Menu Pricing Calculator

Last Updated: May 26, 2025

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Are you a restaurant owner, chef or manager looking for a Menu Pricing Calculator that helps you choose the right pricing for each food dish or drink? Menu pricing is one of the most critical factors that directly affects profitability, competitiveness in the industry, and customer satisfaction.

In this guide, we are going to cover the following topics:

  • What Menu Pricing is
  • How to calculate it
  • The formula used
  • Example calculation

What Is Menu Pricing?

Menu pricing is the process of determining how much to charge for a dish or a beverage by considering the cost of ingredients and the desired profit margin. Good menu pricing ensures customer satisfaction while keeping the food business profitable.

A restaurent manager is calculating menu pricing

In a restaurant, lower food costs can increase profit, but the balance between customer satisfaction, expectations, competition, and business profitability is essential.

How to Calculate Menu Pricing? — Formula & Example

Our calculator makes the process easier. You just need to enter the required values, and it will instantly calculate and display the result. If you are curious about how it's calculated, here is the formula used to determine menu pricing:

Menu Price = Item Cost / (Target Food Cost % / 100)

Example:

Imagine you're preparing for a chicken dish that costs you 5 dollars to make. So, your target food cost percentage is 30%. Let's compute the values in the formula:

  • Menu Price = Item Cost / (Target Food Cost % / 100)
  • = 5 dollars / (30 / 100)
  • = 5 / 0.30
  • Menu Price = 16.67 dollars

So, 16.67 dollars is the calculated menu price for the chicken dish. You can also apply psychological pricing to adjust the pricing amount.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is psychological pricing important?

Psychological pricing is important because it influences a customer perception — like using 9.99 dollars instead of 10.00 dollars. So, these small adjustments to pricing often lead to more sales and customer satisfaction.