"A menu of only app-etizers."
But, if you whisk in a Kitchen and Business Manager; carefully fold in an AI agent, and you get...
Salamander Restaurant Costing.
Built by people who've worked the line, managed the books, and coded the backend. Not an app by someone who doesn't even know that a salamander is a broiler.
Most costing apps are built by developers who've never even washed a dish. They have to make assumptions. They have to guess at workflows. They think "86" is just a number. Salamander Restaurant Costing is not that app.
We didn't guess.
Salamander Restaurant Costing was born in a real kitchen, by someone who's done the math on a napkin at 11 PM on a Friday. Every feature comes from a real problem — the kind you only know if you've been there.
So, we made sure this recipe contained a Generous Amount of IT know-how, decades of Business Management and an AI agent that never forgets a food cost formula.
Salamander Restaurant Costing is a true Salamander. Salamanders:
- are 🦎 Regenerative — Salamander Restaurant Costing catches cost leaks before they bleed you dry
- are 🦎 Amphibious — Salamander Restaurant Costing works on the kitchen floor, in your bar, and in the office
- have 🦎 Keen eyesight — Salamander Restaurant Costing spots poor margins and similar problems before they hurt
- are 🦎 Resilient — Salamander Restaurant Costing scales with your business; and we're adding new useful features all the time
- are an 🦎 Indicator species — Salamander Restaurant Costing tells you the true health of your restaurant
Built For Restaurants,
Not Just Written About Them
Pricing For Early Adopters
Lock in launch pricing — for life. As we grow and add features, the price goes up.
Future Pricing
Why Salamander Restaurant Costing
The way software used to be — before everything became a subscription.
Buy It. Own It.
No subscription. No monthly fee. You buy it, you own it — just like the old days. Support and update services available separately.
Your Data. Your Server.
Runs on your own WordPress site. No datacenter scraping your recipes to train AI models or adjust prices against you.
Built With AI, Not By AI
AI was a tool in the build process, not the architect. Your data never leaves your server to train someone else's model.
Lock Down Your WP Admin
RC accounts keep users in Salamander Restaurant Costing only — they can't wander into your WordPress admin and break things. Non-IT friendly.
Inventory = Prep List
Your inventory doubles as your prep list. Printable and emailable — send it to the kitchen or your supplier in seconds.
Brand Your Docs
Add your restaurant logo to printed recipes, prep lists, and order sheets. Professional documentation that looks like you.
Built for Restaurants
From ingredient library to supplier order — inventory and prep-lists to full Profit & Loss data — one plugin replaces your costing spreadsheets, notebooks and napkins. "emailing vs printing options" built right in.
Ingredient Library
499 pre-loaded ingredients with cost, weight, package size, and full nutrition data. Add, edit, import, and export with ease.
Recipe Builder
Two-column layout with autocomplete ingredient search, live cost and nutrition per portion. Scale recipes and print with one click.
Costing & Margins
Real-time food cost %, gross margin, and prep labour cost per portion. Know your profitability before the plate hits the table.
Full Nutrition Data
15 nutrition fields per ingredient — calories, protein, fat, carbs, fiber, sodium, cholesterol, vitamins, minerals, and more.
Manage everything from one place
From building to utilizing; Restaurant Costing does as much to streamline your workflow and help you manage your Restaurant all in one place. New features planned to be added regularly. If you think a feature would benefit you, let us know!
Print & Order
Supplier-grouped print layouts, per-supplier email orders, prep lists, and recipe sheets. Low stock highlighting keeps you ahead.
Flexible User Access
Three built-in roles so everyone sees what they need.
Admin
Full control — settings, users, data deletion, backups. Everything.
Manager
View and edit ingredients, recipes, inventory. Run reports and print orders.
User
Read-only access to recipes and ingredients. Limited inventory entry.
⚙️ Settings You'll Actually Use
- Restaurant info & logo via WP Media Library
- Light / Dark theme toggle
- Hide nutrition globally
- Manage Areas, Menu Types, Users — all from one Settings page
- Demo mode for testing (50 ingredient / 10 recipe cap)
🔒 Security Built In
- Three-tier capability-based permissions
- All handlers wrapped in try/catch error handling
- Role self-escalation prevention
- Strict type checking throughout
- Defense-in-depth across all admin pages
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything Salamander Restaurant Costing Does
From ingredient entry to supplier orders — one plugin does it all.
Ingredients
✓ Filter by product type or supplier ✓ Sub-recipes added as ingredients for entree building ✓ Categorize by item type (Dairy, Dry Goods, Seafood, etc.) ✓ Categorize by supplier ✓ Categorize by storage area ✓ Auto price-per calculations ✓ Set minimum stock levels for inventory alertsRecipes
✓ Sort and filter by menu item category ✓ Enter scaled recipes and calculate by portion ✓ Scale recipe for prep (need 50 burger patties?) ✓ Categorize by menu type (Appetizers, Mains, Salads, etc.) ✓ Drag-and-drop reordering of recipe ingredients ✓ Add method / instructions per ingredient ✓ Menu price input auto-calculates margins ✓ Add labour to food costs ✓ Add photo — prints on recipe sheet ✓ Print or save as PDF ✓ Deactivate/reactivate recipes (archive, don't delete)Inventory
✓ New inventory populates from live ingredient list ✓ Mobile-optimized for phone use on the floor ✓ Sorted by storage area ✓ Toggle between Inventory and Prep views ✓ Prep list printable and emailablePrinting & Ordering
✓ Print ingredient list grouped by supplier ✓ Print for each supplier separately ✓ Email orders directly to suppliers ✓ Print "Not Emailed" order list to take shoppingSettings
✓ Add/edit suppliers for menu item ordering ✓ Add/edit/sort areas for inventory layout ✓ Manage users with role-based access ✓ Display settings — dark/light mode ✓ Show/hide nutritional info globally ✓ Backup and restore your dataReady to Take Control of Your Food Costs?
Enter your details and we'll send you the download link.
* This is a fully operational demo includes with a 50 ingredient / 10 recipe cap for your testing purposes.