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Food cost and menu profitability
Food cost is the share of food sales that goes back out as ingredients. It is the number most restaurant owners watch, and the one most often calculated in a way that hides the real problem. A single monthly percentage tells you that money is leaking; it does not tell you where.
These guides build on each other. Start with the formula and the benchmarks, then compare what you actually spent with what your recipes say you should have spent. The gap between those two numbers is where portioning, waste, theft and receiving errors show up, and it is the number worth managing every week.
Reading path
- 1How to Calculate and Control Restaurant Food Cost PercentageThe core formula, period-based and per-dish, with targets by restaurant type.
- 2What Is the Average Restaurant Food Cost Percentage?What a normal food cost percentage looks like before you set your own target.
- 3Actual vs. Theoretical Food Cost: How to Calculate and Track VarianceHow to calculate both numbers and what variance range is acceptable.
- 4Food Cost Variance: A Worked Example and How to Find the CauseA worked variance example and the week-long tests that find the cause.
- 54 Menu Changes That Improve Profit Without Upsetting RegularsMenu engineering and pricing moves that lift margin without losing guests.
- 66 Ways to Keep Food Costs Steady All Year LongKeeping cost stable through seasonal price swings.
- 7What Is a Good Food Cost Percentage for Pizza Restaurants?Benchmarks and cost drivers for a pizza menu.
- 8Average Steakhouse Food Cost Percentage BenchmarksBenchmarks and cost drivers when protein dominates the plate.
- 9Typical Seafood Restaurant Food Cost PercentageBenchmarks for a menu built on volatile seafood prices.
Where this happens in Wox
Analytics
Food cost analytics and reporting
Calculate food cost percentage, track COGS, and compare actual vs theoretical
Inventory
Restaurant inventory management, simplified
How Wox helps you track food cost and reduce wastage in your restaurant
Point of Sale
Restaurant point of sale that keeps serving
Order entry, course firing, table service, and offline-first POS that keeps working through outages
Step-by-step guides in the Knowledge Base
Recipe Costing and Food Cost Percentage Tracking
How to link recipe costs to live invoice data so your food cost percentage stays accurate as ingredient prices change.
Food Cost Variance and Price History Analysis
How to track supplier price changes over time and use food cost variance analysis to protect restaurant margins.
Food Cost Reporting and Restaurant Analytics
How restaurant operators can calculate food cost percentage, track COGS, run actual vs theoretical reports, and use analytics to control food cost.
Restaurant Food Waste Tracking and Reduction
How to track, report, and reduce wastage of food in restaurants across locations to protect margins and lower food cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should a restaurant calculate food cost?
Weekly is the practical standard for most independent restaurants: it is frequent enough to catch a problem within the same month and matches a weekly inventory count. Monthly is the minimum.
What is the difference between food cost percentage and food cost variance?
Food cost percentage is what you actually spent on ingredients divided by food sales. Variance is the gap between that actual figure and the theoretical figure your recipes and sales predict. The percentage tells you how you did; the variance tells you how much of it was avoidable.
Other topics
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