Pricing a dish by gut feel is how good food loses money. This free menu price calculator does the math the other way around: tell it what a plate costs to make and the food cost percentage you want to hit, and it tells you exactly what to charge, menu-ready price like $22.95 instead of an awkward $22.23.
You’ll also see a pricing matrix showing what to charge at five different food cost targets, so you can weigh margin against price point, plus your gross profit and margin at the recommended price. It’s the fastest way to price a new dish with confidence or to find out which of your current menu items are quietly leaving money on the table.
Unlock your price, margin, and the full pricing matrix.
The standard method works backward from your target food cost percentage. You take what the dish costs to make and divide it by that target so a $6 plate at a 30% food cost target should sell for about $20. The calculator does this instantly and then rounds it to a clean menu price. From there you sanity-check against your market and competitors.
Most restaurants target 28% to 35%, with 30% a common anchor. A lower target means a higher price and fatter margin; a higher target means a more competitive price and thinner margin. The pricing matrix lets you see both ends at once, so you can pick the point that fits the dish and your positioning rather than guessing.
Menu price = item cost ÷ target food cost percentage. If a dish costs $5 to make and you want food cost to be 30% of the price, that’s $5 ÷ 0.30 = $16.67, which you’d typically round up to $16.95. It’s the same math whether you’re pricing one special or repricing an entire menu.
Food cost pricing is the fast, reliable starting point, and it’s what this calculator uses. But labor-intensive dishes deserve a closer look, a hand-rolled pasta and a pour-and-plate salad can have the same food cost while costing very different amounts to produce. For those, either target a slightly lower food cost percentage (raising the price) or use the extra-cost field to fold in added prep cost.
Revisit pricing whenever ingredient costs shift meaningfully, and review your full menu at least once or twice a year. Supplier prices drift constantly, and a dish priced perfectly last year can quietly slip below your target margin after a few cost increases. Rerunning your key items through the calculator catches that before it erodes your bottom line.
Yes, it’s free. The figures you enter stay in your browser and aren’t stored. When you unlock your results, you’re sharing your contact details so we can send them over, your cost and pricing numbers themselves aren’t part of that.
