A New Restaurant

One recurring problem I have seen in restaurants that are struggling is that they do not do a good job of labeling food items in storage.  Te biggest reason restaurants fail is that they don’t control their food costs.  That is a guaranteed kiss of death for a restaurant.  For many food service operations, food cost is the biggest expense they have.  So, if you let your food costs get out of control, all of your profits get eaten up.

A good way to keep track of your food is to use (more…)

One way to ensure that your kitchen staff is doing their part to help you control the food cost is to hold daily production meetings.  This is important in any food service operation, but it is especially important if you’re not using the exact same menu every day.  If your cooks aren’t aware how to prepare a daily menu, they may take it on themselves to just make something up regardless of what you had planned.  If they over portion, even by a little bit, your food cost starts to rise. (more…)

I’ve probable written dozens of times that if you want to run a successful restaurant, you need to control your food cost.  This isn’t an area that you can afford to take lightly.  Food cost and labor cost are the two biggest expenses on a restaurants budget.  If you let your food cost get out of control, your entire operation is at risk.

That being said, you need to have a clear understanding of what food cost is, and how to calculate it.  In a nutshell, it is the material cost of producing the items your restaurant serves.  That means (more…)