Practical guides for restaurant and catering owners in Kuwait

Divide the cost of the ingredients in a dish by the price you sell it for, then multiply by 100. A dish that costs 1.5 KD in ingredients and sells for 5 KD is 30% food cost. Do this for every dish, not one average for the whole menu, and aim for roughly 25-35% on most items.

For most restaurants, 20 to 30 items is enough, and a cafe can work with fewer. Keep the number small and make dishes share the same ingredients. Fewer items means less stock, less waste, faster service and easier training. You can always add more later.

Aim for rent to be no more than 10-15% of your monthly sales. So if you expect 20,000 KD a month in sales, your rent should stay under about 2,000-3,000 KD. Work out your realistic monthly sales first, then decide the maximum rent you can sign for.

Because the recipes are in people's heads instead of on paper. Write a recipe card for every dish with exact weights, steps and a photo of the finished plate. Once the cooks follow the card, the food tastes the same no matter who is working that shift.

Add up the cost of one guest's food, then add the labour, transport, packaging, equipment and a little for waste. That gives you your cost per head. Add your profit on top, usually 25-35%. Finally, check the price still works if the guest count drops to the lowest number in the contract.