15 Most Profitable Bar Foods

Although a bar’s focus is selling profitable drinks, offering food items that are both delicious and lucrative is important, too. If you’re not sure what to put on your menu, this list of the 15 most profitable bar foods to serve at a small bar will help you choose money-making items that your customers will love.

Burgers

Since self-described burger-lovers eat an average of 60 burgers per year, bars, pubs and taverns can make a lot of money by selling this menu item that’s inexpensive to make and widely popular with customers. To make your burgers even more profitable, charge more for additional toppings like cheese, as well as for meatless options like black bean or soy burgers.

Pizza

Relatively inexpensive ingredients when compared to the average menu price, along with high demand, make pizza one of the most profitable menu items sold in restaurants. Since it goes with both beer and wine, it’s perfect for bars, too. As with burgers, make your pizzas more profitable by charging a high markup for each additional topping. 

Fries

Made with simple, low-cost ingredients, French fries are some of the most profitable bar foods, especially if you make them special by adding cheese or chili and then charge accordingly for the add-on. Also, since many restaurants use frozen French fries, you can buy pre-made fries in bulk if you want to simplify your kitchen operations without sacrificing food quality.

Chips & Dip

From tortilla chips and salsa to potato chips and artichoke dip, chips and dip is a great item for your bar or pub’s menu. Not only is it easy to make, but it’s also something that people can share as a group, making the meal more social and memorable. If you already offer chips and salsa, you can make the item more profitable by charging extra for guacamole.

Chicken Wings

As discussed in a RestaurantBusinessOnline.com article, chicken wings can be great money-makers. For instance, instead of selling just a few wings per order, give customers value by serving larger orders with a lower per-wing price. If promoted correctly around sports-centered holidays, chicken wings can be one of the most profitable bar food items.

Chicken Tenders

In addition to chicken wings, chicken tenders are another profitable item for a bar, pub or tavern menu. In fact, an average serving of chicken tenders can have a markup as high as 185%, sometimes making up to 65% of the menu price pure profit. With numbers like these, you should definitely serve chicken fingers of some kind.

Nachos

If you already offer chips and salsa, serving nachos is an easy way to expand your menu since the ingredients and preparation are so similar. As with other profitable bar foods, charging more for add-ons like meat, sour cream or guacamole is an easy way to increase the total bill and make more money without having to convince customers to order another item. 

Quesadillas

If you want to design a menu with the most profitable bar foods, be sure to include quesadillas. Quesadillas are quick, easy and inexpensive to prepare, so the profit margins are very high. In addition, since most of the ingredients can be used in other recipes as well, you can minimize inventory costs and improve kitchen efficiency, important factors in maximizing profitability. 

If you’re looking for the most profitable bar foods to serve at a small bar, quesadillas should definitely be on your menu.

Tacos

Another Tex-Mex food item that can be profitable for bars is tacos. Although you can make a pretty good margin selling them individually, using a loss-leader pricing strategy for restaurant events like Taco Tuesday or Cinco de Mayo can make you money indirectly: even though you’ll lose money on the tacos, the customers drawn to your restaurant will buy other items.

Cheese Sticks

Salty, crispy, melty, crunchy mozzarella sticks are super addictive. Most bar and pub owners know this, so they often raise the price of cheese sticks to improve the profit margin. Since customers are used to paying a bit more for golden brown cheese sticks than for other items, you can charge a relatively high price as well without receiving too much pushback.

Pasta

Pasta can help maximize profit margins at your bar. Dried pasta is inexpensive and doesn’t need to be refrigerated, minimizing the cost of ingredients. Pasta is versatile and can be combined with a cheese sauce to make mac and cheese or tomato sauce for an Italian meal, too. To maximize pasta profits, serve it in a decorative dish to make it look more elegant.

Fish & Chips

A classic in British pubs, a plate of fish and chips goes great with a tall, cold glass of beer. Although the dish is traditionally made with cod, offering a tilapia version is a good way to keep ingredient costs low. Since fish and chips is also important in Irish cuisine, it’s the perfect item to promote as part of a St. Patrick’s Day menu, too.

Soft Pretzels

Often associated with German Oktoberfest, soft pretzels are one of the most profitable bar foods since they’re inexpensive to make and easy to sell, two key ingredients of money-making food items. Even though soft pretzels taste great plain, you can offer dipping sauces such as cheese or mustard, too–for an extra fee, of course.

Onion Rings

Onion rings are another fried food that’s perfect for a bar menu. Like cheese sticks, onion rings are a bit of a novelty, so you can charge a higher markup on a smaller serving than you can for French fries. Also, as pointed out in a ToastTab.com article, you can buy frozen, pre-made onion rings, allowing you to add them to your menu without much additional labor.

Charcuterie Boards

For more upscale bars, charcuterie boards can be popular and profitable menu items. Since meat and cheese trays are often seen as fine dining menu items, you can charge a slightly higher markup than you can for other items, especially if you use quality meats and gourmet cheeses. To really make your charcuterie boards special, add fresh or dried fruit, or even nuts.

Charcuterie boards are among the most profitable bar foods, especially at upscale establishments.

Most Profitable Bar Foods FAQ’s

In order to help you select the menu items that are best for your bottom line, here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about pub and tavern menus.

What is the Most Profitable Bar Food?

As in other foodservice establishments, the most profitable bar foods are what are known as “menu stars,” dishes such as burgers, pizza and fries that are inexpensive to make and demanded by customers. Although the specific item that makes the most money will vary, chances are a bar’s most profitable menu item will be one of the classics.

What is the Average Profit Margin on Bar Food?

According to Glimpsecorp.com, the average profit margin for a food-serving bar is 7 to 10%, less than the 10 to 15% for a traditional bar. Given these statistics, as well as the typical restaurant’s profit margin of only 3 to 5%, it’s reasonable to conclude that the average profit margin on bar food is likely under 10%.

Why Serve Food at a Bar if It Isn’t as Profitable as the Alcohol?

Even if the profit margin on food is lower than on alcohol, it’s still a good idea to serve food at a bar. Not only will the average bill be higher, resulting in greater total revenue, but offering food will also satisfy hungry customers, encouraging them to stay longer, purchase more drinks and improve your profitability.

Can Food and Beer / Wine Pairings Increase Profitability?

Yes! Many restaurants increase revenue by suggesting that guests buy items together, such as dessert and coffee or soup and salad. In fact, something as simple as including a list of food and wine pairings on your menu will encourage customers to order a drink to complement their drink or vice versa.

How Can Waitstaff Increase the Profitability of a Bar Menu?

Waitstaff can increase restaurant profitability by using the power of suggestion to encourage customers to order more items. For example, instead of waiting for customers to order food, train waitstaff to ask customers directly if they’d like to order food along with their drinks. If you gently upsell customers, you’re sure to increase revenue and improve your bar’s profitability.