Description

Most restaurant owners know roughly what their food cost should be. Very few know what their steak, their tacos, or their house salad actually costs to put on the plate.

So prices get set by gut feel, by what the place down the street charges, or by a number someone worked out three years ago. Meanwhile supplier prices go up every month, portions creep, and the delivery apps take their cut. The menu looks busy, but the margin quietly disappears.

This workbook gives you real plate costs, built from your own invoices. Then it shows you what each item needs to sell for, in store and on delivery.

What’s inside the printable workbook (12 pages):

• How to Use This Workbook: what you need, what order to work in, and how often to update.
• Ingredient Cost Sheet: turn invoice prices into a usable cost per ounce, fluid ounce, or each, with yield built in.
• Yield Test: find out how much of what you buy actually makes it to the plate after trimming, peeling, and cooking.
• Batch Recipe Card: cost sauces, dressings, and prep items once, then use them in every dish.
• Recipe Cost Card, worked example: a full card from ingredients to final decision, so you can see exactly how it’s done.
• Recipe Cost Card, blank: one per menu item. Copy as many as you need.
• Menu Price Calculator: work backwards from your target food cost to a minimum price, and find the delivery app price that nets you the same as an in-store sale.
• Food Cost Summary: every item on one page, with action codes to reprice, change the portion, rework the recipe, drop it, or keep it on purpose.
• Actual Food Cost Check and Supplier Price Change Log: compare what food should cost with what it actually cost each month.
• Common Mistakes to Avoid: six places food cost math goes wrong in almost every kitchen.

What’s inside the companion spreadsheet:

• Enter each ingredient once, from your invoices
• Build batch recipes that feed into your dish costs automatically
• Pick ingredients from dropdowns to build each recipe
• Plate cost, food cost %, gross profit, minimum price, and delivery app price calculate on their own
• Items over your target turn red
• Change one ingredient price and every recipe using it updates
• Monthly actual food cost tracker and price change log
• Comes loaded with example dishes so you can see how it works before you add your own

Built for real kitchens:

• Printable PDF, US Letter size, in black and white
• Spreadsheet works in Excel and Google Sheets
• Large write-in tables you can fill in by hand at the prep table
• No theory and no filler, just your numbers and what to do about them

Who it’s for: owners, chefs, and managers of independent restaurants, cafes, bars, and food trucks who want to price their menu on real numbers instead of guesses.

How often to use it: update an ingredient whenever its invoice price changes, re-cost a dish after any recipe change, refresh everything every 90 days, and check actual food cost monthly.

Pairs with the POS Cleanup / Clover Menu Audit Worksheet, where your plate costs feed straight into the pricing check.

Instant digital download: one PDF and one spreadsheet (.xlsx). The printable workbook is not a fillable form.