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menu-engineer

Optimizes menu pricing and layout using contribution-margin and popularity analysis.

364|53|Updated May 9, 2026
Search Tags:#profitability#food cost#contribution margin#menu engineering#restaurant pricing#upselling#menu layout
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/cosmicstack-labs/mercury-agent-skills --skill menu-engineer
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: menu-engineer
Source: https://github.com/cosmicstack-labs/mercury-agent-skills/tree/main/categories/shop-restaurant/menu-engineer
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/cosmicstack-labs/mercury-agent-skills --skill menu-engineer

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve?

Menu engineering helps you stop guessing by identifying which menu items actually drive profitability so you can optimize pricing, placement, and the item mix.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Menu profitability analysis: Classifies items into Stars, Plow Horses, Puzzles, and Dogs using contribution margin and popularity to reveal where profit is being won or lost.
  • Actionable pricing and layout recommendations: Produces specific suggestions for price changes, repositioning/renaming, removals, and bundling, plus guidance for menu placement (e.g., golden triangle).
  • Food-cost support: Helps you calculate plate costs (including waste) and uses elasticity-informed sensitivity analysis to estimate impact.

Quick Start

Share your last 4–12 weeks of item-level sales, each item’s plate cost (or ingredients so costs can be computed), and current prices, and ask for a full menu engineering report with quadrant-based recommendations.

Frequently Asked Questions about menu-engineer

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I optimize restaurant menu pricing and layout to maximize profitability?▼

Menu engineering maximizes restaurant profitability by analyzing item popularity and contribution margin to classify items into Star, Plow Horse, Puzzle, and Dog quadrants. This classification drives actionable recommendations for price adjustments, item removal, and strategic menu placement.

What data do I need to run a full menu engineering analysis?▼

A full menu engineering analysis requires 4 to 12 weeks of item-level sales data, per-plate food costs, current menu prices, and category groupings. If exact plate costs are unavailable, providing ingredient lists allows the tool to calculate costs including waste.

How does a Star Plow Horse Puzzle Dog matrix improve food cost management?▼

The Star Plow Horse Puzzle Dog matrix improves food cost management by categorizing items based on popularity and contribution margin. It reveals where profit is won or lost, enabling targeted strategies like promoting high-margin Puzzles or repositioning high-volume Plow Horses.

Can I calculate the projected impact of restaurant pricing changes before updating the menu?▼

You can calculate projected impact using elasticity-based sensitivity analysis. This estimates how customers will react to price adjustments, helping you forecast the financial outcome of menu layout and pricing actions before implementation.

What is the best way to identify which menu items are losing money on my restaurant menu?▼

The best way to identify money-losing items is calculating contribution margin and popularity for each dish. This process isolates low-margin or low-volume items classified as Dogs, indicating candidates for removal or recipe adjustment to stop profit leakage.

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