TableMetrics Menu performance analysis Menu Performance Analysis · USD 69
Wednesday lunch is costing you more than any dish on the menu
Nine months of POS data by item, daypart and day, and where the demand actually is.
You asked which items to cut. The item level answer is small: three dishes are weak and they are 4 percent of covers. The larger number is in the shape of the week, where you staff five services that between them lose money and two that carry the restaurant.
Weekday lunches run at 31 percent of capacity with full kitchen and front of house staffing. Across nine months that is about USD 4,100 a month of labour against USD 2,600 of contribution, and no menu change closes a gap that size.
Demand
The shape of the week
Capacity is 74. Saturday dinner is full and Wednesday lunch is at 16 covers with the same staffing. The two lines diverge on exactly the services where you could change something.
| Covers | Contribution | Labour | Net | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon lunch | 18 | USD 216 | USD 340 | -USD 124 |
| Tue lunch | 21 | USD 252 | USD 340 | -USD 88 |
| Wed lunch | 16 | USD 192 | USD 340 | -USD 148 |
| Thu lunch | 24 | USD 288 | USD 340 | -USD 52 |
| Fri lunch | 38 | USD 456 | USD 380 | +USD 76 |
| Sat lunch | 61 | USD 793 | USD 420 | +USD 373 |
| Sun lunch | 54 | USD 702 | USD 420 | +USD 282 |
| Weekday dinners | 34 avg | USD 578 | USD 460 | +USD 118 |
| Fri and Sat dinner | 71 avg | USD 1,491 | USD 540 | +USD 951 |
Four weekday lunch services lose money every week. They have done for nine months. Friday lunch breaks even and everything else is comfortably profitable.
Menu
The item level answer, which is smaller
| Item | Covers / mo | Contribution | Class | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confit duck | 214 | USD 14.10 | Star | Protect |
| Sea trout | 178 | USD 12.80 | Star | Protect |
| Gnocchi | 241 | USD 7.90 | Plow horse | Raise USD 1.50 |
| Beef shin | 156 | USD 11.40 | Solid | Keep |
| Hake | 61 | USD 9.20 | Puzzle | Reposition on the menu |
| Pork belly | 48 | USD 5.10 | Weak | Cut |
| Risotto | 39 | USD 4.80 | Weak | Cut |
| Lamb rump | 34 | USD 6.20 | Weak | Cut |
The three weak dishes are 121 covers a month between them, about 4 percent of the total. Cutting all three recovers roughly USD 380 a month, which is a quarter of what one weekday lunch service loses.
Options
Four things you could do about weekday lunch
Close Monday to Wednesday lunch
Recovers about USD 1,020 a month immediately. Costs three lunch services of visibility and may affect a small number of regulars who only come at lunch. The cleanest answer and the hardest to reverse.
Reduce the lunch staffing
Sixteen covers does not need the same kitchen brigade as 61. Recovers maybe USD 500 a month and keeps the doors open. Less decisive, much easier to try.
Change what weekday lunch is
A short set menu at a lower price point and lower labour. Turns the service into something else rather than a quiet version of dinner. Highest upside and most work.
Do nothing
Legitimate. USD 1,500 a month is the price of being open and visible six days, and some restaurants choose that knowingly. The point of this analysis is that it should be a choice.
- Before deciding
Check who the weekday lunch customers are
If a meaningful share also come at dinner, closing lunch may cost more than the table shows. Your POS has the card tokens to answer this and it was outside the scope of this analysis.
- Cheapest test
Try Option B for six weeks
Reduce Monday to Wednesday lunch staffing by one kitchen and one front of house. Measure covers, service complaints and the net. Reversible in a week.
- Same reprint
Cut the three weak dishes
Do this regardless. It is USD 380 a month and it shortens a menu that is currently 22 items.
- After six weeks
Decide between A and C
With six weeks of reduced-staffing data you will know whether the service can work at all, which is the question Option A and Option C both depend on.