The problem
Many measure house cost without a clear menu.
They see invoices. They see purchases. They see the till at month-end.
Without costed recipes those numbers stay guesses.
You don't know what the dish costs. You don't know if average spend per guest covers ingredients. You don't know which dishes eat the margin.
Restaurant cost management does not start in the accounts office.
It starts from what you serve and to whom.
The sequence that works
First the guests.
Who comes in. What they ask for. What they pay comfortably.
Then their needs.
Quick lunch. Family dinner. Takeaway. Something else.
Then concept and menu.
What restaurant you are. Which dishes stay. Which go.
Finally costed recipes.
Ingredient cost per portion. Food cost percentage (ingredient cost as a share of selling price). Price from the margin you want.
If you reverse the order, you pay twice. You build a menu before you know the guest. You set prices before you know the dish cost.
What CostoMenu does at this step
CostoMenu covers the recipe step.
Cost online. See dish cost. See food cost %. Set price from the margin you chose.
Not a till. Not accounting. Does not promise all "restaurant cost management".
It is the bridge from "I don't know what the dish costs" to the number you need before you print the menu.
Without this step clean, every talk about rent, power or wages with contributions stays without a base.
Read deeper
- What food cost is and how to calculate it
- Theoretical vs actual food cost
- Menu engineering
- Product: Online recipe costing – CostoMenu
Start free (BEGINNER)
In about ten minutes you can:
- open a BEGINNER account
- enter one recipe's ingredients with prices
- see portion cost and food cost %
- try a selling price from the margin you want