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Restaurant Intelligence

Use menu engineering, daypart analysis, cost variance, table performance, and kitchen efficiency reports to optimize your menu and operations.

Common Tasks

How to View the Menu Engineering Matrix (Menu Engineering, Star/Plowhorse)

See how menu items are classified by popularity and profitability (Star, Plowhorse, Puzzle, Dog, New Item).

  1. Go to Restaurant → Intelligence in the left sidebar
  2. Open the Menu Engineering or Menu Engineering Matrix section
  3. Select the date range (e.g. last 30 days)
  4. Review the matrix: STAR (high popularity, high profit), PLOWHORSE (high popularity, low profit), PUZZLE (low popularity, high profit), DOG (low popularity, low profit), NEW_ITEM (insufficient data)
  5. Review Summary (counts per class) and Category Breakdown
  6. Use the Recommendation per item for pricing or promotion decisions

Result: You see which items to promote, reprice, or consider removing. Stars are your best items; plowhorses may need a price increase or cost reduction.

Menu Engineering

Stars: promote. Plowhorses: consider raising price or reducing cost. Puzzles: promote to increase volume. Dogs: consider removing or reworking.

How to View Daypart Analysis (Revenue by Time, Top Items by Daypart)

See revenue and order counts by time of day and top-selling items per daypart.

  1. Go to Restaurant → Intelligence
  2. Open the Daypart Analysis section
  3. Select the date range
  4. Review Daypart, Hour Range, Revenue, Order Count, Avg Ticket Value, and Revenue Share
  5. Review Top Items per daypart (units sold, revenue)

Result: You see when you make the most revenue and which items sell best in each period. Use this for staffing and menu placement.

How to View Cost Variance Report (Theoretical vs Actual Cost)

Compare theoretical (recipe) cost to actual cost by menu item and see price recommendations.

  1. Go to Restaurant → Intelligence
  2. Open the Cost Variance or Cost Variance Report section
  3. Select the date range
  4. Review Summary: avg actual food cost %, avg target %, total cost variance, items above/below target, potential savings
  5. Review per-item: Theoretical Cost, Actual Cost, Cost Variance, Actual Food Cost %, Target Food Cost %, Price Recommendation

Result: You see where actual cost exceeds theoretical (e.g. waste, portioning) and where to adjust prices or recipes.

How to View Table Performance (Table Turns, Revenue per Seat)

See sessions, revenue, turns, and utilization per table.

  1. Go to Restaurant → Intelligence
  2. Open the Table Performance or Table Performance Report section
  3. Select the date range
  4. Review Summary: total tables, total seats, avg turns per day, avg revenue per seat hour, top performing table, underutilized tables
  5. Review per table: Total Sessions, Total Guests, Total Revenue, Avg Session Duration, Table Turns Per Day, Revenue Per Seat Hour, Utilization Rate

Result: You see which tables perform best and which are underutilized. Use this for layout and reservation decisions.

How to View Kitchen Efficiency (Station Efficiency, Prep Time)

See items completed, void rate, prep time vs target, and bottleneck hours per station.

  1. Go to Restaurant → Intelligence
  2. Open the Kitchen Efficiency or Kitchen Efficiency Report section
  3. Select the date range
  4. Review Summary: total items completed, total voided, void rate, avg prep time, bottleneck station, overall efficiency
  5. Review per station: Items Completed, Items Voided, Avg Prep Time, Target Prep Time, Prep Time Variance, Bottleneck Hours, Efficiency Score

Result: You see where kitchen bottlenecks are and how prep time compares to target. Use this for staffing and station layout.

How to Use the Restaurant Intelligence Dashboard (Summary, Alerts)

View the daily summary and alerts for revenue, orders, food cost, menu engineering, and operations.

  1. Go to Restaurant → Intelligence
  2. View the Summary or dashboard: Revenue (total, food, beverage, modifiers, vs yesterday/week), Orders (total, avg ticket, dine-in, takeaway, delivery, aggregator), Food Cost (percent, target, variance), Menu Engineering (counts: stars, plowhorses, puzzles, dogs), Operations (peak hour, avg table turn time, table turns)
  3. Review Alerts (type, message, severity) for issues that need attention

Result: You have a single view of key metrics and alerts to act on.

Key Concepts

  • Menu engineering classes: STAR (high popularity, high profit), PLOWHORSE (high popularity, low profit), PUZZLE (low popularity, high profit), DOG (low popularity, low profit), NEW_ITEM (not enough data).
  • Daypart: A time band (e.g. breakfast, lunch, dinner) used to analyze revenue and top items.
  • Cost variance: Difference between theoretical (recipe-based) cost and actual cost; helps identify waste or portion issues.

Related: Restaurant POS and Kitchen (KDS), Recipes, Floor and Table Management.

Troubleshooting

Menu engineering shows many "New Item"

New Item means insufficient sales data (e.g. last 30 days). Wait for more orders or extend the date range to get a classification.

Cost variance missing for some items

Ensure menu items are linked to recipes and recipe cost is complete (all ingredients with conversion). See Recipes.

Table performance or kitchen efficiency empty

Data comes from completed orders and table sessions. Ensure orders are completed and linked to tables where applicable.