Menu item price calculator
Enter what the plate costs you and the food cost percentage you are aiming for. You get a menu price, the math behind it, and the food cost you actually land on after rounding.
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One formula
Menu price = plate cost ÷ target food cost.
Write the target as a decimal: 28 percent is 0.28. Then round the result to a price that looks like it belongs on your menu, and check the food cost at the price you actually print. Rounding up only ever lowers it.
Worked examples. Example costs, not market data.
Smash burger
Beef, bun, cheese, produce, fries, sauce.
- $3.90 ÷ 0.28$13.93
- Rounded up to the next dollar14Real food cost 27.9%
Rigatoni alla vodka
Pasta runs cheap, so it can carry a lower target.
- $2.60 ÷ 0.25$10.40
- Rounded up to the next dollar11Real food cost 23.6%
Margarita
Tequila, lime, orange liqueur, salt. Drinks usually aim lower.
- $1.85 ÷ 0.20$9.25
- Rounded up to the next .509.50Real food cost 19.5%
Rules of thumb
These are rules of thumb repeated across the trade, not benchmarks we measured. Your own costs, rent, and sales mix are the real answer.
High 20s to mid 30s
A range commonly quoted as a food cost target for full-service kitchens. Plenty of concepts sit outside it for good reasons.
Drinks run lower
Bar programs usually target a lower cost percentage than the kitchen; pour-cost targets from the high teens to the mid 20s are commonly quoted.
The 3x rule
Plate cost times three is a 33 percent food cost. It is the same formula with the target fixed, which is why it is easy and why it is blunt.
Price the menu, not the item
A low-cost pasta can carry a high-cost steak. What matters is where the whole menu lands once you weigh it by what actually sells.
Already know the percentage you need to raise? The menu price increase calculator reprices a whole menu at once.
For the reasoning behind the numbers, read menu pricing strategy. When the new prices are set, how to update menu prices without reprinting lists every place they need to change, and price updates in Gaslamp shows the thirty-second version.
Menu pricing, straight answers
- How do you calculate a menu price from food cost?
- Divide the plate cost by the target food cost percentage written as a decimal. A $3.90 plate at a 28 percent target is 3.90 ÷ 0.28 = $13.93, which you would round to a menu price like $14. At $14 the real food cost is 27.9 percent.
- What food cost percentage should I target?
- A commonly quoted rule of thumb for full-service kitchens is somewhere from the high 20s to the mid 30s percent, with drinks lower. Treat it as a starting point. Your own costs, rent, and sales mix decide what works.
- What goes into plate cost?
- Everything that leaves the kitchen on the plate: the protein, the side, the sauce, the garnish, the bread and butter, the fry oil, and the trim you lose when you portion. Leave something out and the price comes out too low.
- Why is the real food cost different from my target?
- Rounding moves it first: this calculator rounds up, so the real percentage lands at or below your target and the result shows the exact figure. In the kitchen, waste, comps, and heavy portioning move it further.
- Is anything I enter saved?
- No. The math runs in your browser and nothing you type leaves the page.
- How much does it cost?
- Start with a 30-day free trial, no credit card needed. Then it is $19 a month, or $190 a year (2 months free). No setup fee. Cancel anytime. The trial includes one published live menu with QR codes. PDF downloads and additional menus start when you pick a plan.
Price it right once. Change it in Gaslamp when the cost moves.
No card needed · then $19/mo or $190/yr · cancel anytime