Waitlist open — early access
Your food cost is stuck in a spreadsheet. PlateCost costs every recipe when prices move.
Recipe-first food cost for independent restaurants. Not another $300/mo inventory stack. For chef-owners and GMs at 1–3 locations.
- Built for 1–3 location independents
- Recipe-first, not full inventory
- Your data stays yours
- Email only used for early access
Pain → Solution
The four costing problems every independent kitchen recognises
The costing sheet is six months out of date.
Someone built it once, then produce moved, dairy moved, and nobody had a spare evening to redo the formulas.
FixPrices live in one ingredient list. Change a price, every plate using it recosts.
You don't know which dishes are losing money.
Overall food cost looks fine on the P&L, so the two dishes quietly running at 45% stay on the menu.
FixSet a target food-cost % per dish and see exactly which plates drift off target.
Sub-recipes get costed by guesswork.
Stocks, sauces and doughs are yields, not line items — so they end up as a round number someone remembers.
FixCost sub-recipes by yield once, then use them inside plates at the right per-unit cost.
Real inventory systems are too much system.
Full stack counts, purchase orders and vendor integrations are a project you don't have staff for.
FixRecipes and plate cost only. CSV in, costed menu out, no POS required for v1.
Most independents still cost plates from paper invoices and one fragile spreadsheet.
What PlateCost does
Five things, done properly
Cost every recipe
Build recipes and sub-recipes once, then see the plate cost per portion.
Target food-cost %
Set a target margin per dish and see which plates drift off target.
One price change, all plates
Update a supplier price and every recipe using that ingredient recosts.
CSV import
Bring in invoice or price-list spreadsheets you already keep.
No POS required for v1
Nothing to install at the pass. Works alongside whatever you run today.
PlateCost AI
Know which dishes are bleeding margin before you do
PlateCost learns the real cost drivers behind every recipe. When an ingredient price moves, it flags the plates that take the hit and shows the smallest adjustment to get back on target.
Flags margin hits as prices move
When beef, dairy, or produce shifts, see exactly which recipes change and by how much.
Suggests portion and menu price adjustments
Compare a portion tweak, a price bump, or a substitute before you commit to a change.
Spots recipes drifting over target food cost
Set a target food-cost % per dish; PlateCost highlights the ones crossing the line this week.
Learns your recipe cost drivers
Stocks, sauces, doughs, and sub-recipes are tied to real yields, so cost changes flow through correctly.
What operators are saying
What we keep hearing
“The costing sheet is the thing I keep meaning to fix on a Sunday and never do. If a price update just flowed through to every dish, that's the whole job done.”
Chef-owner, 1 location
“I don't need counts and purchase orders. I need to know which five plates are killing the margin this month.”
GM, 2 locations
“We cost new menu items in a spreadsheet copy, then the copy becomes the real one. Nobody knows which file is current.”
Chef-owner, 3 locations
FAQ
Straight answers
Is PlateCost available today?
Not yet. This is a waitlist. Joining puts you in line for early access and lets you tell us which part of costing to build first.
Do I need to replace my POS?
No. Version one does not require a POS at all. PlateCost sits beside whatever you already run at the pass.
How do prices get in?
You import the invoice or price-list spreadsheets you already keep as CSV, or type ingredients in directly. Update one price and dependent plates recost.
Is this an inventory or accounting system?
No. No POS, no multi-unit accounting, no accounts-payable automation, no supplier marketplace. Recipes and plate cost only.
What does it cost?
Pricing isn't set. The goal is deliberately far below a $300/mo inventory stack, priced for a single independent restaurant.
Get your menu costed before the next price increase.
Join the waitlist and tell us the one costing job you'd hand over first.
What it isn't
No POS, no multi-unit accounting, no accounts-payable automation, no supplier marketplace. Recipes and plate cost only — the part most independents still run by hand.