What GP Percentage Should a UK Restaurant Aim For?

If you run a UK restaurant and you are not sure what gross profit you should be making, you are not alone — and it is the single number most likely to be quietly sinking your business. Here is the straight answer, the benchmarks, and a way to check any dish on your menu in about 30 seconds.

The short answer

Most UK restaurants aim for 65–72% gross profit on food and 75–80% on drinks. A blended target of around 70% across the whole menu is the line most healthy independents hold.

Gross profit (GP) is what is left of a dish's selling price after you take out the cost of the ingredients — calculated on the ex-VAT price, because the VAT was never yours to keep. If a main sells for £18 (ex-VAT £15) and the ingredients cost £4.50, your GP is (15 − 4.50) ÷ 15 = 70%.

Why those numbers, and not higher

It is tempting to think "why not aim for 80% on everything?" The reason is that GP is only half the equation. Your gross profit has to cover everything below the line: labour, rent, energy, business rates, breakages, marketing and your own wage. In a typical UK independent:

• ~30% goes to food/drink cost (that is the 70% GP)
• ~30% goes to labour
• ~25% goes to rent, rates, energy and overheads
• ~5–10% is left as net profit, if you are running tight

Push GP too low and there is simply nothing left at the bottom. That is why a menu averaging 60% GP can be busy every night and still lose money.

Why GP slips without you noticing

Three things erode GP silently:

1. Supplier price creep. The salmon that cost £10/kg last spring is £13/kg now. Your menu price never moved, so your GP quietly fell from 72% to 64%.
2. Portion drift. A chef who plates "a bit more to be generous" can knock five points off a dish's GP without anyone deciding to.
3. Wastage. Trim, spoilage and over-prep are a real cost. Most kitchens run 5–15% and never build it into the price.

The fix is not to panic-raise every price. It is to re-cost your top sellers every quarter and adjust the handful that have drifted.

Check any dish in 30 seconds

We built a free dish GP calculator that does exactly this. Enter a recipe's ingredients and it shows your cost per portion, your food cost %, and the price you would need to charge to hit your target GP — with VAT handled for you.

Run your three best-selling dishes through it. If any are under your target, you have just found money you were leaving on the table.

When the menu is right but the tables are empty

Pricing is only half the job. A dish costed perfectly at 72% GP still makes you nothing if nobody is walking through the door. That is the other side of what we do — restaurant social media management, photography and Meta ads that fill more tables so your good margins actually get used.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your numbers and your marketing, book a free 20-minute call. We will look at both.