Menu price calculator
Enter what one portion costs you and the food cost or margin you're aiming for. You get a menu price, the contribution margin per plate and your real food cost after rounding, with tax handled.
- Free
- No signup
- Formulas shown
- Runs in your browser
Your menu price
Enter a food cost to see your price.
Menu price
- Price before tax
- Contribution margin
- Food cost
- Gross margin
What each portion leaves after food cost, for wages, rent and profit.
This ending adds more than 10% to the price. A finer ending keeps you closer to your target.
The formulas
No black box. These are the calculations the tool runs.
- Food cost %
- food cost ÷ price before tax
- Price from a food cost target
- food cost ÷ target food cost
- Price from a margin target
- food cost ÷ (1 - target margin)
- Contribution margin
- price before tax - food cost
- Menu price with tax
- price before tax × (1 + tax rate)
Write percentages as decimals: 30% is 0.30.
Worked example
A pasta dish at a 30% food cost
The ingredients for one plate cost $3.60 and you want a 30% food cost. Tax is added to the bill.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Price at a 30% food cost | 3.60 ÷ 0.30 | $12.00 |
| Contribution margin | 12.00 - 3.60 | $8.40 |
| Round up to a .95 ending | 12.00 → 12.95 | $12.95 |
| Food cost at $12.95 | 3.60 ÷ 12.95 | 27.8% |
| Contribution margin at $12.95 | 12.95 - 3.60 | $9.35 |
The same dish with VAT in the menu price
In many countries the menu price includes VAT. Here the rate is 10%, prices are in euros and the ending is .50.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Price before tax | 3.60 ÷ 0.30 | €12.00 |
| Add 10% VAT | 12.00 × 1.10 | €13.20 |
| Round up to a .50 ending | 13.20 → 13.50 | €13.50 |
| Price before tax, after rounding | 13.50 ÷ 1.10 | €12.27 |
| Food cost | 3.60 ÷ 12.27 | 29.3% |
| Contribution margin | 12.27 - 3.60 | €8.67 |
Pricing basics
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Cost the whole plate
Food cost is everything on the plate: the protein, the sides, the sauce, the garnish, and the bread if it comes with the dish. Use your latest supplier prices and the portion you actually serve.
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Allow for trim and waste
Trimming, cooking loss and spoilage mean you buy more than you serve. If a 1 kg fillet gives you 800 g you can plate, cost the fish at the price per usable kilo.
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Food cost and margin are one number
At a 30% food cost, 70% of the price before tax is left. Think in whichever you prefer: the calculator gives the same price either way.
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Contribution margin pays the bills
Percentages compare dishes, but wages and rent are paid in cash. A steak at a 38% food cost can leave more per plate than a pasta at 22%, so look at both numbers.
Common pricing mistakes
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Confusing markup with margin
A 70% markup on a $3.60 dish gives $6.12, which is a 59% food cost. A 70% margin gives $12.00. Margin is a share of the price; markup is a share of the cost.
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Forgetting tax
Where menu prices include VAT, a price worked out without it pays the tax out of your margin. Enter your VAT rate and the calculator adds it before rounding.
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Rounding down
Taking $12.40 down to $11.99 for a neater price costs you on every plate you sell. Round up, or rework the recipe.
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Setting prices once
Supplier prices move. Re-cost your best sellers regularly and re-price when the numbers drift from your target.
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One target for everything
Drinks, desserts and mains rarely share a food cost. Set targets by category and judge each dish on its contribution margin too.
Menu pricing questions
There's no single right number. It depends on your concept, your prices and your mix of food and drinks. Start from the target you use today (the calculator starts at 30%), check your real food cost every month, and set targets by category.
Food cost percentage is the share of the price before tax that pays for ingredients. Gross margin is the share that's left. Together they make 100%, so a 30% food cost is a 70% gross margin.
The money a dish leaves after its food cost: the price before tax minus the food cost. It pays for staff, rent and profit. Menu engineering puts it next to popularity to sort dishes into stars, plowhorses, puzzles and dogs.
Work out food cost on the price before tax, because the tax isn't your money. If your menu prices include VAT, enter the rate and the calculator adds it to the menu price for you.
Rounding down lowers your margin on every plate you sell. Rounding up keeps the food cost at or under your target. If the rounded price feels too high, try a finer ending or look at the recipe.
Whenever a supplier changes prices or you change a recipe, and a few times a year for your best sellers.
No. Everything is worked out on this page, in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to Vino or stored.
With a Vino digital menu, yes. Change a price in the dashboard and guests see it the next time they scan.
Change prices without reprinting menus
On a Vino menu, a new price reaches every table as soon as you save it. Start on the Free plan, with no time limit.