Menu Pricing: How an LA Restaurant Balances Low Prices With Profits | Eater

"Owner-chef Uyên Lê runs a takeout-focused neighborhood restaurant built on three pillars—good food, good jobs and affordability—and is willing to subsidize a deeply personal family recipe: the caramelized pork with eggs (thit heo kho). That dish is prepared by hard-boiling eggs, placing them under a center-cut pork belly in a large pot so they stay submerged, and simmering the braising liquid (seasoned with fish sauce, Coco Rico coconut soda, caramel and annatto seed oil) uncovered for over four hours until it reduces to a thick, glossy sauce served over rice with scallions and pickled mustard greens. Lê insists on higher-cost ingredients—center-cut belly for a specific mouthfeel and liberal use of premium Red Boat fish sauce and annatto oil—which add significantly to per-plate food cost; at a $10.50 menu price the dish costs the restaurant $13.51 to produce, a $3.01 loss and a food-cost percentage around 43.7%. Those choices sit alongside a business model that pays staff a $18/hour starting wage (above local minimums), resulting in payroll near 50% of revenue and fixed costs around 35%—both higher than typical industry benchmarks—so she’s seeking efficiency gains, selective price increases, or sliding-scale options (and eventual EBT acceptance) to preserve affordability while keeping the restaurant sustainable. The dish functions less as a loss leader and more as a cultural ambassador and “hug for the stomach,” which is why she continues to offer it despite the negative unit economics." - Corey Mintz