With dozens of items across appetizers, entrées, and desserts, one food cost percentage can stay flat while the mix underneath it shifts significantly. Category-level COGS — protein, produce, dairy, beverage — shows the movement the average absorbs.
Beverage margin is usually stronger than food margin, which means a good bar week can cover a weak kitchen week without anyone noticing. Reporting beverage cost separately keeps each side honest and shows you which one to work on.
Front of house, back of house, servers, and support staff all move differently with volume. Seeing labor as part of prime cost, at the location where the scheduling happens, is what makes it something you can act on rather than review after the fact.
Casual dining leans on promotions and daypart traffic-building, and both change the cost picture. Comparable period reporting shows what a promotion did to margin, not just to covers — and Dex will tell you which category absorbed the difference.
