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Restaurant Gross Margin : What Every Independent Restaurateur Should Really Be Tracking

Claire Brunaud
6 days ago
2 min read

“I work 70 hours a week, but I don’t even know if I’m actually making money on each dish.”

That’s what Marc, a bistronomic restaurateur in Bordeaux, told us. And he’s not alone.

In independent restaurants, gross margin is often poorly tracked, or misunderstood. Yet it’s a key metric for staying in control of your profitability… without sacrificing quality.

Restaurant Gross Margin : What Exactly Are We Talking About ?

Restaurant gross margin is what’s left after you’ve paid for your raw materials (ingredients, drinks, etc.).

Simple formula :

👉 Gross margin = Selling price - Food cost

As a percentage, it’s calculated as:

👉 (Gross margin / Selling price) × 100

💡 Example :

You sell a dish for €18, and it costs you €6 in ingredients.

Your gross margin is €12, or 66%.

What Many Restaurateurs Forget

Marc, like many, assumed that “if a dish sells well, it’s profitable.”

But reality is more nuanced :

Some dishes sell well but have a food cost that’s too high
Others have a strong margin, but are poorly positioned on the menu and thus rarely ordered
Without the right tools, it’s hard to spot the real imbalances

The result : invisible losses and stagnant profitability.

3 Concrete Steps to Regain Control of Your Gross Margin

1. Know Your Food Costs per Dish

Without precise calculations, tracking your gross margin is impossible.

Start by :

Filling out technical sheets for each dish
Accounting for supplier price fluctuations
Updating regularly

➡️ Fyre does this automatically by linking your sales and purchasing data to your POS system.

2. Identify the Dishes That Hurt Your Bottom Line

Once margins are calculated, the key step is analysis :

Which dishes are popular but not profitable ?
Which ones are profitable but under-ordered ?
Are there inconsistencies based on time slots or staff ?

➡️ Fyre displays a clear table, sorted by profitability, for each dish.

3. Make Smart Adjustments (Without Scaring Off Customers)

There’s no need to raise all your prices at once.

By analyzing your gross margin :

You can adjust prices on specific dishes
Slightly reduce portion sizes without impacting satisfaction
Highlight your most profitable dishes more effectively on the menu

➡️ Fyre helps you test adjustments and measure their impact as early as the following week.

What You Gain

A clear view of what’s making you money (or not)
Less stress and guesswork
Controlled profitability, without compromising quality or the guest experience