Restaurant & Food Truck Menu Costing — Cost Every Plate, Price Your Menu & Control Food Cost

🔥 Restaurant & Food Truck Menu Costing — Instant Download Template

Know what every plate costs, price to your target food cost % and see which items earn their spot.

A ready-to-use Excel workbook for restaurants, cafes and food trucks. It connects ingredient prices, recipes, menu pricing, menu engineering, a waste log and weekly food cost in one file, with a Dashboard that updates from every tab.

✨ What You Get Inside

- START HERE: step-by-step setup, a map of every tab and my contact email

- Settings: target food cost %, price rounding, popularity factor, to-go packaging cost, watch zone, a unit conversion table and every dropdown list

- Ingredient Prices: pack size and cost, yield % and recipe unit, giving the cost per recipe unit with unit conversions

- Recipe Builder: one line per ingredient for each menu item, with unit cost and line cost filled in automatically (formulas and dropdowns filled down to row 500)

- Menu Pricing: plate cost (including to-go packaging), suggested price at your target food cost %, actual food cost %, contribution margin and an OK / Watch / High flag

- Menu Engineering: every item classed as Star, Plowhorse, Puzzle or Dog, with a suggested action

- Waste Log: waste cost by reason and by week

- Weekly Food Cost: food cost % vs target, variance and waste % of sales for each week

- Dashboard: 8 KPI cards and 3 charts (weekly food cost % vs target, menu items by class, waste cost by reason)

💡 Who This Is For

- Food truck owners costing a short, fast-moving menu

- Restaurant and cafe owners and kitchen managers

- Caterers pricing set menus

- Anyone changing menu prices who wants to check food cost % item by item first

🔄 Before & After Using This Template

- Before: Menu prices set by feel / After: A suggested price for every item at your target food cost %

- Before: Not knowing which dishes earn their spot / After: Star, Plowhorse, Puzzle and Dog classes with a suggested action for each item

- Before: Waste nobody counts / After: A Waste Log that totals cost by reason and feeds into your weekly food cost check

🏆 What Makes This Template Better

- Ingredient prices flow through to recipes, plate costs and the menu, so one price change updates every dish that uses it

- Live formulas throughout, so totals, flags and charts update as you type

- Every dropdown list lives on Settings, so you can rename items to fit your business

- Formula cells are pre-locked and shaded gray; sheet protection is off, so you can switch it on to prevent accidental edits

- Rows marked EXAMPLE DATA show how each tab works before you add your own numbers

- One ready .xlsx file: no zip to unpack

⚡ Get Results in Minutes

- Download instantly

- Open in Excel 2019 or later, Microsoft 365, or Google Sheets

- Set your target food cost % on Settings and replace the EXAMPLE DATA rows

- Start using it immediately

Compatibility: Works in Excel 2019 or later, Microsoft 365, or Google Sheets. No macros.

Sample data is fictional. Replace it with yours.

🔒 Instant Access

Once you purchase, you get immediate access to your files.

Need it tailored? Get a Custom Build of this kit built around your business: https://payhip.com/b/Vs6m3

We’re a new store, but our digital tools are built to save you time, simplify your workflow, and help your business grow. Your trust matters — and every product is designed to deliver real results.

Thank you for supporting a growing brand.

— Kyle P. Herrick, Founder

✔️ Satisfaction Guarantee

If this template doesn’t help you save time or improve your workflow, message me and I’ll make it right. Your success matters.

💬 Need Help?

Message me anytime — I’m here to help you get the most out of your templates. You can also email herrickkyle87@outlook.com (the address is on the START HERE tab too).

🚀 Ready to Use This Template?

Click “Buy Now” to get instant access and start using it today.

Organization tool only; not tax, legal, accounting or financial advice.