Restaurant cost agency
A working chef puts your real plate costs, menu mix, labor, waste, and yield under pressure—then rebuilds the numbers behind every service.
No purveyor commissions. No mystery percentages. Your numbers stay yours.
One dish. Every cost.
The uncomfortable number comes first. The practical fix follows.
What to expect
Diagnosis uses actual invoices, recipes, POS mix, labor, waste, and yield—not industry-average theater.
Nothing goes public without signed permission. Sensitive details can be anonymized when disclosure would do harm.
Prime Cost never takes purveyor commissions. Recommendations answer to your margin, not a distributor's sales target.
20 years
of line-level judgment behind the spreadsheet
5 lenses
plate cost, menu mix, labor, waste, and yield
0 kickbacks
from purveyors, distributors, or vendors
The work
We reconcile recipes and invoices, read the POS mix, trace prep loss, test yields, and calculate labor per cover. You leave knowing which dishes earn their place and which habits are eating the room alive.
The diagnosis may become content—with permission. The paid rebuild stays focused on your team, your guests, and execution during service.
Monthly review catches vendor changes, recipe creep, and mix shifts before two quarters of margin disappear. Multi-unit groups get one method across every room.
Put one week of waste to work
For owner-operators, first-time openings, and small groups ready to make every plate carry its weight.