Menu Engineering

Restaurant Menu Profitability Analysis

02

This project analyzes restaurant menu profitability through a complete analytical workflow, from data preparation to business-facing visualization.

Using Python (Pandas), both datasets were cleaned, validated, and merged into a single analytical dataset. During preparation, new business metrics were engineered — Unit Profit, Profit Margin, and Food Cost Percentage — allowing profitability to be evaluated beyond menu prices alone.

The processed dataset was imported into Tableau, where an interactive dashboard was developed to monitor restaurant performance through KPIs and visual analysis. The dashboard enables managers to compare menu categories, identify the most profitable items, evaluate food cost efficiency, and explore the relationship between price and profitability.

Skills & Tools

Python (Pandas), Tableau, Excel, Data Cleaning, Data Integration, Feature Engineering, Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), KPI Development, Dashboard Design, Business Analytics, Data Visualization

Analysis

Cleaning and validation of two independent restaurant datasets. Merging menu and cost information into a unified analytical dataset. Creation of business metrics including Unit Profit, Profit Margin, and Food Cost Percentage. Exploratory data analysis to identify profitability patterns. Category-level performance evaluation using profitability and cost indicators. Analysis of the relationship between sale price and unit profit. Interactive dashboard design in Tableau with KPIs and business-oriented visualizations.

Key insights
  • Main courses generate the highest average unit profit ($14.24), making them the strongest revenue contributors
  • Beverages achieve the highest average profit margin (86.84%) thanks to their relatively low production costs
  • Overall average food cost percentage is 26.91%, staying within a healthy range for restaurant operations
  • A strong positive relationship exists between menu price and unit profit, meaning higher-priced items generally drive greater profitability
  • Vegetable Stir-Fry and Chicken Alfredo are the top-performing menu items by average unit profit
  • Food cost varies significantly across categories, highlighting opportunities to optimize pricing and ingredient management for main courses
PythonTableauExcel
A profitable menu with an uneven cost structure: 73.09% average margin, $9.04 average unit profit and 26.91% average food cost — comfortably inside the industry's 30% ceiling, but that average hides real variation between categories.
A profitable menu with an uneven cost structure: 73.09% average margin, $9.04 average unit profit and 26.91% average food cost — comfortably inside the industry's 30% ceiling, but that average hides real variation between categories.
Three indicators read together: margin measures pricing discipline, unit profit measures dollars earned per item, and food cost measures the ingredient burden behind each sale.
Three indicators read together: margin measures pricing discipline, unit profit measures dollars earned per item, and food cost measures the ingredient burden behind each sale.
Price vs. unit profit: the relationship is positive and consistent, and the four categories occupy distinct bands — Main Course $15–30 at the top, Beverages $2–5 at the bottom.
Price vs. unit profit: the relationship is positive and consistent, and the four categories occupy distinct bands — Main Course $15–30 at the top, Beverages $2–5 at the bottom.
The ten most profitable items per unit: Vegetable Stir-Fry ($17.61) and Chicken Alfredo ($15.45) lead; six of the ten are Main Course or Desserts, and none are Beverages.
The ten most profitable items per unit: Vegetable Stir-Fry ($17.61) and Chicken Alfredo ($15.45) lead; six of the ten are Main Course or Desserts, and none are Beverages.
One table, three rankings: Beverages post the best margin (86.84%) but the smallest dollar profit ($3.07), while Main Course posts the weakest margin (60.85%) and the largest dollar profit ($14.24).
One table, three rankings: Beverages post the best margin (86.84%) but the smallest dollar profit ($3.07), while Main Course posts the weakest margin (60.85%) and the largest dollar profit ($14.24).
Ingredient cost ranges from 13% to 39% of price. Every 10-point gap in food cost is a 10-point gap in the margin available to reinvest, discount, or keep as profit.
Ingredient cost ranges from 13% to 39% of price. Every 10-point gap in food cost is a 10-point gap in the margin available to reinvest, discount, or keep as profit.
What the dashboard shows overall: disciplined pricing and portioning, Main Course as the most exposed category if ingredient prices rise, and Beverages as maximum margin with minimum dollar contribution.
What the dashboard shows overall: disciplined pricing and portioning, Main Course as the most exposed category if ingredient prices rise, and Beverages as maximum margin with minimum dollar contribution.
Six actions to increase profitability — promote the top-profit items, reduce Main Course food cost (39.15%), grow beverage sales, revisit underpriced items, monitor the three KPIs continuously, and extend the menu using the cost profile of current winners.
Six actions to increase profitability — promote the top-profit items, reduce Main Course food cost (39.15%), grow beverage sales, revisit underpriced items, monitor the three KPIs continuously, and extend the menu using the cost profile of current winners.
Next project
03Global Retail — Customer Segments & Revenue→