operating costs are high.

Markup is the percentage added to your cost to determine the selling price, while margin is the percentage of the selling price that remains as profit before operating costs. Although related, markup and margin are not interchangeable and produce different selling prices.

Most restaurants aim for a food cost between 25% and 35%, which usually translates to a gross margin of 65% to 75%. However, the ideal percentage depends on your restaurant type, menu mix, labor costs, and overall pricing strategy.

Food cost percentages typically increase because of rising ingredient prices, inconsistent portion sizes, food waste, supplier changes, or menu prices that have not kept up with costs. Reviewing your food cost regularly helps identify items that may need repricing.

Not always. Small increases in ingredient costs can sometimes be absorbed by improving portion control or reducing waste. However, if your food cost percentage rises beyond your target, it may be time to adjust your menu prices. Regularly reviewing your food costs and margins helps you decide when a price increase is necessary.

Not necessarily. Popular dishes, signature items, premium ingredients, and drinks often have different target margins. Many restaurants use menu engineering to balance profitability with customer demand instead of applying the same margin across every item.

Most restaurants review menu prices every three to six months or whenever ingredient costs change significantly. Regular reviews help maintain healthy food costs and protect your profit margins without waiting for costs to become a problem.

The calculator lets you include additional operating costs to estimate your net profit. However, these costs do not affect the selling price calculation itself—they simply help you understand how much profit remains after expenses.

Yes. The calculator works for restaurants, cafes, bakeries, food trucks, cloud kitchens, bubble tea shops, dessert shops, and any food business that needs to calculate menu prices or food costs.

No. Everything runs locally in your browser. Your calculations are not stored, uploaded, or shared, and closing the page clears your data.