How to lower food cost in a restaurant.

Start with your number, not a guess

You can't lower a cost you haven't measured. Before you touch a portion or a price, calculate your food cost percentage so you have a baseline. The formula is simple:

As a general industry rule of thumb, most full-service restaurants aim for a food cost somewhere around 28–35% of food sales — but the right target depends on your concept, menu and market. A high-end steakhouse and a pizza counter live in different worlds. What matters more than hitting an exact number is knowing yours, checking it monthly, and keeping it stable. Once you have a baseline, the tactics below give you the levers to move it.

10 ways to lower your food cost

1. Cost every recipe down to the plate

   Break each dish into its ingredients at their real invoice prices — proteins, produce, dairy, oil, garnish, even the to-go container. Most kitchens are surprised which "cheap" dishes actually run rich once you add it all up. A costed recipe tells you the true plate cost and margin, which is the foundation for every decision below.

2. Set a target and check it monthly

   Pick a food cost target for your concept and review actual vs. target every month — not once a quarter when the P&L lands. A leak caught in week two costs a fraction of one that ran unnoticed for ninety days.

3. Standardize and control portions

   Write portion specs for every dish and put the tools on the line to hit them: scales, portion scoops, ladles, marked pans. The 8 oz pour that becomes 10 oz "to be generous" is real money multiplied by every ticket. Consistency protects both margin and the guest experience.

4. Track vendor prices and catch creep

   Suppliers raise prices constantly, often a line item at a time, and it's almost invisible until month-end. Keep a running record of unit prices so you know the moment ribeye jumps 18% — while you can still re-price, swap suppliers, or 86 the dish. This one habit alone often clears the biggest single leak.

5. Order to par, not to feel

   Set par levels from your real usage and order back up to par instead of eyeballing the walk-in. Over-ordering ties up cash on the shelf and quietly feeds spoilage; under-ordering costs you sales and emergency runs.

6. Count inventory and watch variance

   Take regular counts and compare what you used to what you should have used based on sales. That gap — variance — is your map to over-portioning, waste, theft and comps. You can't fix a leak you can't locate.

7. Attack waste at the source

   Spoilage, trim, overproduction and over-portioning are the four big waste buckets. Track what hits the bin, prep to demand, use trim in stocks and specials, and rotate FIFO. See the full playbook on reducing food waste.

8. Re-price or re-engineer the menu

   Some dishes will be over your target no matter how tight your prep. Fix them: raise the price a dollar, adjust the spec, swap a costly garnish, or feature a higher-margin alternative. Small, targeted changes beat an across-the-board price hike that guests notice.

9. Prep to demand, not to habit

   Prepping the same batch every day regardless of the forecast guarantees waste on slow days and 86s on busy ones. Size prep to what a given weekday actually sells, netted against what's already on hand.

10. Buy to spec and consolidate suppliers

    Order the exact cut, pack size and grade your recipes call for — not whatever's on the truck. Consolidating volume with fewer suppliers can earn better pricing, and buying to spec stops you paying for trim you'll throw away.