DishCost
Wilmington, Delaware, United States
What it is
DishCost helps independent restaurants calculate recipe costs, track ingredient price changes, and identify dishes with weak margins. Recipe details include ingredient line costs, total and per-serving cost, food cost percentage, a suggested price, and profit per serving. When an ingredient price changes, the service recalculates every recipe and prep item that uses it, including dishes built from those prep items. Users can enter weekly order counts to categorize dishes as Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles, and Dogs. Bulk CSV import supports ingredients and prices, with a downloadable template. Pro adds CSV order-guide imports from Sysco, US Foods, BEK, or other vendors, plus PDF and CSV exports and email support. The product is designed for one kitchen at a single location. It does not include multi-location dashboards, live POS sync, inventory counts, invoice OCR, or per-recipe nutrition and allergen tagging in the app. Free tools have no time limit; the Pro plan costs $39 a month for one kitchen, with unlimited recipes and ingredients and no per-seat fees.
For and against
For
- Free tools have no time limit
- Ingredient price changes recalculate affected recipes
- Pro supports distributor order-guide CSV imports
- Pro includes PDF and CSV exports
Against
- Designed for one kitchen at one location
- No live POS sync or inventory counts
- No invoice OCR or in-app recipe tagging
The verdict
DishCost focuses on recipe costing and ingredient price changes for a single restaurant kitchen. Its free tools provide a no-time-limit starting point, while Pro adds imports, exports, and email support for $39 a month.
Who it suits
DishCost suits independent, single-location restaurants that want to cost recipes and track ingredient prices for one kitchen. It may be useful to teams that also want menu categories based on weekly order counts.
Plans and prices
Free tier
No time limit · free tools include recipe costing calculator and nutrition tools; account tier supports recipes, with most Pro features read-only
Read 28 Sep 2026 · dishcost.com
Pro
One kitchen · unlimited recipes and ingredients · no per-seat fees
Read 28 Sep 2026 · dishcost.com
On the record
- AI connector
- The AI connector can read approved recipes, ingredients, costs, and price history, but cannot create, edit, or delete records or manage billing.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Automatic recalculation
- Changing an ingredient price recalculates every recipe and prep item that uses it, including dishes that use that prep item.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- CSV import
- DishCost supports bulk CSV import of ingredients and prices, with a downloadable template.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Distributor imports
- Pro supports CSV order guide imports from Sysco, US Foods, BEK, or other vendors, with column mapping and price updates by SKU.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Exports and support
- Pro includes PDF and CSV export and email support.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Free access
- The free tier has no time limit, and the food cost calculator and other free tools can be used without an account.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Intended customers
- DishCost is built for independent, single-location restaurants and covers recipe costing for one kitchen.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Maker and location
- The contact page identifies Justin as founder and gives DishCost's address as Wilmington, Delaware, United States.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Menu engineering
- Users can add weekly order counts to categorize dishes as Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles, and Dogs.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Product limits
- DishCost does not include multi-location dashboards, live POS sync, inventory counts, invoice OCR, or in-app per-recipe nutrition and allergen tagging.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Purpose
- DishCost calculates food cost percentage for restaurant recipes, tracks ingredient price changes, and identifies dishes with weak margins.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Recipe costing
- Recipes show ingredient line costs, total and per-serving cost, food cost percentage, suggested price, and profit per serving.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Security and privacy
- DishCost says it uses access controls, encrypted network connections, scoped authorization, and account-bound queries, and does not sell personal or restaurant data.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
- Support
- The contact page lists [email protected] and says replies usually arrive within a few hours.dishcost.com · read 28 Sep 2026
