Category · Cost Control

Restaurant Cost Control.

The margin math that keeps a kitchen profitable — food cost, labor cost, recipe costing, menu pricing, and the waste hiding in every prep. Frameworks and free tools included.

Four cooks working a busy restaurant line during service, the labor hours behind a sales per labor hour number Cost Control

Sales Per Labor Hour (SPLH): The Restaurant Guide

SPLH is sales divided by hours worked, and it tells you tonight what the P&L tells you in 30 days. The formula, benchmarks, a free calculator, and how to track it daily.

August 2026 Read more →
Restaurant food cost calculator Cost Control

How to Calculate Food Cost in a Restaurant (Free Calculator)

A free interactive calculator plus the formula, industry benchmarks, and a downloadable spreadsheet for tracking your whole menu.

April 2026 Read more →
Chef weighing ingredients on a digital scale — the discipline of recipe costing in a working kitchen Cost Control

Why Recipe Costing Is the Habit Profitable Kitchens Never Skip

Recipe costing is the foundation every food cost number sits on top of. Here's how to cost a dish properly, the mistakes that quietly kill margin, and why most kitchens skip it.

May 2026 Read more →
Restaurant menu being reviewed at a marble table — applying the menu pricing formula to set profitable prices Cost Control

The Menu Pricing Formula Most Restaurants Get Wrong

The cost-based menu pricing formula is a starting point, not the answer. Here's the four-lens framework operators actually use to price dishes that protect margin and still sell.

May 2026 Read more →
Vegetable trim and herb stems in a ceramic bowl — the restaurant food waste hiding in every prep Cost Control

Restaurant Food Waste: How to Reduce It and Stop Losing Margin

Where most restaurant food waste actually comes from, what it really costs you, and the operational changes that reduce it — without redesigning the menu or switching suppliers.

May 2026 Read more →
A chef working a station in a warm-lit restaurant kitchen — the human labor that drives restaurant labor cost Cost Control

Restaurant Labor Cost: How to Calculate, Track, and Reduce It

The formula, the realistic ranges by service type, why labor cost runs high, and the operational changes that bring it back in line — without cutting hours blindly or paying people less.

May 2026 Read more →