Are you tracking lunch and dinner performance separately or just looking at daily totals? Many restaurant owners miss that their lunch service might be bleeding money while dinner carries the business. Breaking down KPIs by service reveals which parts of your operation actually make money.
Why KPIs per service matter
Running lunch and dinner means you're essentially operating two different restaurants under one roof. The costs, pricing structures, and customer volumes vary dramatically. Without separate KPIs, you're flying blind on which service drives your profits.
⚠️ Watch out:
Many restaurants run at a loss on lunch but make it back with dinner. If you don't know this, you'll make wrong decisions about staffing and purchasing.
The 5 most important KPIs per service
1. Revenue per service
Add up all receipts from lunch (for example 11:30-15:00) and dinner (17:30-22:00) separately.
2. Number of covers per service
How many guests did you serve during lunch and dinner?
3. Average check value per service
Revenue divided by number of covers. This often differs significantly between lunch and dinner.
4. Food cost per service
What do the ingredients cost as a percentage of revenue per service?
5. Labor cost per service
How much staff do you work in which service and what does that cost?
💡 Example:
Restaurant De Eethoek on a weekday:
- Lunch revenue: €450 (30 covers)
- Dinner revenue: €1,200 (40 covers)
- Average check lunch: €15.00
- Average check dinner: €30.00
Dinner earns twice as much per guest as lunch.
Calculating revenue and covers per service
The fundamentals are straightforward: tally all receipts per time period. But pay attention to these details:
- Define time slots clearly: Lunch 11:30-15:00, dinner 17:30-22:00
- In-between orders: Coffee at 15:30 belongs to which service?
- Groups: 8-person table = 8 covers, not 1 receipt
- Takeout and delivery: Do you count them or track separately?
Most POS systems can generate reports per time slot. Check this in your settings.
Calculating food cost per service
This gets trickier since lunch and dinner menus often share ingredients. From years of working in professional kitchens, I've seen three approaches that actually work:
Method 1: Count per dish
Track how many of each dish you sell per service. Most accurate but requires serious commitment.
Method 2: Estimated allocation
If 60% of your revenue comes from dinner, allocate 60% of your total purchasing to dinner.
Method 3: Separate menus
Different dishes for lunch and dinner makes calculation easier.
💡 Example food cost calculation:
Total ingredient purchasing per day: €500
- Lunch revenue: €450 (27% of total)
- Dinner revenue: €1,200 (73% of total)
- Food cost lunch: €500 × 0.27 = €135 (30%)
- Food cost dinner: €500 × 0.73 = €365 (30.4%)
Both services have comparable food cost percentages.
Labor cost per service
Staff typically work across both services, but the distribution isn't even:
- Kitchen: 1 chef lunch + 2 chefs dinner = 2/3 of kitchen costs to dinner
- Service: 2 servers lunch + 4 servers dinner = 2/3 to dinner
- Dishwashing/cleaning: Often split evenly
Calculate hourly wages × hours worked per service. Don't forget payroll taxes (roughly 25% on top of gross salary).
💡 Example labor costs:
Staff on one day:
- Lunch: 1 chef + 2 servers (15 hours × €15) = €225
- Dinner: 2 chefs + 4 servers (28 hours × €15) = €420
- Labor cost lunch: €225 / €450 = 50%
- Labor cost dinner: €420 / €1,200 = 35%
Lunch has much higher labor costs per euro of revenue.
Analyzing profitability per service
Now you can calculate the actual profit per service:
Gross margin per service = Revenue - Food cost - Labor cost
Other expenses (rent, utilities, depreciation) get divided proportionally by revenue.
⚠️ Watch out:
Many restaurants have profitable dinners and loss-making lunches. That can be fine if lunch helps cover fixed costs and builds customer loyalty for dinner.
Digital tools for KPI tracking
Manual tracking eats up valuable time. Your options:
- POS system reports: Most systems can show revenue/covers per time slot
- Excel templates: Set up your own with formulas
- Restaurant management apps: Tools like KitchenNmbrs can track food cost per dish and generate service-specific reports
Consistency trumps perfection: measure the same way daily, or you won't catch trends that matter.
How do you calculate KPIs per service? (step by step)
Define your services and time slots
Determine exactly when lunch starts and ends (e.g., 11:30-15:00) and when dinner starts (17:30-22:00). Make this clear in your POS system and communicate it to your team.
Collect daily data per service
Note every day: lunch revenue, dinner revenue, number of lunch covers, number of dinner covers. Calculate the average check value by dividing revenue by covers.
Calculate food cost per service
Add up your total ingredient costs and allocate them proportionally by revenue per service. If dinner is 70% of revenue, it gets 70% of food cost. Calculate the percentage per service.
Calculate labor costs per service
Add up hours worked per service and multiply by hourly wages (plus 25% payroll taxes). Divide by revenue per service for labor cost percentage.
Analyze profitability per service
Subtract food cost and labor costs from revenue per service. This gives you gross margin per service. Compare percentages to see which service generates the most.
✨ Pro tip
Track your top 5 dishes separately for each service over a 2-week period. You'll discover that lunch bestsellers often have completely different profit margins than dinner favorites, which can shift your entire service profitability by 3-8%.
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
How do I allocate fixed costs between lunch and dinner?
Allocate fixed costs (rent, utilities, depreciation) proportionally by revenue. If dinner generates 75% of your revenue, it gets 75% of fixed costs assigned. This method reflects the actual business impact of each service.
What if my lunch is running at a loss according to the KPIs?
That's actually common in the industry. Check if lunch helps cover fixed costs and builds customer loyalty for dinner service. A strategically valuable lunch can justify losses if it strengthens your overall business model.
Can I automate this with my POS system?
Many POS systems generate reports per time slot for revenue and covers automatically. However, you'll usually need to track food cost and labor costs manually or use specialized restaurant management software for complete automation.
📚 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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