Food costing, made legible
Food costing begins with quantities and purchase costs you can verify. Use the calculator to explore the relationship between recipe cost, portion cost, target food-cost percentage, and a suggested price - then replace every estimate with your current supplier data.
Menu Method / Working note
A practical idea needs a point of view.
A planning conversation, not a claim of tested service or operating results.
A useful starting point
A clear blueprint brings the moving parts into one place: the guest, the menu, recipes, cost assumptions, equipment, prep, and the next decisions. It gives you structure and a path to work through - while leaving room for your own taste and judgment.
Convenience: one organized brief
Usability: decisions linked to operations
Clarity: estimates marked as estimates
What the work connects
Every restaurant type has its own constraints. The right starting offer depends on how much of the idea is already yours.
For each ingredient, record purchase unit and cost, usable quantity, and recipe quantity in compatible units. Account for yield and trim where you have a measured value. If you do not have verified data, label the number as an estimate rather than treating it as a quote.
Food-cost percentage is ingredient cost divided by menu price. A suggested price can be estimated by dividing portion ingredient cost by a target percentage. This omits labor, rent, utilities, fees, taxes, waste beyond entered yield, and other operating costs, so it is not a profitability calculation.
Enter your recipe ingredient costs, portion yield, and target percentage. Nothing is sent or saved by the calculator. The result is a working estimate to replace with verified local costs and a fuller operating model.
Choose a starting shape
Explore a few of the decisions a concept blueprint can organize. These are examples of planning focus, not customer launches or proof of results.
The guest, menu, service model, and practical choices that give the idea a shape.
Explore a formatA flexible menu that can still make sense at the counter and on the line.
Explore a formatDelivery-first menu, packaging, pickup, and kitchen flow considerations.
Explore a formatA mobile offer planned around compact prep and window service.
Explore a formatBeverages, food, dayparts, and the guest path through the café.
Explore a formatProduct mix and production rhythm, organized into a practical starting point.
Choose your level of support
Checkout is paused while payment setup is incomplete. No payment is collected through this site right now.
Start with a foundation
01A professionally developed concept base, personalized around your business, market, customers, price position, format, menu preferences, and vision.
Shared foundation, clearly stated
The professional foundation may be licensed to multiple buyers. Purchase covers one business and one location, with personalization. No resale, redistribution, or exclusive rights.
Bring your own idea
02A restaurant development package shaped around the idea you bring, with choices organized into a blueprint you can work from.
More depth, one revision
03Expanded development for owners who want more detail across the menu, recipes, costing, operations, and launch plan.
Questions worth asking
No. You supply the costs. Menu Method does not provide current supplier pricing or quotes.
No. It is a simple ingredient-cost calculation based on the target percentage you choose. Review demand, competition, labor, overhead, tax, delivery fees, and your full operating model before setting prices.
A good next step is the one that makes your idea easier to explain.
Save my concept & continue