Cooks, Restaurant

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.

What you'd actually do

• Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
• Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
• Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
• Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
• Turn or stir foods to ensure even cooking.
• Observe and test foods to determine if they have been cooked sufficiently, using methods such as tasting, smelling, or piercing them with utensils.

How you get there

Typical entry-level education: Less than high school. Overall preparation: some preparation (Job Zone 2 of 5).

The feel of the work

Much of the day is spent working solo; time pressure is a real part of the job. (Compared against the other 818 careers in the guide.)

Working for yourself

About 0% of cooks, restaurant are self-employed.

Who it tends to fit

This work tends to fit people who are hands-on, organized and detail-focused and take-charge.

Related careers

• Chefs and Head Cooks
• Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
• Cooks, All Other
• Cooks, Short Order
• Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other
• Food Servers, Nonrestaurant

Quick questions

How much does a cooks, restaurant make?

The median pay is $17.98 per hour — roughly $37,500 a year, with the real range running from about $13.80/hr (10th percentile) to $23.03/hr (90th percentile). Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Do you need a degree to be a cooks, restaurant?

The typical entry-level education is: Less than high school. Overall preparation level: some preparation (Job Zone 2 of 5).

What does a cooks, restaurant actually do all day?

Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices. Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock. Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.