The Menu Price Calculator prices one serving from food cost, gross margin or markup. Use recipe yield, upward rounding and cost headroom, then test channel fees and the discount your entered remainder can support.
Test a channel price, fee base and discount limit using the calculator inputs on this page.
Business & Home Start with a per-item or per-serving cost, then price by target food cost percentage, target gross margin, or markup. Optional rounding shows the effective result after the menu price is rounded up. Calculated menu price This calculator sets a price from the cost basis and target you enter. Gross profit and margin shown here subtract the selected cost only; they do not include labor, rent, taxes, delivery fees, commissions or other operating expenses unless those amounts are already included in your entered cost basis.Calculate a menu price from cost and a pricing target
Calculation breakdown
How to use the Menu Price Calculator
- Enter the cost of one saleable item, or select recipe batch cost divided by practical saleable yield. Include sauces, sides and garnish when they belong to that serving.
- Choose food cost percentage, gross margin after the entered cost, or markup. Enter your own target; these percentages use different denominators.
- Select an upward price increment or keep the unrounded threshold. Enable current-price comparison when you want to check an existing menu item.
- Calculate and review the actual percentages, price difference and unit-cost ceiling. Use the channel test separately for restaurant-funded discounts and percentage fees.
The Menu Price Calculator uses one currency throughout. Its selector changes labels, not exchange rates. Enter a positive cost and yield, and explicit zero for optional charges that do not apply. Editing inputs clears old results and disables Copy until you recalculate.
Food cost, gross margin and markup formulas
Let C be the entered unit cost and P the selling price before charges outside this calculation. Convert percentage targets to rates: 30% becomes 0.30.
| Target method | Percentage relationship | Price from target rate |
|---|---|---|
| Food cost | C ÷ P | C ÷ food-cost rate |
| Gross margin after entered cost | (P − C) ÷ P | C ÷ (1 − margin rate) |
| Markup on cost | (P − C) ÷ C | C × (1 + markup rate) |
A 3.60 cost at 30% food cost gives a 12.00 price and 8.40 remaining after that cost. A 70% margin produces the same price; a 70% markup produces only 6.12. That markup is a percentage added to cost, not a percentage of the selling price.
Johnson & Wales University's menu guidance describes deriving a price from ingredient cost and a chosen food-cost target. Your business costs and market still determine whether that starting price is suitable.
Recipe yield and upward-rounding example
A batch costing 42.50 produces 10 saleable portions: 4.25 per portion. At a 68% margin target, 4.25 ÷ 0.32 gives an exact threshold of 13.28125. Choosing a 0.50 upward increment gives a 13.50 menu price.
The Menu Price Calculator then recomputes food cost at approximately 31.48%, margin at approximately 68.52%, and markup at approximately 217.65%. Compared with a current price of 12.50, that benchmark is 1.00 higher.
Display precision does not authorize a lower selling price. An increment-rounded price of 12.25 remains 12.25 even if percentage precision is set to zero. With no price rounding, terminating thresholds retain their digits; repeating results carry an approximation mark and an exact fraction. The result also shows the minimum price in 0.01 units that reaches the target.
For this example, that minimum two-decimal price is 13.29. Printing the nearest-cent display of 13.28 would fall below 13.28125. Upward rounding uses the entered decimals without subtracting a numerical tolerance.
Check how much unit cost can rise
The Menu Price Calculator cost-ceiling table reverses your selected method at a fixed selling price. For food cost, maximum unit cost is price × target food-cost rate. For margin, it is price × (1 − margin rate); for markup, price ÷ (1 + markup rate).
At a 13.50 price and 68% margin, maximum unit cost is 4.32. Against the 4.25 batch-derived cost, headroom is 0.07 per portion. At the current 12.50 price, maximum cost is 4.00, so reaching that same target would require a 0.25 cost reduction.
This preserves the selected percentage on the same cost basis. It does not predict supplier prices or establish net profit. The Menu Price Calculator separates a calculated benchmark from a decision to raise or reduce an existing price.
Channel fees can change the discount you can fund
A 20.00 list price with a 10% funded discount produces an 18.00 sale. A 25% fee on that sale is 4.50; the same fee on the original list price is 5.00. With item cost 3.60 and extra variable costs 1.00, the remainders are respectively 8.90 and 8.40.
The Menu Price Calculator channel test solves the minimum listed price and maximum funded discount that preserve your entered remainder. Minimum prices round upward to 0.01; safe discount limits round downward to 0.01 percentage point. Approximation marks distinguish displayed rounded amounts from exact target decisions.
Combine percentage charges only when they share the selected fee base. Allocate fixed per-order fees to a consistent per-item amount in extra costs. Exclude amounts already included in item cost. Fee tiers, refunds, mixed fee bases, taxes and tips are outside this model.
Menu Price Calculator questions
Is the displayed margin net profit?
No. It subtracts the selected cost only. Labor, rent, utilities and other expenses may remain unpaid. BCcampus explains menu contribution as the amount left after standard food cost to contribute toward labor, other business costs and profit.
Which food-cost percentage should I choose?
Choose a target supported by your own costs, sales mix and business plan. A sample 30% target is an illustration, not a requirement or promise of profitability. Review practical portion yield and current ingredient invoices before relying on a price benchmark.
Can I use tax-inclusive prices or different currencies?
The Menu Price Calculator does not calculate taxes or exchange rates. Keep cost and selling-price inputs on one comparable basis. For an actual percentage from a known selling price, use the Food Cost Percentage Calculator; for broader batch expenses, use the Cost Calculator.