What you need before you start
Michael Kasavana and Donald Smith set out the method in a 1982 book, Menu Engineering: A Practical Guide to Menu Analysis. Restaurants have used versions of it ever since. You need a few weeks of sales numbers and a calculator.
- Sales counts for each dish over the same period, ideally four weeks or more. Your till or POS can usually export these. If not, tally the order tickets.
- The price of each dish.
- The plate cost of each dish, meaning what the food costs you per portion. Our guide to pricing a menu item shows how to work it out.
Compare dishes against others in the same section. Mains go with mains and desserts with desserts. A dessert will never sell as often as a main, and that doesn't make it a bad dessert.
The two numbers to work out
For each dish:
- What's left per sale: the price minus the plate cost.
- How often it sells, compared with the other dishes in the section.
Then work out the average for the section on each one. Every dish is either above or below the average on popularity, and above or below it on what's left per sale.
A worked example with six mains
Here's a made-up section of six mains over four weeks.
| Dish | Sold | Price | Plate cost | Left per sale | Total left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burger | 400 | $14.00 | $4.20 | $9.80 | $3,920 |
| Fish and chips | 300 | $18.00 | $6.50 | $11.50 | $3,450 |
| Chicken salad | 250 | $13.00 | $4.50 | $8.50 | $2,125 |
| Steak frites | 120 | $28.00 | $11.00 | $17.00 | $2,040 |
| Mushroom risotto | 90 | $16.00 | $3.20 | $12.80 | $1,152 |
| Lamb shank | 40 | $20.00 | $10.50 | $9.50 | $380 |
| Total | 1,200 | $13,067 |
Popularity. With six dishes, an even share would be 1,200 ÷ 6 = 200 sales each. The burger, fish and chips, and chicken salad sell more than that. The other three sell less.
What's left. Across the section, each sale leaves an average of $13,067 ÷ 1,200 = $10.89. Fish and chips, steak frites and risotto leave more than that. The burger, salad and lamb leave less.
Put the two together:
| Dish | Sells often? | Leaves a lot? | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fish and chips | Yes | Yes | Star |
| Burger | Yes | No | Plowhorse |
| Chicken salad | Yes | No | Plowhorse |
| Steak frites | No | Yes | Puzzle |
| Mushroom risotto | No | Yes | Puzzle |
| Lamb shank | No | No | Dog |
These are the names most guides use. Some swap in their own, such as "opportunities" for puzzles, so check the definitions when you read about the method elsewhere.
What to do with each group
Stars: sell often and leave a lot. Leave them alone, mostly. Keep the recipe and portion the same, and put them where guests look first, at the top of their section. If a star's costs rise, it can usually take a small price increase.
Plowhorses: sell often but leave less. Guests love them, so don't remove them. Look at the cost instead. Can you use a little less of the expensive part, or swap the side for a cheaper one guests like just as much? A small price rise may also work, because people order these out of habit. In the example, putting the burger up by $1.00 would leave $10.80 per sale.
Puzzles: leave a lot but don't sell often. These dishes make good money when they do sell, so help guests notice them. Try a clearer name, a better description or a photo. Move them higher in the section. Ask staff to mention them. Our article on menu photos and descriptions covers what makes a dish easier to choose. If none of that works, the price may be too high for what guests expect.
Dogs: don't sell often and don't leave much. Usually these come off the menu, or get reworked into something new. Fewer dishes also means less stock and less waste. But check first whether a dish is there for a reason. It might be the only vegetarian main, or a regular orders it every Friday. Keep it if it brings people in.
What the method doesn't tell you
It's a useful starting point, but it has limits.
- It ignores time and labor. A dish that takes a cook ten minutes costs more than one plated in thirty seconds, even if the food costs the same.
- It depends on the period you pick. A hot soup looks like a dog in July. Use the same season when you compare.
- Dishes affect each other. Remove the risotto and some of those guests may order the steak, or they may go elsewhere.
- Small numbers mislead. If a dish sold five times, wait for more data before you decide anything.
Run the numbers again every few months, and after any change, so you can see whether it worked.