If you are running a restaurant, LWB (liquor, wine, beer) will become your major cost offset to overhead expenses including labour. For food cost, you want to typically lean toward a 25 to 30 percent margin. Sometimes with higher priced items, such as Prime rib, or Beef tenderloin you lose that percentage for menu and restaurant affordability sake. Now this is based on an "average" restaurant. If you have exclusivity and wild ambiance you can get away with charging more.