Final answer:
Variable restaurant expenses include food costs, smallwares, and labor costs.
Step-by-step explanation:
Variable costs are the costs of the variable inputs (e.g., labor) that increase or decrease with output. For a restaurant, examples of variable expenses would include food costs, smallwares (e.g., utensils, napkins), and labor costs. Since producing more food items would require more raw materials and production staff, these costs would vary depending on the level of production or sales.