Menu mechanics for the current build
Nivalis Nights Menu Pricing & Recipe Cost Guide
See what each meal actually costs, how a menu price turns into a meal margin, and why the margin is not the same as your venue's profit.
- Ingredients
- 500
- Cooking
- 500
- Current base price
- 1,000
Customer reaction is not calculated here. Adjust the price in game and watch the menu satisfaction indicator.
Meal margin ≠ venue profit
Website estimateThe meal margin covers this dish only. Your venue still pays for everything else:
- Staff wages
- Rent and property costs
- Spoilage and waste
- Unused stock
- Operational inefficiency
Ingredient prices move with the economy, so a base value is a reference, not the exact price you pay today.
How menu pricing works
Four different numbers are easy to confuse. Keep them separate and the pricing picture gets clear.
- 1Ingredients
- 2Cooking
- 3Current base price
- 4Your menu price
Ingredient cost
The current value of the ingredients this meal uses.
Cooking cost
A processing component added for the recipe's required equipment.
Current base price
Ingredients plus cooking. The game's dynamic base value for the meal.
Menu price
The price you actually set for customers in the venue.
Meal margin
Website estimateMenu price minus the current base price. It shows how much room a dish leaves after covering the meal itself.
This is a website-derived decision metric. The game does not expose a native meal profit field.
Native formulas
Official- Cook price
- (requiredProcessors + 1) × 100 × (Drink ? 3.5 : 2.5)
- Current base price
- IngredientsPrice(selected ingredients) + CookPrice
Drinks use a different cooking multiplier (3.5) from other recipe types (2.5), so their base economics can differ.
What does this meal actually cost?
Pick a recipe and see where its base value comes from.
Ingredient breakdown
Static- GarlicShelf stable150
- Neutral OilShelf stable100
- PotatoesShelf stable250
- Ingredients
- 500
- Cooking
- 500
- Current base price
- 1,000
Processing
- Cooker
Each required processing step raises the cooking component of the base price.
Storage load
Refrigerated and short-life ingredients increase storage pressure and spoilage risk. A recipe that looks cheap can still be expensive to keep stocked.
Set a price without confusing margin with profit
The meal margin is a starting point, not the finish line. The venue's real result depends on more than the dishes.
Meal margin is not venue profit
Website estimateThis page can compute what a dish costs and what a price leaves behind. It cannot promise the venue is profitable.
A venue's result includes
- Meal revenue
- Ingredient and production cost
- Staff wages
- Rent
- Spoilage and waste
- Other operating costs
Where the game's financial accounting still has unresolved terms, this page does not fill in a formula.
Is there a best markup?
Player reportsPlayers report several different strategies, and that alone shows there is no single proven multiplier. Set a price your current venue can support, then react to the in-game response.
Two axes per dish
Economics
- High margin
- Medium margin
- Low margin
Customer response
Check in game
The site measures economics. The game's menu indicator shows the current customer reaction.
A high price is not automatically good. Raising it can protect the margin and still hurt how customers respond, so price is shown neutrally here.
Why ingredient prices change
A recipe that earned yesterday can look different today because ingredient prices move.
- Base market value
- Economy price curve
- Vendor and location modifiers
- Current purchase cost
Ingredient prices follow the game's economy over time and through vendor and location modifiers. This site shows base market values, which is why your in-game cost may differ.
Where a cost number comes from
Market
A live, economy-derived price. Shown only when a save or runtime price is available.
Static
The item's base market value. A reference point, not today's price.
Farmed
A greenhouse production cost, not a market purchase.
Manual
A value you enter yourself, for example a price you saw at a vendor.
Grow or buy ingredients?
Some recipe ingredients can be produced in a greenhouse instead of bought. The greenhouse unit cost is a produced cost, not a market price.
- Greenhouse unit cost
- (planting input value + allocated greenhouse running cost) ÷ final yield
Home-grown does not mean zero-cost.
The formula still spends planting inputs and a share of the greenhouse's running cost, so grown ingredients carry a cost too.
Comparing buy and grow
- Find the current market or vendor price of the ingredient.
- Estimate the greenhouse unit cost from planting inputs, running cost and yield.
- Compare the produced cost with the purchase cost for your own venue.
Your time and convenience are not priced here. Treat the comparison as cost information, not a final verdict.
How large should your menu be?
A bigger menu is not automatically more money. Pick the dishes you run and see the supply footprint they create.
Menu footprint
0 selectedSelect a few recipes to see how many ingredients and storage lines they add.
Variety is part of the experience. The official menu description says the right mix of dish types affects both your wallet and customer experience, so a tiny menu has its own cost.
Demand and area preferences live in the game. Use the in-game venue statistics and preferences when you choose a menu; this page only measures supply complexity.
Menu economics health check
A planning checklist for the factors that decide whether a menu can hold its margin.
Current reading
- PRICEWatch
- SUPPLYWatch
- COLD STORAGEWatch
- SPOILAGEWatch
- SELF-SUPPLYWatch
This is a planning checklist, not an in-game success score. It is not a calculated rating and it does not predict exact performance.
Why is my restaurant still losing money?
Match your symptom to the right owner before changing prices blindly.
My prices are too low
Website estimateCheck the current base price and the meal margin first, then set a menu price the dish can support.
Plan a priceMy ingredients are expensive
Game dataCompare vendor prices and location modifiers, or produce an ingredient yourself.
Find where to buyMy menu needs too many ingredients
Player reportsA larger menu adds stock lines, storage pressure and spoilage. Review the footprint before adding a dish.
Check menu footprintMy operating costs are too high
Player reportsStaff, rent, spoilage and waste can keep a venue unprofitable even when every dish has a margin.
Run the losing-money diagnosis
Next steps
The precise calculator and the adjacent owners each handle the rest of the task.
Recipe Profit Calculator
Enter ingredients, source, quantity and menu price to estimate meal margin and revenue for a full setup.
The tool labels its result as a meal margin estimate, never as venue profit.
Open the calculatorBest recipes for profit
Recommendations that combine margin, complexity, availability and operational load. This page only compares cost.
See best recipesVenue levels and pricing
Venue progression can widen what you can charge. The exact level-by-level price range is not published here.
Venue levelsMenu pricing questions
The questions players actually search.
How is a meal's base price calculated?
The current base price is the current price of the selected ingredients plus a cooking component. The cooking component is (requiredProcessors + 1) × 100 × a recipe-type multiplier.
Do drinks calculate differently?
Yes. The cooking component uses a 3.5 multiplier for Drink recipes and 2.5 for other recipe types. That does not by itself make drinks more profitable.
Should I always set prices to maximum?
No such rule is proven. Players report different strategies, and the in-game menu indicator shows the customer reaction. Set a price your venue can support and adjust from the game's feedback.
Is a bigger menu better?
Not automatically. Variety matters, but a larger menu can add ingredients, storage pressure and spoilage. Treat menu size as a balance between variety, supply complexity and pricing.
Are home-grown ingredients free?
No. The greenhouse unit cost adds the planting input value and a share of the greenhouse's running cost, then divides by the final yield, so grown ingredients still carry a cost.
Why am I making sales but barely making profit?
Revenue is not profit. Ingredients, staff wages, rent, waste, storage and operational efficiency all affect the venue's final result, so a healthy meal margin does not guarantee a profitable venue.
Why does my margin change over time?
Because ingredient prices follow the game's economy and vendor or location modifiers. The base market value is a reference; your in-game purchase cost can be higher or lower.
Does leveling the venue affect pricing?
Venue progression can widen the pricing you can access, but the exact level-by-level price range is not published here. See the venue levels page for progression.