Life As a Restaurant Cook

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.

Life as a Restaurant Cook: What Do They Do?

• Consult with supervisory staff to plan menus, taking into consideration factors such as costs and special event needs.
• Substitute for or assist other cooks during emergencies or rush periods.
• Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
• Keep records and accounts.
• Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
• Wash, peel, cut, and seed fruits and vegetables to prepare them for consumption.

Skills Needed to be a Restaurant Cook

Below is a list of the skills most Restaurant Cooks say are important on the job.

Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Time Management: Managing one’s own time and the time of others.

Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Other Restaurant Cook Job Titles

• Broiler Cook
• Larder Cook
• Banquet Cook
• Sandwich Artist
• Prep Cook (Preparation Cook)

Job Demand for Restaurant Cooks

There were about 1,231,900 jobs for Cooks, Restaurant in 2016 (in the United States).

New jobs are being produced at a rate of 11.8% which is lower than average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 145,300 new jobs for Restaurant Cooks by 2026. The BLS estimates 195,300 yearly job openings in this field per year.

The states with the most job growth for Cooks, Restaurant are Texas, California, and Florida.

Watch out if you plan on working in Vermont, South Dakota, or Alaska. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Salary for Restaurant Cooks

The average yearly salary of a Restaurant Cook ranges between $19,420 and $37,630. The median salary for this occupation is $26,530.

How much do Cooks, Restaurant make in different U.S. states?

Annual Mean Salary by State

State	Annual Mean Salary
Hawaii	$34,330
District of Columbia	$33,840
New Jersey	$33,200
Massachusetts	$32,430
Washington	$32,370
Nevada	$31,960
Vermont	$31,180
Rhode Island	$30,890
California	$30,620
Connecticut	$30,450
New York	$30,440
Alaska	$30,230
Wyoming	$29,750
Colorado	$29,490
Oregon	$29,340
New Hampshire	$29,200
Minnesota	$29,120
Maine	$28,780
Arizona	$28,330
Nebraska	$28,280
Maryland	$28,220
North Dakota	$28,130
Florida	$27,740
Illinois	$27,720
Delaware	$27,430
Utah	$27,350
South Dakota	$26,630
Virginia	$26,590
Pennsylvania	$26,510
Wisconsin	$25,910
Ohio	$25,560
Michigan	$25,550
Texas	$25,400
Montana	$25,230
Missouri	$25,180
North Carolina	$24,950
Idaho	$24,880
Iowa	$24,700
Indiana	$24,570
Tennessee	$24,370
Georgia	$24,280
New Mexico	$24,100
Alabama	$24,080
Oklahoma	$24,000
South Carolina	$23,680
Kansas	$23,640
West Virginia	$23,520
Louisiana	$23,230
Arkansas	$22,980
Kentucky	$22,920
Mississippi	$22,340

Tools & Technologies Used by Restaurant Cooks

Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Restaurant Cooks:

• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel

How to Become a Restaurant Cook

What education is needed to be a Restaurant Cook?

How many years of work experience do I need?

Who Employs Restaurant Cooks?

Other Jobs You May be Interested In

Career changers with experience as a Restaurant Cook sometimes find work in one of the following fields:

• Food Preparation Workers

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics

College Factual

O*NET Online

Image Credit: Via Wikimedia Commons