The standard benchmark is 28%. Most independent restaurants are running 35% to 44%. The gap between those two numbers costs real money every week.
The food cost benchmark for an independent restaurant, food truck, or catering operation is 28%. If you are running above that, the difference is profit that is leaving your business with every plate you serve. A restaurant doing $30,000 in monthly revenue at 38% food cost is spending $3,000 more on ingredients each month than a comparable operation at 28%.
A 28% food cost means that for every dollar of revenue your restaurant generates, 28 cents goes toward ingredients. If you are selling a dish for $15 and your food cost is 28%, the ingredients in that dish cost $4.20. At 38%, those same ingredients cost $5.70. That difference of $1.50 per plate compounds across every order you serve, every day the restaurant is open.
The 28% target is not a ceiling. It is the point at which most independent operations have enough margin left after food cost to cover labor, rent, delivery commissions, and still generate a net profit. Operators running above 28% are typically paying those other costs out of a margin that was never there to begin with.
Most operators land above 28% for three reasons. First, menu items were priced without calculating actual ingredient costs. The price was set based on what seemed reasonable or what competitors charge, not what the food actually costs to make. Second, ingredient costs have risen since the menu was last updated. A dish priced two years ago may have been profitable then and be a loss today. Third, high-cost items stay on the menu out of habit or because they are popular, without any review of whether they are actually generating profit.
Without a system tracking food cost weekly, the drift is invisible. It shows up eventually as a cash flow problem, but by then the loss has already compounded over months.
Yes. The 28% target applies broadly to independent restaurants, food trucks, and caterers. Some high-volume segments like pizza can run closer to 20% because their ingredient profile allows it. Higher-end concepts with premium proteins often run 32% to 34% and compensate with higher ticket prices and check averages. The key is not chasing 28% blindly but knowing your number, understanding why it sits where it does, and having a clear plan to close the gap.
Caterers face a specific version of this problem: food cost is calculated per event rather than per period, which makes the gap harder to see. A catering job that looks profitable on revenue can be a loss once food, packaging, labor, and delivery are fully accounted for.
The first step is calculating your actual food cost percentage so you know your real starting point. From there, the two fastest levers are menu price adjustments on your highest-volume items and removing or replacing the items with the highest cost-to-revenue ratio. Recipe costing, which involves calculating exactly what each menu item costs to make, shows you precisely which items are driving the gap.
Most operators find at least one or two items that are generating significant sales volume while running food costs above 45%. Removing or repricing those items often closes a meaningful portion of the gap without touching the rest of the menu.
A free 20-minute strategy call will show you exactly where your food cost gap is and what it is costing your operation each month. No pitch. No obligation. Just the numbers.
Based in Jacksonville, FL. Serving independent operators nationally.