Cooks, Restaurant: Job Description
Prepare, season, and cook dishes such as soups, meats, vegetables, or desserts in restaurants. May order supplies, keep records and accounts, price items on menu, or plan menu.
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What Do Cooks, Restaurant Take On?
The core tasks performed by cooks, restaurant include:
- Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
- Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
- Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
- Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
- Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
- Coordinate and supervise work of kitchen staff.
- Bake, roast, broil, and steam meats, fish, vegetables, and other foods.
- Weigh, measure, and mix ingredients according to recipes or personal judgment, using various kitchen utensils and equipment.
Skills and Knowledge
Top cooks, restaurant combine a mix of skills and domain knowledge.
Top Skills
The abilities most important for this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:
Top Knowledge Areas
Related Job Titles
People in this occupation may also be known by titles such as:
- Back Line Cook
- Back of House Team Member (BOH Team Member)
- Banquet Cook
- Breakfast Cook
- Broiler Cook
- Chef De Partie
- Cook
- Foreign Food Specialty Cook
How Many Cooks, Restaurant Are There?
There are about 1,741,328 cooks, restaurant working in the United States today. This occupation is expected to grow by +0.9% over the projection horizon.
How Much Do Cooks, Restaurant Make?
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual median | $41,438 |
| Hourly median | $19.92 |
| 10th percentile | $22,981 |
| 25th percentile | $32,209 |
| 75th percentile | $50,667 |
| 90th percentile | $59,896 |
Wages vary widely based on experience, location, and industry.
Cooks, Restaurant Salary by State
| State | Annual median salary |
|---|---|
| Massachusetts | $46,280 |
| District of Columbia | $45,230 |
| Washington | $44,980 |
| Maine | $44,870 |
| Hawaii | $44,710 |
| Vermont | $44,560 |
| California | $44,290 |
| New York | $39,890 |
| Colorado | $39,170 |
| New Hampshire | $39,050 |
| Rhode Island | $38,940 |
| Alaska | $38,640 |
| Minnesota | $38,220 |
| New Jersey | $38,080 |
| Oregon | $38,040 |
| Connecticut | $38,020 |
| Arizona | $37,940 |
| Maryland | $37,470 |
| Nevada | $37,170 |
| Wisconsin | $36,940 |
| Montana | $36,830 |
| Delaware | $36,820 |
| Nebraska | $36,800 |
| Wyoming | $36,770 |
| Illinois | $36,630 |
| Virginia | $36,580 |
| Michigan | $36,560 |
| Utah | $36,510 |
| Florida | $36,300 |
| North Dakota | $36,060 |
| Tennessee | $35,810 |
| Iowa | $35,720 |
| South Carolina | $35,700 |
| Pennsylvania | $35,340 |
| Missouri | $35,320 |
| North Carolina | $35,240 |
| South Dakota | $35,150 |
| Georgia | $35,090 |
| Indiana | $35,040 |
| Virgin Islands | $34,940 |
| Idaho | $34,890 |
| Ohio | $34,750 |
| Kansas | $34,200 |
| New Mexico | $34,110 |
| Texas | $34,050 |
| Kentucky | $30,960 |
| Oklahoma | $30,610 |
| Alabama | $30,100 |
| Mississippi | $29,520 |
| Arkansas | $29,470 |
| Louisiana | $28,880 |
| West Virginia | $28,560 |
| Puerto Rico | $23,920 |
| Guam | $22,900 |
Where Cooks, Restaurant Earn the Most
Pay for cooks, restaurant shift depending on where you work. The following regions pay the most:
| Region | Median annual wage | Share of U.S. jobs | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Far Western US | $43,157 | 17.4% | 1.10 |
| New England | $42,908 | 4.6% | 0.97 |
| Middle Atlantic | $38,088 | 12.3% | 0.83 |
| Rocky Mountains | $37,739 | 4.5% | 1.18 |
| Plains States | $36,198 | 6.3% | 0.94 |
| Great Lakes | $35,970 | 13.8% | 0.97 |
| Southeast | $34,761 | 27.5% | 1.16 |
| Southwest | $34,428 | 12.9% | 1.03 |
Where the Jobs Cluster
| Metro area | State | Median annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kahului-Wailuku, HI | HI | $48,320 | 1,840 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | MA | $46,970 | 24,410 |
| Portland-South Portland, ME | ME | $46,960 | 2,590 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $46,960 | 8,460 |
| Napa, CA | CA | $46,270 | 1,350 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $46,180 | 19,820 |
| Barnstable Town, MA | MA | $45,920 | 1,890 |
| Burlington-South Burlington, VT | VT | $45,450 | 1,020 |
Industry Breakdown
The largest employers of cooks, restaurant are found across these industries:
| Industry | Employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and Food Services | 1,356,300 | $36,750 |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | 49,840 | $39,320 |
| Retail Trade | 13,000 | $37,470 |
| Manufacturing | 9,490 | $36,960 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 9,260 | $38,600 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 7,250 | $36,900 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 2,000 | $37,520 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | 1,520 | $38,680 |
Cooks, Restaurant work in the following industries:
Software Cooks, Restaurant Use
- Web page creation and editing software: Facebook (hot technology)
- Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
- Office suite software: Microsoft Office software (hot technology)
- Electronic mail software: Microsoft Outlook (hot technology)
- Word processing software: Microsoft Word (hot technology)
Work Environment
Daily working conditions for cooks, restaurant reflects the following characteristics:
- Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets
- Spend Time Standing
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
- Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls
- Contact With Others
How to Become Cooks, Restaurant
Most cooks, restaurant positions require a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. This occupation sits in Some Preparation Needed (Job Zone 2), signaling the level of preparation typically expected.
Other Careers to Consider
Similar Occupations
- Food Service Managers (Supplemental)
- Chefs and Head Cooks (Primary-Long)
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers (Supplemental)
- Cooks, Fast Food (Primary-Short)
- Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria (Primary-Short)
- Cooks, Private Household (Primary-Long)
- Cooks, Short Order (Primary-Short)
- Food Preparation Workers (Primary-Short)
Degree Programs
Students preparing for cooks, restaurant often complete programs in:
Personal and Culinary Services
2 programs across 1 majors
References
Data on this page comes from the following authoritative sources:
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
- BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
- O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.
SOC code: 35-2014.00 (Cooks, Restaurant).
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