Break-Even Calculator for Restaurants
Calculate restaurant break-even covers and revenue from rent, payroll, food cost, and average ticket. Visual chart and target profit mode included.
Break-even units equal fixed costs divided by contribution margin per unit. Selling price minus variable cost is contribution margin. Five thousand divided by fifteen equals three hundred thirty-four units.
Restaurant break-even is calculated as fixed costs ÷ contribution margin per cover. With food cost typically 28-32%, beverage 18-24%, and labor 28-35%, contribution margin per cover usually sits between 30% and 45%. The National Restaurant Association's prime-cost rule (food + labor ≤ 60%) is the implicit operational guardrail.
Restaurant break-even has more moving parts than almost any other small-business calculation because revenue depends on two things you can only partly control — covers per service and average check — while costs include both per-cover variables (food, paper, card processing) and per-shift step-fixed labor (you can't half-staff a Friday night).
Fixed costs (monthly): - Rent + utilities + insurance (target ≤ 10% of sales; over 12% the lease is broken) - Salaried management - Software (POS, reservations, scheduling) - Marketing - Loan service and equipment leases
Variable cost per cover: - Food cost (price × food cost % — usually 28-32%) - Beverage cost (price × beverage cost % — 18-24% beer, 22-28% wine, 18-24% spirits) - Variable labor (servers, line cooks during peak — 15-25% of revenue) - Card processing (2-3%) - Paper, condiments, breakage
Step-fixed labor (per shift, not per cover): hosts, dishwashers, prep cooks, sous chefs scheduled to a shift regardless of cover count.
Plug average check, target food and labor percentages, and fixed costs into the calculator and it returns: - Break-even covers per day - Break-even revenue per month - Margin of safety (current covers vs break-even covers) - "What if" sliders for menu-price increases and labor-cost reductions
Three structural patterns that put a restaurant permanently below break-even, no matter how busy: 1. Menu-price compression — operators afraid to raise prices, while food and labor have inflated 15-30% over 2022-2024 2. Prime cost > 65% — NRA data shows successful operators consistently below 60% 3. Seat-turn under industry norms — 1.5 turns at dinner for casual full-service is typical; below 1.2 and the throughput economics break
For US benchmarks, the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Industry Operations Report is the standard source.
Inputs
Rent, salaries, insurance — costs that don't change with output
Materials, packaging, commission — costs per unit sold
Extends to: units needed to hit a profit target
Break-Even Units
Healthy334
You need to sell 334 units to cover all costs.
Contribution margin per unit: $15.00
Break-Even Revenue
$8,350.00
Total revenue needed to cover fixed + variable costs
See the formula
See parent calculator at /break-even-calculator for the full formula reference.
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Methodology & sources
Rates last verified: May 2026Standard break-even formula (Fixed Costs / Contribution Margin per Unit). Region-agnostic — only the currency symbol changes.
Rates are reviewed annually or when a region changes its headline rate. If you spot one that's out of date, email [email protected].
For information only. This calculator does not constitute financial, accounting, or tax advice. Consult a qualified professional before making business decisions.