Most owners find out food cost was high when the P&L comes in, weeks after the money is gone.
The P&L also doesn't tell you which ingredient caused it. On $70,000 a month in sales, a 4-point gap is $2,800 a month.
Zero Gap looks at your counts, invoices and sales every week, so you can see the problem item by item and fix it the same week.
How it works
Count your key items
Once a week, count the 20 or so items that make up most of your food cost, like cheese, pepperoni, dough and wings. You count on your phone, and it takes about 20 minutes.
Upload your invoices
Take a picture of each invoice when your delivery comes in, or forward the PDF. Zero Gap reads each item, quantity and price.
Upload your sales
Once a week, export your item sales report from Toast, Square or Clover and upload it.
Get your report Monday
Monday morning you get an email that lists which items were over, how much they cost you, and where to look first.
Where to look first
When an item is over, Zero Gap goes through the same four checks in the same order. Many owners go straight to portioning. The first three checks are usually faster to find and fix.
Delivery
Check that you received everything you ordered, in the right amounts, and that the product is in good shape.
Registers
Look at voids, comps and items that went out without being rung up, like extra cheese or extra ranch.
Inventory
Make sure the count is right. A case that was counted twice or missed will throw off the numbers.
Prep
Check portions. For example, weigh the cheese on a few large pizzas and compare it to your recipe.
$79 a month
Per location. No contract and no setup fee. Cancel anytime.
Founding price: $39 a month for your first year. Open to the first 5 restaurants that join and give us feedback each week.
- Weekly counts on your phone
- Invoice upload, with every item and price read for you
- Price alerts when your costs go up
- Sales upload from Toast, Square or Clover
- The Monday report by email
- A starting setup for pizza, burger or wing menus
How it compares
- Inventory apps
- Usually $139 to $149 a month for one location. Setup can take weeks of calls.
- Back-office systems
- $250 to $470 a month. They include bill pay and accounting you may already have, and many require a 12-month contract.
- Recipe costing apps
- $39 to $49 a month. They tell you what a dish should cost, but not where your food cost is going.
Zero Gap takes about an hour to set up, starting from a pizza, burger or wing menu that you adjust to match yours.
About me
I'm Justin Goolsby. I've worked in restaurants for 20 years, and I've run kitchens with food cost gaps under 0.5%.
Getting there takes a weekly routine: count the right items, check deliveries when they come in, watch your prices, and fix problems the same week. I'm building Zero Gap so independent owners can follow that routine without hiring someone to do it.
Common questions
Is Zero Gap available now?
Not yet. We're building it now with a small group of founding restaurants. Join the early access list and we'll email you when there's a spot for you.
Do I have to count my whole inventory every week?
No. Each week you count the 20 or so items that make up most of your food cost. You do a full count once a month.
Which POS systems does it work with?
Toast, Square and Clover. You upload the item sales report that you can already export from your POS.
Does it handle bill pay or accounting?
No. Zero Gap only tracks food cost. Keep your bookkeeper and your accounting software.
Can I get my data out?
Yes. You can export your data at any time. You can also connect it to ChatGPT or Claude and ask questions about your numbers.
How do I cancel?
Cancel from your account at any time. There's no contract.
Get early access
Fill out the form and we'll contact you when Zero Gap is ready for your restaurant. The $39 founding price goes to the first 5 restaurants.
If you'd rather talk first, email me and we'll set up a 15-minute call.