Is pasta expensive at restaurants?

If you compare it to other menu items it is almost always one of the least expensive items on the menu. So if the spaghetti in marinara is priced at $11 then I think $10 is overhead and $1 is food. So not as cheap as at home, but $1 still isn’t really expensive. But you do have to always consider the $10 overhead of running a business.

As far as the history goes. Pasta is inexpensive but filling. Every crab feed around here starts with pasta. Get the public to fill up on the stuff that costs $.50 a pound before you bring out the crab that costs $12 a pound.

I use to cook the spaghetti feed fund raiser for our local high school band. The counsel would give me $300 to feed 200 people and I would return $150.

I was buying imported pasta, olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano. I made the sauce ahead of time and added fresh basil and grated the cheese for service. The garlic bread was another cheap, filling and well liked item. I think the salad was the most expensive item on a per person basis.