If you thought you bagged a bargain by skipping the $29 burgundy-braised short ribs and opting for the $18 baked ziti with mushrooms, marinara sauce and chicken, you'd be wrong. With food costs only accounting for about 18 per cent of the menu price, the pasta dish is where the restaurant is making the most profit. Believe it or not, the beef is actually the better deal, since it costs nearly half the menu price to source and prepare it.
If price alone isn't the best indicator of value on a menu, what criteria should we use to ensure the most bang for our buck? "Choose labour-intensive, time-consuming, complex dishes, that call for hard-to-find ingredients," suggests New York-based restaurant consultant, Clark Wolf. "If you can whip it up yourself in 20 minutes with stuff from your kitchen cupboard—do that," he says.
Restaurant foods that are ripping you off
