Drive-Thru Restaurant Break-Even: $347K Monthly Revenue Needed

Break-Even Metric Cards

Fixed costs $5.6K Recurring overhead base

Contribution margin 81% After variable spend

Break-even revenue $34.7K Monthly revenue target

Break-even timing Month 4 Base-case ramp

Break-Even Calculator

Break-even calculator

Use this calculator to test how monthly revenue, variable expenses, and fixed costs shape break-even for a drive-thru restaurant.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue drives the cash available to cover costs each month. $ Thin sales Peak sales Variable expenses Use the costs that rise with sales, like food, packaging, and sales-side fees. $ Light costs Heavy costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $48,600 $60,000 revenue - $11,400 variable expenses

Margin ratio

81%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly cost base your contribution margin has to cover. $ Low overhead High overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which drive-thru restaurant expenses are fixed, and which move with sales?

Cost classification

Break-even is more reliable when per-order spend is kept separate from recurring overhead. The big trap here is treating scheduled labor like it moves one-for-one with orders when most of the opening team is staffed before traffic is proven.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Rent	Fixed	Use the $5,000 monthly rent as recurring overhead that must be covered before profit.	Spreading rent across orders too early and hiding the true monthly hurdle.
Raw Ingredients	Variable	Model as a sales-linked spend, starting at 12.0% of revenue in the first year.	Treating food purchases as a flat monthly budget instead of order-driven spend.
Packaging Supplies	Variable	Include packaging in per-order margin, starting at 2.0% of revenue in the first year.	Leaving containers, bags, and service items out of contribution margin.
Online Platform Fees	Variable	Apply as a sales-linked fee, starting at 3.0% of revenue in the first year.	Using a fixed dollar estimate when fees rise with order volume.
Utilities	Semi-variable	Start with the $1,200 monthly utility line, then treat higher operating load as volume-sensitive.	Assuming the full utility bill stays flat as kitchen output grows.
Restaurant Manager	Semi-fixed	Include the $60,000 annual salary as scheduled overhead within the opening capacity plan.	Modeling manager pay as variable labor that disappears when sales are slow.
Kitchen Staff	Semi-fixed	Model staffing in capacity steps, from 2.0 FTE in the first year to 4.0 FTE by the fifth year.	Assuming kitchen labor flexes perfectly with each extra order.
Front of House Staff	Semi-fixed	Model coverage in staffing steps, from 2.0 FTE in the first year to 5.0 FTE by the fifth year.	Forgetting that service coverage is scheduled before exact traffic is known.

How does break-even change from a lean opening to the full-volume drive-thru case?

Scenario table

Higher traffic lifts revenue faster than fixed costs, so the lean case barely covers overhead while the base and full cases build real cushion. The key watch item is keeping variable costs near 19% in the first two cases and 14.5% in the full case.

Planning assumptions only; actual results will move with traffic, menu mix, staffing, and rent.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean drive-thru case	$347K	$66K	$281K	81%	$0	It is right at break-even, so any slip in traffic or mix turns negative.
Base Year 1 case	$523K	$99K	$281K	81%	$143K	It clears fixed costs by about $143K a month, so there is room for slow weeks.
Full Year 5 case	$1.27M	$184K	$487K	85.5%	$601K	It has a wide cushion, but only if staffing and costs stay tied to volume.

What pressures push this drive-thru restaurant below break-even?

Stress test

The base case clears break-even with room, but it gets fragile fast if car counts fall, overhead rises, or margins slip. A 35% traffic drop or stacked cost pressure can push the restaurant into loss.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$347,000	$176,000 cushion	Healthy on paper, but traffic and waste still matter.
Revenue shortfall	Sales fall 20% from the base case.	$347,000	$72,000 cushion	Still above break-even, but the buffer shrinks fast.
Fixed costs up	Fixed expenses rise 10% across rent and overhead.	$382,000	$141,000 cushion	Higher overhead cuts room for error and delays profit.
Margin pressure	Variable expenses rise from 19% to 24% of sales.	$370,000	$153,000 cushion	Food waste, overtime, and promo drift squeeze margin.
Combined pressure	Sales fall 20%, variable expenses rise to 24%, and fixed costs rise 10%.	$418,000	$1,000 cushion	One more miss would flip the plan into loss.

Can this drive-thru site clear break-even before you sign the lease?

Founder checklist

Move ahead only if the site can support break-even traffic, tight labor, and enough cash to get through launch. The model needs at least 60 cars a day at break-even and closer to 91 cars a day for the Year 1 base case, so test that before you sign.

1Traffic Proof60/day

Verify this site can pull at least 60 cars a day on average, because that is the minimum traffic level that makes break-even believable before you lock the lease.

2Fixed Load$7.73K/mo

Keep non-labor fixed costs near the $7.73K monthly plan, with rent around $5K, so overhead does not outrun early sales.

3Unit Margin81% CM

Hold raw ingredients at 12% of sales and packaging at 2%, and keep other variable fees tight so the 81% contribution margin stays intact.

4Peak Labor6 FTE

Build the rush plan around one manager, one chef, two kitchen FTE, and two front-of-house FTE, because the line has to clear at peak hour without a labor blowout.

5Cash Reserve$770K

Make sure launch cash covers the Month 2 low point and the $210K buildout for equipment, signage, the ordering system, and leasehold work, because breakeven lands in Month 4.

6Launch SpeedMonth 4

Pressure test lane stacking, menu speed, payment flow, and the pickup window now, because the model reaches breakeven in Month 4 and still needs about 91 cars a day in the Year 1 base case.