✦For independent restaurants
Know exactly what every dish costs you.
You're eyeballing ingredient costs and guessing your margins. DishCost calculates your food cost % on every recipe, tracks price changes, and tells you which dishes are losing you money.
Recipes
24
Ingredients
87
Avg Food Cost
29.4%
Food Cost Distribution
60s
To your first recipe
$39
Per month, no contracts
5x
Cheaper than MarketMan
✦The problem
You're running a restaurant, not a software project.
Most food cost tools are built for chains with IT departments. You need answers tonight, not a 3-week onboarding.
I just eyeball it and hope for the best.
Most independent operators track food cost in their head or a spreadsheet — if at all. That’s money leaving every single plate.
MarketMan wanted $199/mo. xtraCHEF only works with Toast.
Enterprise tools built for chains, priced for chains. The $29–99/mo range? Nobody was building there.
I tried to cancel and they wanted 60-day notice.
That’s a real quote from a real restaurant operator. DishCost is month-to-month. Cancel in 30 seconds from your settings.
Setup took 3 weeks and I still didn’t understand it.
DishCost has one job: enter a recipe, see your food cost %. You’ll have your first result in under a minute.
✦How it works
From zero to knowing your margins in 60 seconds.
01
Add your ingredients
Enter each ingredient with its price per unit — or upload a CSV to import your whole list at once. Chicken thighs, kosher salt, olive oil — whatever goes in the dish.
02
Build your recipe
Combine ingredients with quantities per serving. DishCost calculates your total cost and cost per serving as you go.
03
See your food cost %
Set your menu price. Your food cost percentage is right there. Green = healthy. Amber = watch it. Red = losing money.
✦The product
See exactly where your money goes.
Dashboard
Recipes
24
3 without menu price
Ingredients
87
Avg Food Cost %
29.4%
Target: 28\u201332%
Food Cost Distribution
Your entire menu, ranked by food cost. Spot the problem dishes instantly.
Beef Short Rib
4 servings · $38.00 menu price
Total Cost
$47.20
Cost / Serving
$11.80
Food Cost %
31.1%
Profit / Serving
$26.20
Cost Breakdown
Every ingredient accounted for. Adjust quantities, see costs update instantly.
✦Features
Fewer features. On purpose.
Built for single-location restaurants, priced like it.
Real-time food cost %
Every recipe shows a food cost percentage, color-coded — green dishes make money, red ones don't. Update an ingredient price and every affected recipe recalculates automatically.
Food Cost %
28.4%
Target: 28\u201332%
Food Cost %
42.1%
Target
30%
Suggested Price
$18.67
currently $14.99
Know what to charge
Set a target food cost % on any recipe and DishCost tells you the menu price you need. Your food cost is 42% but you want 30%? It shows you the number. No more guessing or doing the math backwards on a napkin.
Price change tracking
When your beef supplier raises prices, DishCost recalculates every affected recipe. No manual updates. You see which dishes got more expensive and by how much.
Prep items & sub-recipes
Your marinara goes in the chicken parm, the lasagna, and the meatball sub. Define it once as a prep item, then use it across recipes. Costs flow through automatically — change the price of tomatoes and every dish updates.
Full menu overview
See every dish ranked by food cost percentage. The distribution bar breaks it down — how many dishes are healthy, how many need attention, and which ones are costing you.
Menu Health
Your Margherita Pizza is at 42% food cost, well above your 30% target. Raise the price from $14.99 to $18.67, or swap the San Marzano tomatoes (33% of cost) for a house-crushed alternative to save $1.50 per serving.
AI pricing advice
When your food cost is off target, DishCost looks at your numbers — the actual cost, the target, the ingredient eating most of your margin — and tells you what to change.
Pro plan only
✦Pricing
Simple, honest pricing
MarketMan is $199/mo. xtraCHEF requires Toast. We built this for the independent restaurant with no IT department and no appetite for overpriced software.
For operators who want every dish accounted for.
- Unlimited recipes
- Menu engineering matrix
- Cost change alerts
- PDF & CSV export
- Menu cost dashboard
- Priority support
Less than the cost of one mispriced dish per month.
No setup fee. No annual contracts. Cancel anytime.
Not ready to commit? Try the free calculator — no account needed.
✦Compare
Everything MarketMan charges $199/mo for. We charge $39.
Same recipe costing. None of the enterprise bloat.
Your margins won't fix themselves at midnight.
You already know which dishes feel expensive to make. DishCost tells you exactly which ones are losing you money — and by how much. Enter your first recipe in 60 seconds.