Too often a restaurant owner or manager hears someone offer an average food cost and wants to measure their success against that number. The problem is your restaurant is not average and what works for one restaurant will not work for yours. Instead you must determine your own numbers and costs, including your restaurant’s prime cost.

• The importance of budgeting and how to set your budgeted food cost target
• How to calculate your actual food cost
• Why using a costing card is imperative in calculating your ideal food cost
• Why using your budgeted, actual and ideal food costs are critical to your success