Product Offering Archives

4 Ways to Determine the Best Menu Prices for Your Restaurant

admin Blog Pricing, Product Offering, Profitability, Restaurants

In order for your restaurant to be profitable, it is essential that you are charging the appropriate prices for your menu items. However, determining the best menu prices for your restaurant can be somewhat tricky. There are many factors that should be considered when pricing your menu items. Check out our list below of 4 ways to determine the best menu prices for your restaurant.

1. Establish your food costs.

One of the most important steps in running a profitable restaurant is having a thorough understanding of your food costs. This means knowing exactly how much each menu item costs to produce. You determine this amount by costing out each individual ingredient in every dish. Consistency is key to a correct assessment, so it is important to ensure that dishes are prepared the same way, with the same ingredients each time, to keep your food costs accurate.

Prices on items such as produce may vary seasonally, so when establishing your costs, you should take those fluctuations into consideration. Once you have established the food cost of every menu item, you can begin to determine what you should charge. Traditionally, your food costs should account for 30-35 percent of your sales; however, this percentage can vary depending on the type of restaurant.

2. Factor in the other variables that need to be covered by menu prices.

The prices you charge for menu items have to cover costs other than their ingredients. For example, the amount of time it takes to prepare a dish should be accounted for when setting prices, so be sure to keep in mind the cost of labor to pay your employees — these costs are a huge factor to consider when managing your restaurant’s bottom line.

Additionally, be sure to account for your overhead expenses, such as rent, utilities, equipment, maintenance and marketing. All the associated costs of running the restaurant play a part in how you should set your prices.

3. Cover all costs with room for profit.

Once you have figured out your food and all additional costs, you have a firm base from which you can set your prices. Your goal is to make a profit; however, it can be challenging to know how much profit is reasonable. Menu prices should be a perfect balance: In an ideal situation, costs are covered, profits are earned and prices are at an appropriate level for your unique restaurant.

4. Consider what makes your restaurant unique.

Consider what sets your restaurant apart when setting your prices. Look at factors such as location. Is it near an attraction or in a highly desirable area? What style of restaurant is it (people expect to pay more for fine dining)? Do you have a unique or one-of-a-kind menu (you can charge more for exclusivity)? Take a look at what your competitors are charging. Determine what makes your restaurant unique and account for those factors in your pricing.

There is no magic formula when setting menu prices. Take a good look at all the factors and try to find the right balance. If you would like to learn more about setting the right menu prices in your restaurant, feel free to reach out to me.

Pro Tip: Operating Multiple Restaurant Units

admin Blog, Pro Tip Benchmarking, Compensation, KPIs, Pricing, Product Offering, Staffing

If you operate multiple restaurant units, don’t manage them in isolation. By comparing location-specific performance metrics—like table turn time, food cost percentage, labor spend, and average ticket size—you can spot where one store excels (and why) and apply that winning formula across all units. Here’s how:

Standardize KPIs: Identify a core set of metrics (e.g., weekly labor cost as a percentage of sales, average revenue per transaction) that every location must track.
Benchmark & Share Best Practices: Regularly review and compare these KPIs to uncover top-performing units. Investigate the operational strategies behind their success and replicate them in underperforming locations.
Align Incentives: Tie management and staff incentives to location-specific improvements in these standardized KPIs. Reward both individual unit gains and overall company-wide performance to encourage collaboration.
Refine Operations & Menu Offerings: Use the insights gleaned from the data to optimize labor scheduling, streamline supplier negotiations, and fine-tune menu pricing and promotions.

By continuously gathering and sharing location-level metrics—and treating success stories as replicable playbooks—you’ll not only improve operational efficiency but also activate sustainable sales growth across your entire restaurant portfolio.