What is a Restaurant Cook?
Job Description & Duties 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
- Estimate expected food consumption, requisition or purchase supplies, or procure food from storage.
- Turn or stir foods to ensure even cooking.
- Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
- Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
- Weigh, measure, and mix ingredients according to recipes or personal judgment, using various kitchen utensils and equipment.
- Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment and work surfaces, or serving areas to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
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What Skills Do You Need to Work as 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.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Time Management: Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Related Job Titles
- Station Cook
- Specialty Cook
- Broiler Cook
- Sandwich Artist
- Appetizer Preparer
What Kind of Restaurant Cook Job Opportunities Are There?
In 2016, there was an estimated number of 1,231,900 jobs in the United States for Restaurant Cook. New jobs are being produced at a rate of 11.8% which is above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 145,300 new jobs for Restaurant Cook by 2026. There will be an estimated 195,300 positions for Restaurant Cook per year.
The states with the most job growth for Restaurant Cook are Colorado, Utah, and Texas. Watch out if you plan on working in Ohio, West Virginia, or Maine. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
How Much Does a Restaurant Cook Make?
The salary for Restaurant Cooks ranges between about $19,420 and $37,630 a year.
Restaurant Cooks who work in District of Columbia, Washington, or New Jersey, make the highest salaries.
Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Restaurant Cooks in different U.S. states.
| State | Annual Mean Salary |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $24,080 |
| Alaska | $30,230 |
| Arizona | $28,330 |
| Arkansas | $22,980 |
| California | $30,620 |
| Colorado | $29,490 |
| Connecticut | $30,450 |
| Delaware | $27,430 |
| District of Columbia | $33,840 |
| Florida | $27,740 |
| Georgia | $24,280 |
| Hawaii | $34,330 |
| Idaho | $24,880 |
| Illinois | $27,720 |
| Indiana | $24,570 |
| Iowa | $24,700 |
| Kansas | $23,640 |
| Kentucky | $22,920 |
| Louisiana | $23,230 |
| Maine | $28,780 |
| Maryland | $28,220 |
| Massachusetts | $32,430 |
| Michigan | $25,550 |
| Minnesota | $29,120 |
| Mississippi | $22,340 |
| Missouri | $25,180 |
| Montana | $25,230 |
| Nebraska | $28,280 |
| Nevada | $31,960 |
| New Hampshire | $29,200 |
| New Jersey | $33,200 |
| New Mexico | $24,100 |
| New York | $30,440 |
| North Carolina | $24,950 |
| North Dakota | $28,130 |
| Ohio | $25,560 |
| Oklahoma | $24,000 |
| Oregon | $29,340 |
| Pennsylvania | $26,510 |
| Rhode Island | $30,890 |
| South Carolina | $23,680 |
| South Dakota | $26,630 |
| Tennessee | $24,370 |
| Texas | $25,400 |
| Utah | $27,350 |
| Vermont | $31,180 |
| Virginia | $26,590 |
| Washington | $32,370 |
| West Virginia | $23,520 |
| Wisconsin | $25,910 |
| Wyoming | $29,750 |
What Tools do Restaurant Cooks Use?
Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Restaurant Cooks may use on a daily basis:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Office
- Inventory management software
- Menu planning software
Becoming a Restaurant Cook
What education is needed to be a Restaurant Cook?
How Long Does it Take to Become a Restaurant Cook?
Restaurant Cooks Sector
The table below shows the approximate number of Restaurant Cooks employed by various industries.
Related Careers
Are you already one of the many Restaurant Cook in the United States? If you’re thinking about changing careers, these fields are worth exploring:
References:
Image Credit: U.S. Army Europe Images via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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