A dish is not priced by multiplying its ingredients by a fixed number. The figure on the menu reflects what the kitchen can produce reliably and how the item sits alongside everything else.
The starting point is a cost ratio
Kitchens calculate the cost of every ingredient in a portion, including trimmings and the proportion of a larger item the dish consumes.
That figure is then multiplied to a target ratio, so ingredients account for a defined share of the selling price and the remainder covers everything else.
The ratio is a starting point rather than an answer, because it takes no account of how long a dish occupies a cook or how much of it is wasted.
Labour and waste distort the calculation
A slow-cooked dish may use cheap raw material yet occupy oven space and attention for hours, and that time is a real cost the ingredient price does not show.
Items prepared to order from perishable components carry a waste allowance, since anything unsold at the end of service is a loss.
Dishes that share preparation with others are cheaper to offer than their ingredients suggest, which is why menus reuse components across several items.
Prices are read in comparison
Customers rarely evaluate a price in isolation; they compare it against the other options on the page.
An expensive item placed at the top of a section makes the ones beneath it appear reasonable, and it will sell in small numbers regardless.
Removing the cheapest item usually shifts orders upward rather than driving customers away, because most people avoid the bottom of a range.
Layout influences what gets ordered
Sections are kept short because a long list pushes readers towards familiar choices, while a limited set encourages them to consider each option.
Boxes, spacing and position draw attention to dishes the kitchen wants to sell, typically those with the best margin or the smoothest preparation.
Formatting choices such as dropping currency symbols and aligned columns reduce how much the reader is prompted to compare on price alone.
Beverages carry the rest
Drinks require little preparation and keep well, so their margins are consistently better than those on food.
Many restaurants price food close to what the market will bear and rely on drinks to make the overall economics work.
This is why a venue may seem relaxed about a table lingering over food but attentive about whether glasses are empty.