It is often said that a restaurant is a business of pennies. That does not refer to what is left in the cash register at the end of the night. It means that a restaurant is a business of producing and selling hundreds, even thousands, of modestly priced items a day. Success for a restaurant is not only making the guest happy. It is also costing and pricing the menu thoughtfully. Menu pricing and costing decisions - good and bad - are multiplied by the many items sold each day.
Often I get a call from a restaurant operator because her food costs are out of control. The operator knows her food cost is too high but does not know why. (What's a good food cost? 32% of net sales unless we're talking about a steak house in which case 37% is more appropriate.)
I'm delighted to stop by and investigate the mystery. We discuss operations. After a few minutes, I ask the operator whether she costed out the menu. That is, looked at each important menu item and determined the item's plate cost. The operator says that, yes indeed she costed out the menu ..... when the restaurant first opened two years ago. Typically when I ask to see the plate cost calculations, they cannot be produced. Perhaps they haven't been updated in years.
The first step to gaining control of food costs, portion control, kitchen waste, and menu pricing is to cost out the most important items on the menu. It sucks, because it's math. But that can't be helped. So if you're concerned about food your cost, take the leap. I have attached a PDF worksheet for costing out a menu item. Plate Cost worksheet
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