US Combo Meal Pricing Guide: Build Profitable Bundles Without Guessing

Combo meals are one of the fastest ways to grow average ticket size in U.S. restaurants. They are also one of the fastest ways to hide margin loss if side costs, packaging, or channel fees are not updated.

This guide gives you a practical pricing workflow: calculate the floor, set the sell zone, and lock channel rules before you launch a promo.

Quick Summary

• Build combo pricing from portion cost, not from competitor screenshots.
• Set a clear floor price first, then decide discount depth.
• Price dine-in and delivery combos separately when packaging and fees differ.
• Recheck combo math monthly, not only when suppliers send a big increase.

As of December 2025, U.S. consumer prices for food away from home were up 4.1% year-over-year (BLS). Meanwhile, food services and drinking places sales were up 4.4% year-over-year as of November 2025 (FRED/Census series). Volume can rise while margin quietly compresses. Combo math has to keep up.

Where Combo Profit Usually Leaks

Most leaks come from small misses repeated hundreds of times per week:

1. Side portions drift during busy shifts.
2. Packaging is excluded from delivery combo math.
3. Promo discounts are set before cost floors are calculated.
4. One combo price is copied to every channel.

If each combo is underpriced by only $0.80 and you sell 1,500 combos per month, you lose $1,200 in monthly contribution before you notice.

Combo Pricing Formula (Use This Order)

comboCost = entreeCost + sideCost + drinkCost + packaging + channelVariableCost
floorPrice = comboCost / targetFoodCostPercent
safeSellZone = floorPrice to (floorPrice + strategic upsell premium)

Then validate contribution margin after promo:

contributionMargin = (sellPrice - comboCost) / sellPrice

Set a minimum acceptable contribution margin by channel, then reject promotions below that threshold.

Worked Example: Burger Combo in a U.S. Fast-Casual Shop

Assumptions per combo:

• Burger: $2.45
• Fries: $0.78
• Fountain drink: $0.44
• Packaging (to-go): $0.33
• Channel variable labor/fees: $0.40

comboCost = 2.45 + 0.78 + 0.44 + 0.33 + 0.40 = $4.40

If your target food cost is 30%:

floorPrice = 4.40 / 0.30 = $14.67

Practical sell zone: $14.99-$15.99 depending on market and positioning.

If you run a promo at $13.99 without changing portions, your effective food cost jumps and contribution gets squeezed.

Channel-Specific Pricing Rule

Use separate combo floors for each channel:

• Dine-in floor: no delivery packaging and no marketplace deductions
• Pickup floor: include packaging and payment mix
• Delivery app floor: include packaging, channel-variable labor, and effective take-rate impact

This avoids subsidizing delivery volume with dine-in margin.

Weekly Operator Checklist

• Recalculate combo cost for top 5 bundles
• Audit side and drink portion standards at the line
• Check actual margin by channel (dine-in/pickup/delivery)
• Pause any promo below your contribution threshold
• Reconfirm floor prices before weekend peak

Related Guides

• US Menu Pricing Calculator
• US Restaurant Menu Pricing Guide
• US Delivery App Pricing Guide
• Delivery Platform Fees Guide (US, 2026)

Sources (checked on 2026-02-12)

• BLS: Consumer prices up 2.9% from December 2024 to December 2025 (food away from home +4.1%)
• FRED/Census series: Food Services and Drinking Places Sales (MRTSSM7225USN)
• USDA ERS: Food price outlook

KitchenCost helps you keep combo costs, channel margins, and floor prices in one place so pricing decisions stay consistent during busy weeks.