The Restaurante Lleno tools are for guidance only. They help you spot where to look and turn an intuition into a conversation with numbers. They are not an accounting audit or a tax return.

Main formulas

Prime cost = (food cost + labor cost) ÷ sales × 100.

Food cost = purchases + opening inventory − closing inventory.

Menu price = real cost ÷ target food cost, where real cost includes waste: ingredient cost ÷ (1 − waste).

Break-even point = fixed costs ÷ (1 − variable costs as a percentage of sales).

Sales cushion = (sales − break-even point) ÷ sales × 100.

Reference ranges

The ranges we show are for guidance and apply to independent full-service restaurants in LATAM. A fine-dining restaurant, a high-volume pizzeria, or a café may have different structures.

• Prime cost: 60–65% as a general reference.
• Food cost: 28–35% depending on concept.
• Labor cost: 28–35% depending on country and service model.
• Rent: 8–12% of sales.
• Safety cushion: 10–20%.

These are not universal targets. Use them to ask questions, not to copy a recipe.

Limits

• We do not include taxes, depreciation, financing, or extraordinary items unless stated.
• The average ticket and the covers are estimates; an error in them shifts the break-even point.
• The tools do not know your sales mix, your actual waste, or your contracts.
• For tax, labor, or investment decisions, check with a professional.

Data and privacy

Calculations run in your browser. We do not send the figures to a server. If you subscribe to the newsletter, we store your name and email with your consent, as explained in the privacy policy. We do not use calculator data for benchmarks without consent.

Review and corrections

The Editorial board reviews the formulas and the ranges. If you find an error, use the contact form. If it affects a verifiable data point, we update the tool and record the change.