Calculating the cost per square foot of a restaurant will tell you the cost of construction to build the restaurant or the cost paid for an existing restaurant broken down per square foot. This figure is useful for comparing the cost of restaurants in the same area. You can calculate the cost per square foot of a restaurant if you know some basic information about the total cost and total square footage of the restaurant.

Determine the total cost of restaurant. This figure can represent the total cost to build the restaurant or the total cost to purchase the restaurant if the restaurant is a resale. For example, assume the total cost of the restaurant is $500,000.

Determine the total square footage of the restaurant. You can find square footage information in property records, construction documents or you can physically measure the square footage by multiplying the restaurant's length by its width. For example, assume the restaurant is 1,000 square feet.

Divide the total cost figure from Step 1 by the total square footage figure from Step 2. Continuing the same example, $500,000 / 1,000 = $500. This figure represents the cost per square foot of the restaurant.