Street Food Restaurant Break-Even Analysis: $379K/Month

Fixed costs $30.9K Monthly overhead base

Contribution margin 81.5% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $37.9K Monthly revenue target

Break-even timing Month 4 Model reaches break-even

Break-even calculator

Compare monthly sales, direct costs, and overhead to see when the restaurant covers its fixed costs.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Sales set the pool that pays variable and fixed costs. $ Lower sales Higher sales Variable expenses Food, packaging, delivery fees, and promotions rise with sales. $ Lower costs Higher costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $101,867 $121,680 revenue - $19,813 variable expenses

Margin ratio

84%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs This is the monthly cost base the restaurant must cover. $ Lower overhead Higher overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

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

Cost classification

Break-even is reliable only when fixed overhead stays separate from sales-linked costs. In the first operating year, rent and core leadership payroll sit in the base, while food, packaging, delivery fees, and promotions reduce contribution margin.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Rent	Fixed	Include $5,000 in monthly overhead from Month 1 through Month 60.	Treating rent as lower on slow weekdays.
Utilities	Semi-variable	Start with the $1,200 monthly base, then review usage as covers rise.	Modeling the full bill as fixed forever.
Food Ingredients	Variable	Apply 10.0% of first-year revenue, falling to 8.0% by Year 5.	Burying ingredients in overhead instead of margin.
Packaging Supplies	Variable	Apply 1.5% of first-year revenue, falling to 1.0% by Year 5.	Ignoring takeout packaging in order economics.
Delivery Platform Fees	Variable	Apply 4.0% of first-year revenue, falling to 3.0% by Year 5.	Applying fees to every sale without checking channel mix.
Marketing & Promotions	Variable	Model as sales-linked at 3.0% in Year 1, then 2.0% by Year 5.	Locking launch promotions into fixed overhead.
Restaurant Manager and Head Chef	Fixed	Include recurring leadership payroll based on one full-time manager and one full-time head chef.	Scaling core managers directly with each order.
Line Cooks, Front of House Staff, and Dishwashers	Semi-fixed	Add labor in staffing blocks as covers grow across the forecast.	Assuming labor rises smoothly with each check.

How do lean, base, and full street food cases change break-even pressure?

Scenario table

The lean case stays under water, but the base and full cases clear break-even because contribution stays near 82% while fixed costs hold at about $309k a month. So traffic and ticket mix do most of the work.

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

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean weekday-heavy case	$300k	$55k	$309k	82%	-$64k	This stays below break-even, so volume still needs to climb.
Base mixed-week case	$543k	$100k	$309k	82%	$134k	This clears the roughly $379k break-even line.
Full high-volume case	$1,050k	$194k	$309k	82%	$547k	This has a wide cushion, but execution must hold.

What breaks this street food restaurant break-even plan first?

Stress test

The plan still clears break-even at base, but sales softness is the first crack: a 10% miss leaves a thinner cushion, and a 20% miss cuts profit to about $46k. Watch weekday covers below 40, waste, overtime, and delivery-heavy sales.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$379k	$164k cushion	Base plan clears break-even, but the cushion is not huge.
Revenue shortfall	Sales fall 10% from the base case.	$379k	$110k cushion	Profit still holds, but the cushion shrinks fast.
Fixed-cost pressure	Annual overhead rises by $50k.	$440k	$103k cushion	Higher overhead pushes the break-even line up quickly.
Margin pressure	Variable expense ratio rises 5 points to 23.5%.	$405k	$138k cushion	Food, fees, or promo drag cuts profit to about $106k.
Combined pressure	Sales fall 20%, variable expense ratio rises to 23.5%, and overhead reaches $359k.	$469k	$35k gap	This turns the plan into an about $27k annual loss.

What should you verify before committing to this street food restaurant lease and buildout?

Founder checklist

Don’t sign the lease or order the kitchen until demand, menu pricing, staffing, and cash all hold up against the break-even model. The opening plan needs at least 43 orders a day at the site, about 61 orders a day in Year 1, and enough cash to survive the Month 2 trough before Month 4 break-even.

1Demand Floor43/day

Verify the site can clear at least 43 orders a day, or the opening volume will not support the fixed cost load.

2Launch Pace61/day

Check that Year 1 demand can average about 61 orders a day, since that is the modeled pace behind break-even.

3Fixed Load$8.1K/mo

Lock the non-labor fixed bill near $8.1K a month so rent, utilities, software, cleaning, admin, and repairs stay inside plan.

4Unit Margin81.5% CM

Hold menu pricing near $25 midweek and $35 on weekends while direct costs stay at 18.5% of sales before labor.

5Staff Ramp$22.8K/mo

Keep Year 1 payroll near $22.8K a month and avoid hiring ahead of prep and serving capacity, or break-even slips.

6Cash Runway$767K / M2

Make sure the cash plan can absorb $183K of startup spend and still cover the $767K minimum cash trough in Month 2 before Month 4 break-even.