What is a menu engineering matrix?

A chart that plots each menu item by profit per item and units sold. Split at the middle of each, it gives four groups: Stars, Workhorses, Puzzles and Dogs. Each group has a clear action: feature, reprice, promote or cut.

How many menu items do I need to enter?

At least six or seven. With three items the split means little. Your whole menu is best, but the top twenty sellers usually tell the same story.

What should I do with a workhorse (plowhorse) item?

Raise the price a little, or cut the cost a little. Never both at once, and never by much. Workhorses sell because of their price, so a big increase can push them into the Dog group.

Should I always remove the dogs from my menu?

No. Some have a job: a kids option, a vegan option, the dish a regular always orders. Cut the ones with no job. Keep the ones that bring a table in.

Should I use margin percent or profit in dollars?

Dollars. A 60% margin on a $4 coffee earns $2.40. A 30% margin on a $30 steak earns $9. This calculator uses profit in dollars per item.

Does menu engineering work for a salon or clinic?

Yes. Use treatments in place of dishes, and product plus chair time in place of food cost. The math is the same. Service businesses often have wider profit gaps between items, so the chart is often clearer.

Menu Engineering Matrix Calculator

Which items should you push, fix or cut?

Plot each item by profit and sales to see what to feature, reprice or cut.

This menu engineering matrix calculator plots each item by how much profit it makes and how often it sells. We split both at the middle value, so your items fall into four groups: feature, reprice, promote or cut. The common mistake is to judge items by margin percent. A 60% margin on a $4 coffee earns less cash than a 30% margin on a $30 steak.

Weekly profit per item = (price − cost) × weekly sales. Items split into four groups at the middle value of profit and of sales.

ItemPriceCostSold per week

Earns you the most

Protect these. Feature them, never discount them.

1Ribeye SteakTop earners · $26.00 each$2,210
2Truffle PastaTop earners · $18.00 each$2,160
3Signature BurgerPopular, low profit · $9.00 each$1,890

Earns you the least

Reprice, rework or cut them, unless they bring people in.

1Garden SaladLow on both · $6.00 each$240
2Lobster RollProfitable, rarely sold · $24.00 each$720

Top earners

Keep these. Put them at the top of the menu or list. Ask staff to recommend them. Never put them on discount.

Ribeye Steak, Truffle Pasta

Popular, low profit

People already buy these. Raise the price a little, or cut the cost. A small change earns a lot here because you sell so many.

Signature Burger

Profitable, rarely sold

These earn well but few people order them. Show one more clearly on the menu, give it a better name, or sell it together with a popular item.

Lobster Roll

Low on both

Cut these, unless they do another job. For example a kids option, a vegan option, or the thing a regular always orders.

Garden Salad

Your menu makes $7,220 in gross profit a week. The middle item earns $18.00 each and sells 85 a week.

We split the chart at the median (middle value) of the items you entered, not an industry average. So half your items will always land on each side. We use the median because one big seller would pull the average so far that every other item looked the same. Cost means ingredient cost only. Labor and overhead are not included.

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How this screen works

How this works

For each item we subtract cost from price. That is the profit per item in dollars. We use dollars, not percent, because dollars pay the rent.
We find the middle value (the median) of profit per item, and the median of units sold per week. We split the chart at those two lines.
Items above both lines are Stars. High sales but low profit are Workhorses. High profit but low sales are Puzzles. Low on both are Dogs.
We use the median, not the average. One big seller would pull the average so far that every other item lands in one group.
An item priced below cost keeps its negative profit. Some owners do this on purpose to bring people in.

Common questions

What is a menu engineering matrix?: A chart that plots each menu item by profit per item and units sold. Split at the middle of each, it gives four groups: Stars, Workhorses, Puzzles and Dogs. Each group has a clear action: feature, reprice, promote or cut.
How many menu items do I need to enter?: At least six or seven. With three items the split means little. Your whole menu is best, but the top twenty sellers usually tell the same story.
What should I do with a workhorse (plowhorse) item?: Raise the price a little, or cut the cost a little. Never both at once, and never by much. Workhorses sell because of their price, so a big increase can push them into the Dog group.
Should I always remove the dogs from my menu?: No. Some have a job: a kids option, a vegan option, the dish a regular always orders. Cut the ones with no job. Keep the ones that bring a table in.
Should I use margin percent or profit in dollars?: Dollars. A 60% margin on a $4 coffee earns $2.40. A 30% margin on a $30 steak earns $9. This calculator uses profit in dollars per item.
Does menu engineering work for a salon or clinic?: Yes. Use treatments in place of dishes, and product plus chair time in place of food cost. The math is the same. Service businesses often have wider profit gaps between items, so the chart is often clearer.

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