For Restaurants

How PlateCost helps restaurants manage food costs and optimize purchasing

PlateCost gives restaurants complete visibility into food costs — from invoice to plate — without requiring a POS integration or changing your workflow.

The problem

Most restaurants don't know their true food cost until it's too late. Invoices pile up, prices change without notice, and recipe costs drift upward silently. By the time you see it in your P&L, the damage is done.

How PlateCost solves it

Invoice Intelligence

Upload any invoice and get instant line-item extraction. See exactly what you're paying for every ingredient, from every vendor, over time.

Recipe Costing

Build recipes with real-time pricing from your actual invoices. Know your plate cost before you set your menu price.

Price Alerts

Get notified when item prices spike. Catch price increases the day they happen, not weeks later.

Vendor Comparison

Compare the same items across multiple distributors. See who's giving you the best price on every product.

Key features

Automated invoice processing

Upload invoices in any format — PDF, photo, email — and PlateCost's AI extracts every line item automatically. No manual data entry. No spreadsheets.

Supported vendors include:

  • US Foods
  • Sysco
  • Gordon Food Service
  • Ben E. Keith
  • Performance Food Group
  • Any regional or local distributor

Real-time cost tracking

Your dashboard updates in real time as new invoices are processed. Track:

  • Category spend — proteins, produce, dairy, dry goods, beverages, supplies
  • Item-level trends — see how individual ingredient prices change week over week
  • Vendor-level analysis — understand your total spend and pricing by distributor

Recipe and plate costing

Build your menu in PlateCost and link ingredients to invoice line items. As prices change, your recipe costs update automatically.

  • Create recipes with exact quantities and units
  • See theoretical vs. actual food cost
  • Model menu price changes and their impact on margins

Getting started

  1. Sign up (opens in a new tab) or book a demo (opens in a new tab)
  2. Upload your first invoice — it takes 30 seconds
  3. Start building recipes with real pricing data

No contracts. No POS integration required. Setup takes under 15 minutes.