To price your menu for takeout and delivery, add up every extra cost of the off-premise order (platform commission, packaging, and payment fees), then raise delivery-app prices by roughly 10-20% so your profit per order matches what you earn on a dine-in order. Takeout ordered directly from you needs far less of a markup, often just 0-5%, because you skip the commission.
Why dine-in prices fail off-premise
A burger that earns you $6.50 in profit at the table can earn $1.20 through a delivery app. The platform takes 15-30% of the order, packaging adds $0.60-$1.50 per order, and card fees still apply. Meanwhile food cost stays the same. If you copy your dine-in menu to a delivery platform without changes, you are paying for the privilege of serving the order.
Step 1: Know your true off-premise costs
Build a per-order cost stack. Use a typical $30 order as your test case.
| Cost | Dine-in | Direct takeout | Delivery app (25% plan) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food cost (30%) | $9.00 | $9.00 | $9.00 |
| Platform commission | $0.00 | $0.00 | $7.50 |
| Packaging | $0.00 | $0.90 | $1.10 |
| Card processing (~3%) | $0.90 | $0.90 | $0.90 |
| Total variable cost | $9.90 | $10.80 | $18.50 |
| Left to cover labor and overhead | $20.10 | $19.20 | $11.50 |
On the delivery app, you keep about $8.60 less per order before labor. That gap is what your markup must close.
Step 2: Calculate the markup you need
The simple formula: divide the dine-in price by (1 minus the commission rate minus the packaging percentage). For a 25% commission and 3.5% packaging, a $15.00 item becomes $15.00 / (1 - 0.25 - 0.035) = about $21.00 if you want to fully offset it. Few menus can bear a 40% jump, so most owners split the difference: raise prices 10-15%, shrink low-margin portions, and push high-margin items.
The free calculator on this page runs this for each of your platforms and shows the margin you keep at different markups.
Step 3: Choose a pricing approach
- Uniform markup. Add the same percentage to every item. It is easy to maintain and easy to explain.
- Selective markup. Raise the items with the thinnest margins and leave signature items near dine-in pricing. This keeps your best sellers competitive in search results.
- Delivery-only menu. Offer a trimmed list of items that travel well, such as bowls, sandwiches, and entrees that hold heat. Drop fries, fried seafood, and anything that arrives soggy. Fewer items also speed up your kitchen.
If you want to see which items deserve to stay, run a menu profitability analysis first and check contribution margin per menu item.
Takeaway: Price delivery-app items 10-20% above dine-in, keep direct takeout close to dine-in, and send as many customers as you can to your own ordering channel.
Step 4: Be transparent and avoid backlash
Guests compare prices. Some platforms restrict or forbid higher prices, so read your agreement. If you do mark up, a short line such as "Delivery prices reflect partner fees" on the listing reduces complaints. Offer a reason to order direct, like a free drink or a small discount, and the markup becomes a feature instead of a gripe. See How to Get Customers to Order Direct Instead of Using Delivery Apps for tactics.
Step 5: Fix the packaging side
Packaging is a hidden price lever. Standardize on three or four container sizes, buy in bulk, and add the cost into each recipe card so your real food cost percentage includes it. Consider a small packaging fee on direct orders only if your local guests tolerate it.
Step 6: Review quarterly
Commission rates, ingredient prices, and delivery promotions change. Pull your off-premise sales mix every quarter and compare the margin on each channel. A POS that reports sales by channel makes this a five-minute task. Cobblestone POS is free for independent restaurants, includes commission-free online ordering, and lets you set separate prices for each ordering channel, which beats paying a high monthly fee for the same reports elsewhere.
For the bigger picture on third-party apps, read How to Use Third-Party Delivery Apps Profitably.
A quick example
A taco plate costs $4.20 to make and sells for $14 dine-in. On a 25% plan with $1.10 packaging, you net $14 - $4.20 - $3.50 - $1.10 - $0.42 = $4.78 versus $9.38 at the table. Raising the delivery price to $16 adds back about $1.50 after commission, closing roughly a third of the gap, which is why markup, packaging savings, and direct ordering all need to work together.
Free Delivery Menu Pricing Calculator (Excel) - find the markup that protects your margin on each delivery platform.