? Knowledge base category

Basic knowledge and formulas

Learn the fundamental formulas and calculation methods for hospitality.

How do I know if my menu prices match my purchasing...

Your menu prices determine whether you make a profit or loss. Most restaurant owners throw numbers at the wall, watching cash disappear without understanding wh...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 182 📅 22 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I compare dishes based on margin?

Your best-selling dish might be bleeding money. While that €32 steak looks impressive on paper, your €16 pasta could be delivering twice the profit. Menu popula...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 182 📅 21 Feb 2026
Read more →

What's the risk if I let purchasing run without control?

Restaurants with zero purchasing oversight typically hemorrhage €17,000 annually through missed price hikes and quality failures. You're essentially flying blin...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 181 📅 22 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I calculate the margin on a package with both...

Picture this: you're running a dinner special that includes a three-course meal, aperitif, wine, and coffee for €65. But calculating the margin isn't as straigh...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 181 📅 22 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I calculate the margin on a tasting menu?

Most chefs think tasting menus are automatically profitable because of the premium pricing - but that's a costly mistake. Multiple courses with different cost s...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 181 📅 21 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I calculate the selling price of a lunch dish?

Setting lunch prices is like tuning a guitar - one string off and the whole melody sounds wrong. Too many lunch spots wing their pricing and watch profits disap...

⏱️ 4 min read 👁️ 181 📅 21 Feb 2026
Read more →

How can I use margins to make my team cost-conscious?

Over 70% of restaurant staff have no idea how much profit each dish generates. Most chefs focus purely on flavor, ignoring the financial impact of their decisio...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 180 📅 22 Feb 2026
Read more →

What's a good margin if you run a lot of discount...

A pizzeria owner drops prices 25% for a weekend promotion and watches his daily profit vanish completely. He didn't realize his 28% food cost left zero room for...

⏱️ 2 min read 👁️ 180 📅 22 Feb 2026
Read more →

How can I find my sleepers on the menu with numbers?

Every month, underperforming dishes drain your restaurant's resources without you noticing. These menu sleepers consume inventory space, staff time, and ingredi...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 180 📅 22 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I know if my food costs are too high for my revenue?

It's Monday morning, and you're staring at last month's invoices wondering if you're hemorrhaging money on ingredients. That nagging feeling hits every restaura...

⏱️ 1 min read 👁️ 180 📅 21 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I know if my most popular dish is also the most...

Most restaurant owners chase volume instead of profit margins. You'll push the pasta because it flies out of the kitchen, but that €2.40 profit per plate pales...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 180 📅 21 Feb 2026
Read more →

What is a healthy profit margin on drinks in a food...

The Riverside Bistro went from barely breaking even to €163,800 annual profit by fixing one thing: their drink margins. They weren't tracking pour sizes, hadn't...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 180 📅 21 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I use portion control as a tool to reduce food waste?

Why do restaurants throw away profit with every plate they serve? Most food waste doesn't happen in the bin—it happens on the plate through oversized portions....

⏱️ 4 min read 👁️ 179 📅 27 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I make sure my prices are both attractive and...

Some restaurants price dishes so low they lose money on every sale, while others set prices so high they drive customers away. Most restaurant owners rely on gu...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 179 📅 22 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I calculate cost price when working with liters?

Most restaurants struggle with liquid cost calculations because they purchase by the liter but serve by the portion. Converting from bulk liquid purchases to in...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 179 📅 21 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I recognize from my numbers that my portions are...

Most restaurant owners don't realize they're bleeding money through oversized portions until it's too late. Your food costs creep up month after month, but you...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 178 📅 22 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I handle discarded products after closing time?

A chef friend threw away €47 worth of seafood last Tuesday night, then realized he'd been making the same mistake for months. Discarding products costs money, b...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 178 📅 22 Feb 2026
Read more →

How do I know if I have too many different products on...

Too many different dishes on your menu can undermine your profit without you realizing it. Each extra dish costs time, inventory and attention - but does it gen...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 178 📅 22 Feb 2026
Read more →

What is gross profit margin in hospitality?

Most restaurant owners think they're profitable until they actually calculate their gross profit margin. This single metric reveals whether you have enough cush...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 178 📅 21 Feb 2026
Read more →

What's the difference between a standard portion and an...

While restaurants plan standard portions for cost control, the reality on plates tells a different story. Your standard portion represents your recipe calculati...

⏱️ 3 min read 👁️ 177 📅 27 Feb 2026
Read more →

🔥 Most read in this category

The most viewed articles in Basic knowledge and formulas

1
What is food cost in a restaurant?
⏱️ 2 min · 👁️ 1,503 times read
Read →
2
How can I see if my profit comes mainly from drinks or food?
⏱️ 3 min · 👁️ 723 times read
Read →
3
What is prime cost in the hospitality industry?
⏱️ 3 min · 👁️ 536 times read
Read →

Related categories

Discover more about related topics

?

Recipes, knowledge & memory

View articles → 249
?

Financial KPIs & management

View articles → 199
?

Menu psychology & menu engineering

View articles → 246
?

Labor cost, P&L & break-even

View articles → 321
View all articles in the category Basic knowledge and formulas. (351)
Disclaimer & terms of use