Running a restaurant without quarterly menu reviews is like driving with a broken speedometer – you think you're cruising along fine until you realize you've been bleeding money for months. Many restaurant owners skip this crucial step and unknowingly serve dishes that used to be profitable but now drain their bottom line. A systematic quarterly review keeps your menu financially healthy and your business on track.
Why review every 3 months?
Suppliers bump up their prices regularly, sometimes 2-3 times a year. If you don't adjust your menu prices accordingly, you'll earn less on the same dishes. After just 3 months, ingredient costs can jump 5-10%.
⚠️ Watch out:
A dish with 30% food cost can hit 35% after 6 months without price adjustments. Per dish, you're losing €1-2 profit per sold portion.
The 5-point check for each dish
For every dish on your menu, you'll systematically work through these points:
- Current ingredient costs: What do the ingredients actually cost today?
- Food cost percentage: Are you still under 35%?
- Sales frequency: How often does this dish move?
- Seasonal influences: Are ingredients getting pricier or cheaper?
- Competition: What do others charge for similar dishes?
Practical approach per menu section
Start with your top sellers. These dishes have the biggest impact on your total profit. Based on real restaurant P&L data, focusing on your 8-10 best-performing dishes first can reveal 70% of your profit leaks.
💡 Example:
You sell 50 steaks per week at €32.00. Ingredient costs jumped from €9.00 to €10.50.
- Old food cost: €9.00 / €32.00 = 28.1%
- New food cost: €10.50 / €32.00 = 32.8%
- Loss per week: 50 × €1.50 = €75
- Loss per year: €3,900
New menu price: €35.00 (food cost becomes 30%)
Which dishes to adjust, keep, or remove
After your review, you'll sort your dishes into three buckets:
- Keep: Food cost under 33%, guests love them
- Price increase: Food cost 33-38%, still worth saving
- Reformulate or axe: Food cost above 38% or terrible sales
Timing and communication with guests
Plan your menu changes strategically. Don't jack up all prices at once – spread them over 2-3 months instead. Guests notice gradual adjustments way less than sudden €4 jumps.
💡 Example planning:
- Month 1: Adjust main courses (3-4 dishes)
- Month 2: Appetizers and desserts
- Month 3: Lunch menu
This way your guests won't feel like "everything got more expensive overnight"
Digital tools for efficient review
A manual review easily eats up 4-6 hours each time. With tools like KitchenNmbrs, you can immediately spot which dishes exceed your target food cost and automatically calculate new prices.
The system also shows which dishes sell most frequently, so you know where to focus your energy.
How do you conduct a menu review? (step by step)
Collect current ingredient costs
Visit all your suppliers and note the current prices of all ingredients. Also check your latest invoices to see which prices have really increased. This is the basis for all further calculations.
Calculate new food cost per dish
For each dish, add up all ingredient costs and divide by your selling price excluding VAT. Dishes above 35% food cost need attention. Create a priority list based on sales frequency.
Determine new menu prices
For dishes with too high food cost, calculate the new minimum price: ingredient costs divided by 0.32 (for 32% food cost). Round to logical prices and check if this is market-competitive with competitors.
Plan phased implementation
Don't raise all prices at once. Spread adjustments over 2-3 months and start with your best-selling dishes. Communicate any major changes subtly to your team so they can answer guest questions.
✨ Pro tip
Block out 4 hours every first Tuesday of each quarter specifically for your menu review. Treat it like your most important business meeting – because financially, it is.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
What if guests complain about price increases?
Explain that ingredient costs have risen and that you care about maintaining quality. Gradual increases are less noticeable than sudden big jumps of €3-4 per dish. Most guests understand if you're transparent about it.
Do I need to adjust all dishes at once?
No, spread it over 2-3 months. Start with your best-selling dishes because they have the biggest impact on your profit. Less popular dishes can wait until later.
What if my food cost is still too high after a price increase?
Then you need to rework the recipe: smaller portions, cheaper ingredients, or replace the dish entirely. A food cost above 38% is nearly impossible to make profitable.
How do I check what competitors charge?
Check their menus online or visit incognito. Pay attention to comparable dishes and portion sizes. You don't need to be the cheapest, but stay within a reasonable range of your market.
📚 Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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