What is the q factor related to restaurants?

Answer 1

There are 2 parts to the Q factor. The first is for entrees only and the second part is for vegetables and starches. When referring to entrees only the Q factor is not a percent it is a $ and/or cent figure. When referring to vegetables and starches the Q factor is the highest cost factor of 1 portion of vegetables AND starches.

Answer 2

The Q factor has to do with the way most restaurants price their food, which is called cost-based pricing. This basically involves determining the exact food costsl including actual ingredients and overhead like labor, associated with a each menu item and then multiplying it be some factor between around 3 to 4 (and sometimes higher - hint: the same multiplying factor is not applied to all dishes, because customers are willing to pay more for certain types of dishes).

Since many restaurants also include certain things with each meal for free, such as bread, chips, or condiments such as the free salsa you get at Mexican restaurants, this needs to also be factored into the price. The additional cost that is factored in to account for these free items is sometimes called the Q-factor. Again, it will tend to be different for different items and will take into account that customers consume differing amounts of condiments, etc., with different food items.