Menu Engineering Review

Takes your sales counts, menu prices, and plate costs and sorts every dish into four groups: top sellers that also earn well, top sellers that earn less, strong earners that sell slowly, and dishes that do neither.

RestaurantFood and Drink✓ Checkedv1.0

Before and after

BEFORE · what the owner typed

Brenda Townsend owns Goldshire Bistro at 2914 Fawnshire St, Swanglen. Her message: "Need help looking at my mains. Last 4 weeks, normal weeks, no holidays. Salmon: price 26.00, plate cost 9.80, sold 140. Cheeseburger 16.00, cost 4.90, sold 310. Chicken parm 19.00, cost 6.20, sold 220. Ribeye 12 oz 38.00, cost 17.10, sold 90. Mushroom risotto 18.00, cost 4.30, sold 60. Shrimp scampi 24.00, cost 11.40, sold 70. Fish and chips 17.00, cost 7.90, sold 130. Lamb shank 32.00, cost 14.50, sold 30. Chef Carlos York says the shrimp price went up recently and the lamb takes a lot of prep time because it's braised. The risotto is our only vegetarian main. Ribeye is the last thing on the printed menu. I am not taking the burger off, people love it. Phone is 330-555-0108 if you need me."

AFTER · what the skill produced

Goldshire Bistro, mains review, last 4 weeks. 8 dishes, 1,050 plates sold. Results: 1 Star, 2 Plowhorses, 3 Puzzles, 2 Dogs.

Cutoffs used

Average units per dish: 131.25 (1,050 plates divided by 8 dishes)
Average profit per plate sold: $13.16 (total profit of $13,818.00 divided by 1,050 plates)

Dish by dish (profit per plate, units, total profit)

Salmon: $16.20, 140, $2,268.00. Star
Cheeseburger: $11.10, 310, $3,441.00. Plowhorse
Chicken parmesan: $12.80, 220, $2,816.00. Plowhorse (borderline on profit, $0.36 under the cutoff)
Ribeye 12 oz: $20.90, 90, $1,881.00. Puzzle
Mushroom risotto: $13.70, 60, $822.00. Puzzle
Lamb shank: $17.50, 30, $525.00. Puzzle
Shrimp scampi: $12.60, 70, $882.00. Dog
Fish and chips: $9.10, 130, $1,183.00. Dog (borderline on popularity, 1.25 plates under the cutoff)

Options for each group

Star (salmon): This dish sells well and earns well, so we recommend protecting it. Keep the portion and quality steady and keep it easy to find on the menu.
Plowhorses (cheeseburger, chicken parmesan): You are keeping the burger, so we recommend working on profit per plate, such as a small price change or a look at plate cost. As arithmetic only, each extra $1.00 adds $310.00 on the burger and $220.00 on the chicken parmesan over four weeks if sales hold.
Puzzles (ribeye, mushroom risotto, lamb shank): These earn well per plate but sell slowly, so we recommend a stronger description and a more visible spot, since the ribeye is last on the printed menu. The risotto is your only vegetarian main, so we recommend keeping it, and we recommend weighing the lamb's prep time against the $525.00 it earned.
Dogs (shrimp scampi, fish and chips): We recommend reviewing the plate cost and price of fish and chips, which has the lowest profit per plate at $9.10. Carlos York says the shrimp price went up, so we recommend checking the scampi cost before judging it. What to do with either dish is your call.

Questions for the owner

Do the plate costs include sides, sauces, and garnish for every dish?
Is the $11.40 scampi cost based on the new shrimp price, or the old one?
Do you have a target price or target profit per plate for any of these dishes?
Should I review appetizers, desserts, or drinks next?

What it does

Use it when: Use when a restaurant owner or chef wants to review which menu dishes sell the most and which earn the most, such as: menu engineering, top sellers, low profit dishes, which dishes make us money, review my menu, or what should we change on the menu.