Burger restaurant inventory: count patties, buns, cheese slices, fries (chips) and packaging by scanning
By mise · Updated October 15, 2026
Quick answer: a burger restaurant counts a handful of items that decide the month: patties by count or ground beef (mince) by weight, buns by bag, cheese slices by count, fries (chips) by case, oil by jug and packaging by sleeve. Patties, buns and cheese are counted nightly against burgers sold; the walk-in weekly; dry goods and packaging monthly.
Scan the barcode on the patty case, the cheese box or the sleeve of cups, or snap a photo: mise's AI finds the product and brings it back categorized, ready to count. In a burger joint that means knowing every night how many patties went out against how many burgers were sold, and getting the supplier order from your phone.
A burger place sells one thing in twenty variations, and almost every variation uses the same patty, bun and slice of cheese. That makes the inventory count (stock take) simple and merciless: if 2,400 burgers were sold and 2,520 patties are gone, 120 patties left without being paid for. For the cost per burger, see burger food cost.
What a burger restaurant counts, and in what unit
| Item | Unit | How to count |
|---|---|---|
| Patties (frozen or fresh) | Count; case of 80 x 4 oz | Scan the case, multiply sealed cases, count the open one |
| Ground beef (mince) for house patties | Pound (kilo) | Weigh; house patty as own item |
| Buns | Bag of 8 or 12 | Count bags |
| Cheese slices | Count; case of 160 | Scan, count sleeves |
| Fries (chips); fryer oil | Case of 6 x 5 lb bags; 35 lb jug | Scan the case; open bag by weight; count jugs |
| Boxes, bags, cups, lids, wraps | Sleeve, case | Scan the case, multiply |
House-made patties, sauces and pickles have no barcode: create each once by hand, with a name and a photo. For an unfamiliar label, snap a photo and mise's AI tries to identify it, though not every label is found.
Where a burger joint loses stock
- Patties against sales. Dropped, cooked twice for a remake, eaten by staff, handed out at the window: each one is a full burger cost with no sale.
- The extra slice. A double that gets three slices, a single that gets two.
- Fries over-filled. A regular is 4 oz; a generous scoop is 5.5. Over a thousand portions a week that is a case and a half.
- Thawed and not sold. Patties pulled for a rush that did not come, past their day dot by Monday.
Do it in mise
- Scan the barcode on the patty case, cheese box or packaging sleeve, or snap a photo: mise's AI finds the product and brings it back categorized.
- House patties and sauces created once by hand with a name and a photo; open bags of fries or mince weighed with a Bluetooth scale or a photo of the scale display.
- Freezer and walk-in as separate zones; thawed stock with its date; waste recorded with a reason (dropped, remake, expired, staff meal).
- Each burger as a recipe with portion cost; import the sales sheet from any POS and mise deducts patties, buns and slices.
- Minimum stock and a shopping list in PDF, Excel, WhatsApp or email split by supplier; invoices in XML, Excel or CSV; export to Excel and PDF.
7 days free, no card needed.
The stock take routine for a burger place
| What | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Patties, buns, cheese slices | Every night at close | Three items, three minutes, against burgers sold |
| Fries, oil, sauces | Twice a week | Portion and oil habits |
| Walk-in cooler (cold room) and freezer | Weekly, before the order | Fresh produce, thawed stock, dates |
| Dry storage and packaging | Monthly | Stock value, slow movers |
Count frozen and thawed patties as two zones, freezer and walk-in. Thawed stock carries a date on the item; what passes it is written off as waste with a reason, not quietly binned. See food labels and day dots and restaurant waste log.
Every burger is a recipe
A cheeseburger is a recipe: one patty, one bun, one slice, 0.5 oz of sauce, 1 oz of salad, one box. In mise each menu item is a recipe card with portion cost and correction factor. Import the sales sheet from any POS (name, quantity, value) and mise deducts patties, buns and slices by recipe. A gap on patties points to the grill, on cheese to the make line, on packaging to delivery. See actual vs theoretical food cost and kitchen inventory list.
Minimum stock and the supplier order
Set a minimum stock (par level) on patties, buns, cheese, fries and each packaging item, sized for the busiest two days. Below the minimum the item turns red and goes on the shopping list with the quantity short. The list exports as PDF or Excel or opens in WhatsApp or email, split by supplier from the last invoice. Invoices import as XML, Excel or CSV and land in stock at the price paid, so the count values stock at this month's price. See par level.
What mise does in a burger restaurant, and what it does not
In short, everything in the "Do it in mise" box above, with no limit on items, counts or scans.
Scan the case, count the open one, and the gap comes out in money, per item. 7-day free trial, no card.
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Frequently asked questions
Which items should a burger restaurant count every day?
Patties, buns and cheese slices, against burgers sold: three items, three minutes at close.
How do I count house-made patties?
Create the house patty by hand once, with a name and a photo, and count the patties formed. The mince it comes from is counted by weight in the walk-in.
Can mise deduct stock from my POS sales?
Yes: set each burger up as a recipe and import the sales sheet (name, quantity, value) from any POS. mise deducts the ingredients by recipe; it does not connect live to the POS.
How do I handle thawed patties that were not sold?
Count the walk-in and the freezer as separate zones, with the date on the thawed item. What passes its date is written off as waste with a reason.
How much does mise cost?
7 days free, no card needed, to try it in your store.