What's a Good Food Cost Percentage? (By Restaurant Type)

August 10, 2026 · 3 min read

There is no single good food cost percentage. Full-service restaurants commonly run 28–35%, pizzerias and cafés in the low 20s, and steakhouses 38–42%. The honest test is whether prime cost — food plus labour — lands near 60–65% of sales, because that is the number that decides whether you have anything left.

"What's a good food cost?" is the most asked question in restaurant costing and the least useful one. A 22% food cost is a disaster in a steakhouse and comfortable in a pizzeria. What follows is the range by format, and then the test that actually applies to your restaurant.

Typical ranges by format

Planning ranges, not benchmarks. Your rent and check average move all of these.
Format	Typical food cost	What drives it
Pizzeria	18–25%	Cheese carries the plate cost, not flour — why 20% is normal
Coffee shop	18–25%	High beverage margin, low ticket — cup economics
Bakery	22–30%	Ingredient-cheap, labour-expensive
Bar / pub (food)	25–32%	Food often supports the drinks programme, not the P&L
Fast casual	27–32%	Guests expect visible value; portions are large
Casual full service	28–35%	The broad middle — the range most guides quote
Diner	30–35%	Large portions, price-sensitive guests
Food truck	28–35%	Low rent buys room for a higher food cost
Sushi	32–40%	High-cost protein, high waste risk
Steakhouse / fine dining	35–42%	Expensive centre-of-plate, carried by check average

Why the ranges differ this much

Food cost percentage is a ratio, so anything that changes either side moves it. Three forces do most of the work:

Ingredient concentration. A pizza is flour, water, tomato and cheese — pennies of raw material carrying a $16 price. A ribeye is a $17 piece of beef carrying a $44 price. The pizza's percentage will always look better.
Rent. A restaurant paying 6% of sales in rent can survive a food cost that would bankrupt one paying 12%. This is why the same concept runs different targets in different cities.
Check average. High-check formats can absorb a higher percentage because the absolute dollars per cover are so much larger. See contribution margin.

The test that actually applies to you

Instead of asking what a good food cost percentage is, compute the one your restaurant can afford. Start from the bottom of the P&L and work up.

Worked example · Deriving your own target

Annual sales: $1,250,000
Occupancy (rent, utilities, insurance): 9% = $112,500
Other operating expenses: 12% = $150,000
Target owner profit: 8% = $100,000
Everything not prime cost: 29%
Room left for prime cost: 71%
Loaded labour: 38%
Your food cost ceiling: 33%

Change the labour line to 32% and the ceiling becomes 39%. That's the trade — and it's why prime cost is the number to watch rather than either half alone.

The number that beats it

Food cost percentage is a good drift detector — it tells you when a dish has moved away from where you priced it. It is a poor decision tool, because it has no units. You cannot deposit a percentage.

Two dishes at exactly the same food cost percentage
Dish	Price	Plate cost	Food cost %	Contribution
Side salad	$7.00	$1.96	28%	$5.04
Ribeye	$42.00	$11.76	28%	$30.24

Both hit target. One earns six times as much per cover. Use food cost percentage to spot drift; use contribution margin to decide what to promote, reprice or cut. Here's the full argument.

My food cost is 38% — am I in trouble?

Not necessarily. If you're a steakhouse with a $95 check average and 30% labour, 38% food cost is a 68% prime cost, which is tight but workable. If you're a fast-casual with a $14 check and 32% labour, the same number is 70% and it is a problem. Compute prime cost before deciding — the prime cost calculator takes a minute.

How do I lower food cost percentage quickly?

Price is faster than purchasing. A $1.50 increase on a $13.50 dish moves it three points immediately; renegotiating a supplier contract moves it a fraction of a point over months. Start with your plowhorses — high volume, low margin, proven demand.

Should I compare my food cost to other restaurants?

Only to ones with your format, your rent burden and your check average — which in practice means almost none of the numbers you'll find online. Your own trend line over twelve weeks is more informative than any benchmark.

What wholesale food prices did this week.

One email, Monday. What moved, what it does to a typical dish, and one thing worth repricing. Built from the same data that powers our food cost index.