Food cost percentage
Also called: food cost % · food cost percent
Food cost percentage is the plate cost of a dish divided by its menu price, expressed as a percent. A burger that costs $4.20 to make and sells for $15.00 runs a 28% food cost. Most full-service kitchens target 28–35% overall; the right number depends far more on your segment and rent than on any industry average.
Formula
Food cost % = Plate cost ÷ Menu price × 100
Use the cost of everything that leaves the kitchen on the plate — protein, sides, garnish, sauce, and the bread nobody counts.
Worked example · House burger
- Beef patty, 6 oz
- $2.35
- Bun
- $0.48
- Cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion
- $0.61
- Sauce + pickle
- $0.19
- Fries, 5 oz portion
- $0.57
- Plate cost
- $4.20
- Menu price
- $15.00
- Food cost percentage
- 28.0%
The same burger at $13.50 runs 31.1%. A $1.50 price move is worth three points of food cost — which is why pricing is usually a faster lever than purchasing.
Why it matters
Food cost percentage is the fastest read on whether a dish is priced against its cost. It travels well: you can compare a $9 sandwich to a $34 steak on the same scale, and it is the number every lender, landlord and consultant will ask for.
It is also the number that moves without anyone touching the menu. When beef goes up 18% and your price stays put, the percentage climbs on its own. Tracking it monthly against your actual invoices is the difference between noticing in week two and noticing at year-end.
Where the percentage misleads
A percentage has no units. It cannot tell you how many dollars a dish puts in the till — and dollars are what pays rent.
| Dish | Price | Plate cost | Food cost % | Gross profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Side salad | $7.00 | $1.96 | 28% | $5.04 |
| Ribeye | $42.00 | $11.76 | 28% | $30.24 |
Both dishes hit the same target. One of them earns six times as much per cover. This is why contribution margin belongs next to food cost percentage on every menu review, never instead of it.
Plate-level vs. period food cost
There are two food cost percentages and they answer different questions. Plate-level (above) is theoretical: what the recipe should cost. Period food cost is what actually happened across a week or month, computed from inventory:
Period food cost
(Opening inventory + Purchases − Closing inventory) ÷ Food sales × 100
The gap between the two is your variance — waste, over-portioning, comps, and theft all live in it. See theoretical vs. actual food cost.
What is a good food cost percentage?
It depends on your format, not on an industry average. Pizzerias and cafés often run in the low 20s because dough, cheese and coffee carry huge markups; steakhouses routinely run 38–42% and make it work on check average. The honest test is whether prime cost — food plus labor — lands near 60% of sales.
Should food cost percentage include waste?
Plate-level food cost should include predictable trim and yield loss, because that cost is real on every plate — use edible portion cost, not the invoice price. Unpredictable waste (a dropped tray, a spoiled case) belongs in variance, not in the recipe.
How often should I recalculate it?
Every time an ingredient price changes materially — which for most kitchens means monthly at minimum. Recipes costed once at menu launch and never revisited are the single most common source of silent margin loss.
Your food cost percentage, recalculated the day the invoice lands.
Marji reads your supplier invoices, recosts every dish that uses the ingredient, and names the ones that crossed your target. Photograph your menu to start.
Start free →Run the numbers
Food cost percentage calculator
The guide that works it through
How to Calculate Food Cost Percentage (With a Worked Example)
The food cost percentage formula, a full worked example on a real burger, the period-level version from inventory, and the four mistakes that make the number wrong.
Related terms
Plate cost
The total ingredient cost of one served portion, garnish and sides included.
Contribution margin
The dollars a dish contributes to overhead and profit after its ingredient cost — menu price minus plate cost.
Prime cost
Total cost of goods sold plus total labor cost — the two numbers that decide whether a restaurant survives.
Ideal food cost
The food cost percentage your menu would produce if every plate were made exactly to spec and nothing was wasted.
Gross margin vs. markup
Margin is profit as a share of price; markup is profit as a share of cost. Confusing them underprices a menu by several points.