Restaurant Food Cost Calculator
Cost a dish in about a minute. Enter your ingredients and menu price to see the food cost percentage, profit per plate, and the price that hits your target. It handles case pricing too — give it what the case costs and it works out the cost per ounce. No signup, no email; your work saves in your browser.
The math behind the number
Food cost percentage is the portion of a dish’s selling price that goes to ingredients: (total ingredient cost ÷ menu price) × 100. A plate that costs $4.20 to build and sells for $14 runs 30%. Most full-service restaurants aim for 28–35% across the menu — but the average matters less than knowing the number for each dish, because one popular item drifting to 40% quietly drags down everything the rest of the menu earns.
If your numbers come out higher than expected, the calculator only tells you where you are today — not why. For the diagnosis, read the seven hidden culprits behind a high food cost.
The calculator tells you today. Rinvy tells you every day.
A costed dish goes stale the day chicken prices move. Rinvy keeps recipe costs tied to what you actually pay, so the number you see is current — not the one from the last time you opened a spreadsheet.
Free
$0
- Cost up to 10 menu items with real recipes
- Track 50 products and their prices
- Inventory counting and smart order lists
- You update ingredient prices when they change
Standard
Watches your costs for you
- Drift alerts when a dish blows past its target food cost
- AI recipe scanning from a photo of your recipe book
- Price change alerts when a supplier raises a cost
Pro
Closes the loop
- Invoices update your ingredient prices automatically
- Theoretical vs. actual variance, ranked by dollar impact
- AI demand forecasting for prep and ordering
Common questions
- How do I calculate food cost percentage?
- Divide the total ingredient cost of a dish by its menu price, then multiply by 100. A sandwich that costs $3.20 to make and sells for $11 runs a 29% food cost. This calculator does the math for you, ingredient by ingredient.
- What is a good food cost percentage for a restaurant?
- Most full-service restaurants target 28–35% of the menu price. Fast casual concepts often run lower; steakhouses run higher because protein dominates the plate. What matters most is knowing your number for every dish and noticing when it moves.
- Can it calculate ingredient cost from a case price?
- Yes. On any ingredient row, choose to calculate from the case price and enter what the case costs, how many items are in it, and the size of each item. A $42.60 case of six 105 oz cans works out to about $0.07 per ounce. It converts units too — buy a case of 1 lb bags, portion in ounces, and the math still comes out right.
- Is this food cost calculator really free?
- Yes. No signup, no email, no trial timer. Your work saves in your browser so it is still here when you come back.
- What happens to my dish if I create a Rinvy account?
- It comes with you. The ingredients, costs, and menu price you entered here become your first products, recipe, and menu item — so you start with a costed dish instead of an empty app.