👨‍🍳 Restaurant Tools

Where a menu dollar actually goes

1. Every plate splits four ways

   Food, labour, overhead — and whatever survives all three. On a typical full-service plate the first three take most of the dollar.

2. Food cost is the slice you control weekly

   It is the one you can change with a purchase order rather than a lease renegotiation, which is why it gets watched so closely.

3. Labour hides inside food prep

   Trimming, portioning and marinating are paid for twice: once in the hours, and again in the yield you lose doing it in-house.

4. What is left is the number that matters

   Work out yours below. The calculators use your case cost, your portion size and your menu price — nothing is assumed.

Industry splits vary by concept and market; the shares above are a common full-service shape, not your numbers.