Restaurant food cost percentage: what is normal in the Gulf?

By Denys Chernenko · Updated 20 October 2026

Food cost percentage is the cost of the food you used divided by the food you sold, in the same period. Published guidance puts most full-service restaurants between roughly 28 and 35 percent. Gulf restaurants often sit higher, for reasons that are partly structural and partly fixable. Here is how to calculate yours, what moves it, and how to know what your own right number is.

The formula, done properly

Food cost percentage = cost of food used ÷ food sales × 100. Cost of food used is opening stock plus purchases minus closing stock. It is not what you bought this month. Without a real stock count at both ends of the period, you are measuring deliveries, not usage, and the number can be wrong by several points in either direction.

Use food sales, not total sales, and keep beverage separate: it runs at a different percentage and hides food cost when the two are combined. Use net sales, after discounts and comps.

What published guidance says

Restaurant software vendors and trade bodies publish broadly similar ranges: around 28 to 35 percent for full-service restaurants, lower for quick-service and pizza, higher for steakhouses and seafood. These are averages from markets outside the Gulf, and they are a starting point, not a target. Your target comes from your own menu's theoretical cost, which is covered below.

Why Gulf restaurants often run higher

Imported ingredients. A large share of what Gulf kitchens cook with is imported, with freight, customs and distributor margins on top. Proteins, dairy and fresh produce out of season can cost noticeably more than the same items in the brand's home market, which is why international franchise units in the Gulf often miss the franchisor's food cost target in year one.

Generous portions. Gulf guests expect abundance, and many concepts are built around sharing. That is a legitimate choice, but it has to be priced. A portion 20 percent over spec on the three best-selling dishes can add two points to food cost on its own.

Delivery discounting. Platform promotions reduce the sales side of the ratio without reducing the cost side. Food cost on a discounted delivery order can be ten points higher than on the same dish in the dining room.

Waste and spoilage. Heat, long supply chains and over-ordering for Ramadan and weekend peaks mean more spoilage than in cooler markets. If nobody counts it, it shows up as unexplained food cost.

Staff meals and hospitality. Large teams, often housed and fed, plus the generous hospitality that owners extend to guests. Both are proper costs; both should be recorded, not left inside food cost.

Finding your own right number: theoretical food cost

Cost every dish from current supplier prices and the recipe as actually plated. Multiply each dish's cost by the number sold in the period, add them up, and divide by food sales. That is your theoretical food cost: what the number would be if nothing were wasted, over-portioned or stolen. The gap between theoretical and actual is where the money is. In most restaurants it is three to six points; above that, something specific is wrong.

A worked example

This is an illustrative example with round numbers, not a client result.

A casual dining room in Dubai has monthly food sales of AED 600,000. Opening stock AED 85,000, purchases AED 220,000, closing stock AED 80,000: food used is AED 225,000, so actual food cost is 37.5 percent. The theoretical cost, from the recipes and the sales mix, is 31 percent. The 6.5-point gap is worth AED 39,000 a month.

The teardown finds three causes: the two best-selling grills are plated 25 percent over spec; delivery orders, a third of sales, run on a standing 20 percent promotion; and there is no closing count on the walk-in, so spoilage is invisible. Portion cards, a repriced delivery menu and a Sunday count close four of the six points within a quarter.

What to do this week

Count stock at the close on the same day each week. Cost your ten best-selling dishes from current invoices. Compare your weekly actual food cost to the theoretical figure. If the gap is above five points, the food and labour cost control page describes how the full teardown works, and how to reduce food cost lists the fixes in order.

Common questions

What is a good food cost percentage for a café in Saudi Arabia?

It depends on the menu. A coffee-led café with pastries can run well below 30 percent because beverages carry high margins; a café with a full food menu will sit closer to the full-service range. Calculate the theoretical cost of your own menu and compare.

Should food cost include packaging for delivery?

Keep packaging as its own line, so you can see delivery profit clearly. It belongs in cost of sales, but mixing it into food cost hides both problems.

How often should food cost be calculated?

Weekly. A monthly figure tells you what went wrong three weeks ago. A weekly figure tells you what to fix on Monday.

Ranges cited are published guidance from restaurant software vendors (Toast, Restaurant365, TouchBistro), accessed October 2026, and are not Gulf-specific surveys. Your own menu's theoretical cost is the number to manage against.

Wondering what help like this costs? See how much restaurant consultants charge and which model fits your situation.

Related service: Food and labour cost control → · Free P&L calculator →