Break-even calculator · 100% free · no signup
Restaurant Break-Even Calculator
The number you need to hit before you make a dollar. Fixed costs ÷ contribution margin = break-even revenue. Run this before you sign the lease, not after you open and discover the math doesn’t work.
Why this matters
Break-even tells you if the concept works at all.
Most restaurants fail because the math never worked from day one. Owner falls in love with a space, signs a lease, builds out, opens — and only afterward calculates that they need 180 covers a day in a 60-seat dining room with 1.2 turns to break even.
Break-even is the cheapest insurance in the industry. Five minutes of math in a spreadsheet before signing the lease can save five years of grinding through a concept that was mathematically broken from the start.
Run break-even three ways: realistic (mid-case sales projection), optimistic (top-quartile covers), pessimistic (bottom-quartile covers). If pessimistic break-even isn't survivable, the concept is too fragile to launch.
After opening, break-even becomes the floor. Every month above is profit. Every month below means digging into reserves or owner cash. Track actual revenue against break-even weekly, not monthly — small adjustments to staffing or pricing in week 2 are easier than emergency cuts in month 6.
Real scenarios
Three concepts, three different break-even stories
Same formula, different fixes. The lever depends on which number is broken.
The 110-cover deficit
New casual concept, 80 seats. Fixed $48K/month, variable 65%. Average ticket $32. Owner thought $120K/month was achievable.
Break-even = $48K ÷ 0.35 = $137K/month. At $32 average ticket = 4,300 covers/month, ~143/day. Restaurant capacity at 1.5 turns × 80 seats × 30 days = 3,600 covers. Concept could not break even at full capacity.
Raised average ticket to $42 with stronger beverage program and entree repositioning. New break-even covers: 109/day. Achievable.
Break-even hit month 5. Profit by month 7. Lesson: model break-even before signing the lease, not after opening.
The 5-pp cost cut
Established casual diner, hitting break-even but not profit. Owner debated $30K kitchen renovation to attract more covers.
Math showed cutting variable cost from 64% to 59% (achievable through portion control + vendor switch) would lower break-even by $24K/month. Renovation was the wrong move — variable cost was the lever.
Skipped renovation. Implemented weekly food cost variance, switched 2 produce suppliers, retrained on portion scales.
Variable cost down to 60% in 8 weeks. $19K/month margin recovery without spending capital. Renovation moved to year 3.
The seasonal banker
Beach concept, 4 peak months at $250K/month, 8 off-season months at $80K/month. Annual revenue $1.64M. Owner stressed every November.
Break-even at $130K/month required peak season to over-deliver enough to cover off-season shortfall. Calculated annual break-even $1.56M — they cleared it but barely.
Raised peak season prices 8% (no measurable resistance). Added off-season catering. Built cash reserve in peak months specifically tagged for off-season.
Same business, much lower stress. Break-even cushion grew from 5% to 14% over two years.
FAQ
Common questions
01 What is break-even revenue for a restaurant?
Break-even revenue is the amount of sales you need to cover all costs — both fixed (rent, salaries, insurance, utilities) and variable (food cost, variable labor, paper goods). At break-even revenue, profit equals zero. Anything above is profit; anything below is loss.
02 What is the break-even formula?
Break-Even Revenue = Fixed Costs ÷ (1 − Variable Cost %). If your fixed costs are $40,000/month and variable costs run 60% of revenue, break-even = $40,000 ÷ (1 − 0.60) = $100,000 in monthly revenue.
03 What counts as a fixed cost?
Fixed costs do not change with sales volume. Rent, manager salaries, insurance, base utilities, internet, accounting, software subscriptions, loan payments, and depreciation. Hourly labor is variable, not fixed — staff scales with hours scheduled.
04 What counts as a variable cost?
Variable costs change with revenue. Food cost (roughly 28–32% of food sales for full-service), beverage cost (20–25%), hourly labor (15–25% depending on concept), paper goods, payment processing fees (~3%), and marketing tied to sales (delivery commissions). Add these as a percentage of revenue.
05 How do I calculate break-even covers per day?
Break-Even Covers = Break-Even Revenue ÷ Average Ticket. If you need $100,000/month in revenue and your average ticket is $35, you need 2,857 covers per month, or about 95 covers per day on a 30-day month. Use this to sanity-check whether your concept can support its rent.
06 My break-even covers seem impossible — what now?
Three levers, in order of speed: (1) raise average ticket through pricing, upsells, or beverage program, (2) cut variable cost % through portion control or vendor renegotiation, (3) cut fixed cost — usually means renegotiating rent or trimming a salaried position. The fastest is almost always raising average ticket; the hardest is cutting fixed cost.
07 How does break-even change with seasonality?
Break-even is the same every month, but achievable revenue isn't. Concepts with strong seasons (beach restaurants, ski-town bars) need to bank profit during peak months to cover off-season losses. Calculate annual break-even rather than monthly — and make sure peak-season margin is high enough to subsidize the slow months.
08 What is contribution margin?
Contribution margin is the percentage of each dollar of revenue that "contributes" to fixed costs and profit, after variable costs are paid. Formula: 1 − Variable Cost %. If variable costs are 60%, contribution margin is 40%. The higher the contribution margin, the lower the break-even revenue.
09 Does this calculator save my data?
No. Nothing is stored, transmitted, or tracked. The calculation runs entirely in your browser and disappears the moment you close the tab. No signup, no email, no account.