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Prime cost is food cost plus total labor cost, expressed as a percentage of revenue. It is the most important operational metric in food service because it measures the two expenses you can actually control — and the two that most operators manage least precisely.
The benchmark for a well-run fast casual concept is 55–60%. Full service runs 58–63%. Upscale full service can reach 65% on legitimate complexity. Above 65% in any concept is a structural problem, not a rough period. Every point above your target benchmark is margin already in your operation — it just needs to be recovered.
Enter your weekly or monthly numbers below. The calculator compares your result against concept-specific benchmarks and shows you the dollar opportunity available at target performance.
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The single most important number in F&B operations. Find where your margin is going.
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Prime cost is the sum of your total food cost and total labor cost (including wages, payroll taxes, and benefits). It is the single most important number in food service operations because it represents the two largest and most controllable expense categories. Prime cost expressed as a percentage of total revenue tells you how much of every dollar in sales goes to ingredients and people.
Restaurant prime cost = (Total Food Cost + Total Labor Cost) ÷ Total Revenue × 100. For example, if your restaurant does $100,000 in monthly revenue with $32,000 in food cost and $30,000 in total labor cost, your prime cost is 62%. Most operators calculate this monthly from their P&L, but weekly tracking is more actionable — problems that appear monthly are already 4 weeks old.
Industry benchmarks by concept type: Fast casual — 55-60% prime cost target. Casual full service — 58-63%. Upscale full service — 60-65%. Catering and events — 45-55% (lower labor per dollar). Prime cost above 65% in any full-service concept is a structural problem that compounds weekly. Every point above your benchmark represents real margin hidden in your existing operation.
Food cost percentage measures only ingredient and beverage cost as a percentage of revenue. Prime cost includes food cost plus all labor costs — wages, payroll taxes, benefits, and contractor labor. Prime cost gives a more complete picture of operational efficiency because labor is often the largest single cost in a restaurant and is frequently mismanaged through poor scheduling practices.
High prime cost on strong revenue is usually caused by three things: (1) Food cost variance from over-portioning, theft, or receiving errors that are not caught at the dock, (2) Labor scheduled by availability rather than projected cover counts — hours are on the clock regardless of whether volume justifies them, (3) A theoretical food cost that has never been calculated, meaning you do not know the gap between what recipes cost and what your actual food cost percentage is.