The four quadrants
Plot every dish on two axes: popularity (how often it sells) and profitability (margin per plate). That gives four groups, Stars, Plow-Horses, Puzzles and Dogs, each needing a different move.
Stars and Plow-Horses
Stars are high-margin and high-volume: protect them, feature them, never mess with them. Plow-Horses are popular but low-margin: they bring people in but quietly erode your margin, so look to re-cost or gently re-price them.
Puzzles and Dogs
Puzzles are high-margin but low-volume: the profit is there if you can sell more, so move them up the menu and arm servers with a reason. Dogs are low on both: cut them or rework them, because they only add complexity.
Keep the classification live
Most groups do this once a year with a consultant, by which point ingredient prices have moved and the map is wrong. The discipline only works if the margins update as invoices and sales come in.
Re-price without losing guests
When an ingredient spikes, a small, surgical price change on the right dish protects margin without spooking regulars. The trick is knowing exactly which plate and how much, then pushing the change to your POS the same day.
How Kit helps: Kit classifies every dish in real time as prices and sales move, flags margin erosion the day it happens, and pushes approved re-prices straight to Toast.