Menu Engineering: Turning Data into Profit
The menu is your most important financial report
Most restaurants think of their menu as marketing.
In reality, it’s a profit plan in disguise.
Every design choice — item order, pricing, portion size — determines what guests buy most often and what margin you actually take home.
Beyond food cost: what really matters
Most owners look only at food cost percentage. But the right metric is contribution margin — what’s left after paying for the food itself.
A $20 entrée with $8 cost has a 60% food cost but a $12 contribution margin.
A $12 sandwich with $4 cost has a 33% food cost but only an $8 contribution margin.
Which one would you rather sell more of?
The “Stars, Plow Horses, Puzzles, and Dogs” model
Use your POS sales mix and item margins to group every menu item:
| Category | Description | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Stars | High profit, high volume | Feature prominently |
| Plow Horses | Low profit, high volume | Adjust portion or price |
| Puzzles | High profit, low volume | Promote or reword |
| Dogs | Low profit, low volume | Remove or replace |
This is menu engineering 101 — using data to drive design decisions.
How often should you do it?
At least once per quarter. Ingredient prices, customer behavior, and vendor contracts all change. A quarterly review ensures your best sellers are also your most profitable.
Where we help
Steady Plate Accounting connects your POS data, invoices, and recipe costs so you can see your contribution margin and menu mix automatically. No spreadsheets, no guesswork — just a weekly view of what’s working.
Turn your menu into your most profitable asset.