Menu Pricing
Prices are a strategy game inside the strategy game. Here is the math that keeps the lights on.
Five Iron Rules
Start at cost ×2.5
Margherita costs 4 — never price under 10. Below that, the busier you are, the more gracefully you lose money.
Match patience to cook time
Diavola's 45s bake pairs with 70s-patience customers. Hang slow pies on impatient ones and eat the bad reviews.
Subtract at rush hour
Friday peak: cut the menu from 10 to 5 volume sellers. Fewer choices = faster tickets = faster table turns.
Daily special rides the market
Put the highest-margin dish whose ingredients are cheapest today on special. Shrimp dips? Seafood goes up.
Raise prices quietly
Max +1 per change, two days apart. Jump +3 in one go and watch walk-outs happen in real time.
Rush-Hour Rotation
| Slot | Crowd | Menu call |
|---|---|---|
| Lunch 11:30-13:00 | office crowd, low patience, fast orders | 5 volume items: Margherita/Pepperoni/Hawaiian/Calzone + 1 special |
| Tea 15:00-16:30 | students, high patience, photo-happy | fine to hang Sweetheart for ratings |
| Dinner 18:00-20:00 | families, big tickets, medium patience | Quattro + Capricciosa return; keep the full menu if tables fill |
| Late night 22:00+ | night owls, scattered orders, delivery-heavy | Calzone takeout only |
“I raised Margherita from 12 to 13 — one dollar — and got three "price gouger" reviews that night. Put Pepperoni on special the next day and they all came back. A customer's heart is the sea.”
💡 Personal advice: don't date your bad reviews
Bad reviews are feedback, not gospel. Price-hike reviews sink in three days; underpricing bleeds you daily. You are here to run a business, not to be the town's cheapest charity.