Menu Pricing Calculator

Summer is coming up, and that means more people will be going out to eat. Use our menu pricing calculator to determine the selling price of your menu items based on cost, profit margin, and market factors. This food pricing calculator is perfect for local food vendors, street vendors, restaurant owners, and anyone selling food items on a menu to get an idea of how much money they will walk away with at the end of the day. Calculate ingredient costs, labor, overhead, profit margin, tax, and competitor pricing with our easy-to-use, mobile-responsive calculator.

How to Use the Menu Pricing Calculator

The Menu Pricing Calculator was created to help food vendors, restaurant owners, and anyone selling food items determine the best selling price based on actual costs and market factors so they can stay within the competition. Follow these steps to calculate an optimal price for your menu items.

Step 1: Enter Ingredient Costs

• Add the total cost of ingredients per serving.
• If a dish contains multiple ingredients, calculate how much of each ingredient is used and its cost.
• Example: If a burger costs $2.50 in raw ingredients (bun, patty, cheese, lettuce, and sauce), enter 2.50 in the Ingredient Cost Per Serving field.

Step 2: Enter Labor Costs (If Applicable)

• If employees are paid hourly, determine how much labor is involved in making one serving.
• Example: A chef making $15 per hour spends 5 minutes making a burger. The labor cost per serving would be ($15 ÷ 60) × 5 = $1.25.

Step 3: Enter Overhead Costs

• Overhead costs include expenses like rent, utilities, kitchen equipment, packaging, and marketing.
• Calculate overhead costs per dish by dividing monthly overhead expenses by total meals sold per month.
• Example: If total monthly overhead is $2,000 and the restaurant sells 2,000 meals per month, the overhead cost per serving is $1.00.

Step 4: Set Your Profit Margin

• Enter the desired profit percentage to apply on top of costs.
• Example: If a restaurant wants a 40% profit margin, enter 40 in the Profit Margin (%) field.

Step 5: Add Sales Tax

• If applicable, enter the sales tax percentage charged in your location.
• Example: If the state or provincial tax rate is 8%, enter 8 in the Sales Tax (%) field.

Step 6: Compare with Competitor Pricing (Optional)

• If you want to compare your calculated price with market rates, enter a competitor’s price.
• Example: If a similar burger sells for $9.99 at a competing restaurant, enter 9.99 in the Competitor Price ($) field.

Step 7: Click “Calculate” to Get Results

The calculator will display:
Total Cost Per Serving (Sum of ingredients, labor, and overhead costs)
Suggested Price Before Tax (Based on the profit margin)
Final Selling Price (With sales tax included)
Profit Per Dish (Revenue minus total costs)
Competitor Price Comparison (If a competitor price was entered)

Example Calculation

A restaurant owner wants to price a burger meal. The costs are:

• Ingredients: $2.50
• Labor: $1.25
• Overhead: $1.00
• Profit Margin: 40%
• Sales Tax: 8%

Step-by-Step Calculation:

1. Total Cost Per Serving = $2.50 + $1.25 + $1.00 = $4.75
2. Suggested Price (Before Tax) = $4.75 × (1 + 40%) = $6.65
3. Final Selling Price (With Tax) = $6.65 × (1 + 8%) = $7.18
4. Profit Per Dish = $6.65 – $4.75 = $1.90

If a competitor charges $9.99 for a similar meal, the result would state:
“Your price is lower than competitors by $2.81.”

This allows you to adjust pricing to maximize profits while staying competitive.

Why Use the Menu Pricing Calculator?

Personally, I’ve been looking into buying my own food vending truck for summer events as a side business, but I was completely confused about what to set my prices at. That’s how I came up with the idea to create this food pricing calculator—so I could see the actual numbers and get a clear picture of what my profits would look like. Of course, profit depends on how many buyers you have, so if you’re setting up a vending truck or even a restaurant beside other restaurants, it’s important to know your numbers before getting started.

A lot of people jump into the food business without fully understanding how much they need to charge to actually turn a profit. It’s easy to guess at prices based on what others charge, but without running the actual numbers, you could end up undervaluing your food or overpricing it and losing customers. This calculator gives you a way to see exactly what your break-even point is so you’re not just hoping to make money—you actually know how much you’ll take home after expenses.

It doesn’t matter if you’re selling hot dogs at a festival, burgers from a food truck, or running a full-service restaurant, knowing how ingredient costs, labor, overhead, and taxes affect your final price is important. Our calculator makes it easy to adjust numbers on the fly—so if ingredient costs go up, you can quickly adjust prices without losing profit. No more hoping—just clear, accurate pricing based on real costs.

The food business is high-risk, high-reward, and making small pricing mistakes can make or break your profits. With this calculator, you’ll know exactly how much you’re earning per meal sold, and you’ll never have to wonder if you’re charging too much or too little. At the end of the day, your goal is to keep your business running, cover expenses, and make good money.