What Does MKT Mean on a Menu?

If you've seen "MKT" or "MKT PRICE" next to an item on a menu, this means market price. It means the cost of that dish changes based on what is the cost of ingredient, so instead of locking in a number that might be wrong in two weeks, the restaurant leaves it open.

You'll see this most with seafood, since prices for things like lobster, oysters, or fresh fish can swing a lot depending on the season and what's happening with suppliers that week. Some steakhouses use it too, especially for premium cuts where beef prices fluctuate.

From an operator's side, this is really about protecting your margins. If you make a fixed price for lobster and the cost from your supplier jumps the next week, you're either eating the loss or reprinting menus, neither of which is great. Market pricing lets you adjust without constantly redoing your whole menu.

The tradeoff is that guests sometimes find it annoying, since nobody loves ordering something without knowing the price upfront. If you are making the MKT price, it's worth training your servers to know the current price before they hit the floor each day, so they can just tell the guests instead of guessing or running back to check.