Menu Engineering Tool: Find Your Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles and Dogs
A menu engineering tool sorts each dish by two questions: does it sell well, and does it earn a good contribution? Enter sales, price and cost for each dish and the tool labels it Star, Plowhorse, Puzzle or Dog within its category, with a suggested first step for each.
How to read your result
- Star: popular and profitable. Protect its quality and feature it.
- Plowhorse: popular but thin margin. Try trimming cost or a small price rise.
- Puzzle: good margin but slow sales. Try repositioning or promoting it.
- Dog: neither popular nor profitable. Review whether it earns its place on the menu.
- Dishes are compared inside their own category. The popularity rule counts a dish as popular when its sales share is at or above 70% of an even split of the category; you can change that figure.
Download the matching form
The Kitchen Control Workbook has a Menu Mix tab with the same logic, for keeping a month-by-month record.
Related reading
- All kitchen management tools
- Printable kitchen forms and Excel worksheets
- Mastering Restaurant Food Costing: A Comprehensive Guide to Profitability
- The Chef’s Guide to Conquering the Forty Thieves of Food Cost
Frequently asked questions
How many dishes should I enter?
Enter every dish you sell in a category, using a recent period such as a month. Leave out items with very few sales only if they are seasonal or new.
Should I remove every Dog?
Not automatically. A Dog may be there for a reason, such as a dish that draws guests with dietary needs. Check its role first, then decide whether to fix it, reprice it or drop it.
Why compare within categories?
A starter and a main have different price and sales patterns. Comparing inside each category is fairer than ranking the whole menu in one list.
How to use this tool
- Choose your currency, then list each dish with its category.
- Enter portions sold, selling price and cost per portion for the same period.
- Check the popularity rule. Keep the default until you have used the tool a few times.
- Read the pattern tag next to each dish and hover over it for the suggested first step.
- Change one thing at a time, such as a price or a portion, and re-check after a month of sales.
- Download the CSV to keep a record.
