Restaurant Operations
Practical guides to inventory, prep, food cost, and payment fees, with free tools for the day-to-day work of running a restaurant.
Free Tools
Restaurant Food Waste Calculator
Log one week of waste and project the monthly and annual cost.
Food Cost & Waste Calculator
Food cost percentage, waste, overstock, and shrinkage in one health score.
Inventory Spreadsheet Template
A free count sheet with par levels and usage built in.
Guides & Research
Restaurant Inventory Software by POS Integration
The best restaurant inventory software for each POS — Toast, Square, Lightspeed, and Clover — and why POS integration is the smartest first filter when choosing a tool.
Restaurant Credit Card Processing Fees in 2026: What You're Actually Paying
What restaurants actually pay to accept cards in 2026 — verified published rates, why the fee on a $100 dinner is really 3.3–4% once tips and tax are charged, the statement junk fees that quietly raise your rate, what the June 2026 Visa/Mastercard settlement changes, and the surcharge rules most guides get wrong. Every vendor figure read from the vendor's own page and dated.
Dual Pricing, Cash Discounts & Surcharges for Restaurants: The Real Math (2026)
Passing card fees to guests sounds like free money until you run the numbers on a tipped check. The three models compared — surcharge, cash discount, dual pricing — with worked math from vendor-verified rates, the card-network and state-law traps, the customer-backlash data, and a straight answer on which POS systems can actually run each program.
Why Restaurant Inventory Breaks: Real Operator Problems Behind Food Cost, Waste, and Weekly Counts
One mid-sized family restaurant switched from monthly to weekly inventory counts and learned why their numbers had been lying for years. A field report on the operator problems behind food cost, waste, and weekly counts.
Why Restaurants Should Stop Counting Inventory Once a Month
The walk-in can look full while food cost keeps climbing. A field note on why monthly counts arrive too late, and how a short weekly count of the items that move margin fastest changes the math.
The 45-Minute Prep List: How Restaurants Lose Money Before Service Even Starts
A field note on how restaurants lose money before service begins — through guesswork, over-prepping, missed long-prep items, and weak inventory routines.
How to Calculate Food Cost Percentage for a Restaurant
The food cost percentage formula, a worked example, healthy benchmarks, and practical ways to lower your food cost — plus a free calculator.