A restaurant produces more numbers than anyone can read. The trick is to pick a short list, look at it on the same day every week, and compare each number with the week before and the same week last year. Single days lie; trends do not.
Here are the key performance indicators (KPIs) most operators end up watching, grouped by the question each one answers.
Sales, and how they compare
Net sales is what you actually took after discounts and refunds. Look at it against the previous week and the same period last year, and split it by day and by hour: a weak Tuesday lunch and a weak Saturday dinner are different problems.
The payment mix belongs here too. How much is paid online, in cash and by card at the table affects fees, cash handling and how fast tables turn.
Average check
Average check is net sales divided by the number of checks, or by the number of guests if you track spend per head. It is the number that tells you whether guests are adding the starter, the second drink and the dessert.
It rises when options and add-ons are offered every time, when staff recommend with confidence and when the dishes worth ordering are the easiest to find. It falls quietly when discounts run longer than planned, so read it next to your promotions.
Covers and table turnover
Covers are guests served. Table turnover is how many times each table is used in a service, and average table time is how long a party stays. Together they show capacity: a full room with slow turns can earn less than a busy room that keeps moving.
Faster is not always better. A tasting menu should not turn like a lunch counter. The point is to know where the time goes, which leads to the next number.
Speed of service
Break service into stages and time each one: how long an order waits to be accepted, how long it takes to reach the kitchen, how long the kitchen takes, how long until it is served, and how long a guest waits for the bill. A single “average ticket time” hides where the delay is.
With table ordering, those timestamps come for free. TruePlate’s order analytics on Ultra shows each stage, from accepting the order to settling the bill, plus how quickly the team responds to waiter calls and bill requests.
Food cost percentage
Food cost percentage is the cost of the food you sold divided by food sales. The cost comes from inventory: opening stock, plus purchases, minus closing stock. A widely used rule of thumb puts it between 28 and 35 percent, but the right number depends on your concept, your prices and your portions.
Track your own trend first. A jump of two points in a month usually means a supplier price change, waste, or portions drifting, and each has a different fix.
Labor cost and prime cost
Labor cost percentage is total labor, including taxes and benefits, divided by sales. Prime cost adds it to the cost of food and drink, and it is the number many operators watch above all others, because it covers the two largest costs you can control week to week. A common target is to keep prime cost at or below roughly 60 to 65 percent of sales.
These figures come from your payroll, your inventory and your accounts rather than your menu, so agree on one definition and calculate it the same way every week.
Menu mix
Which dishes sell, and what each one earns, is where many of the biggest improvements hide. A popular dish with a thin margin and a profitable dish nobody orders call for opposite moves. Our menu engineering guide shows how to sort every dish by popularity and margin and what to do with each group.
Guest interest before the order
A digital menu adds a layer paper cannot: what guests looked at before they decided. Menu opens, dish views and AR sessions show where curiosity goes, and the gap between interest and orders is often more useful than either number alone.
TruePlate shows these on every plan, along with the questions guests put to the AI menu and the dishes they asked for that you do not serve yet, which is a free source of menu ideas.
Make it a ten-minute habit
- Pick the same day and time every week, before the week’s first service.
- Read the numbers in the same order, against last week and the same week last year.
- Choose one thing to change, not five.
- Share two or three numbers with the team, so everyone knows what good looks like.
- Check next week whether the change moved the number.
Questions restaurants ask
What are the most important KPIs for a restaurant?
Most operators start with net sales, average check, covers, food cost percentage, labor cost percentage and prime cost, then add speed of service and menu mix as they grow.
What is a good food cost percentage for a restaurant?
A common rule of thumb is 28 to 35 percent of food sales, but the right figure depends on your concept, prices and portions. Tracking your own trend over time matters more than the benchmark.
What is prime cost?
Prime cost is the cost of the food and drink you sold plus your total labor cost. Many operators aim to keep it at or below roughly 60 to 65 percent of sales.
How often should I review restaurant KPIs?
Glance at sales and service speed daily if you can, review the full set weekly, and look at costs and menu changes in more depth once a month.