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.
Also Known As:
Back Line Cook
Banquet Cook
Breakfast Cook
Cook
Fry Cook
Grill Cook
Line Cook
Prep Cook (Preparation Cook)
Prep Person (Preparation Person)
Saucier
Wages
Annual wages for Cooks, Restaurant in United States
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
1,677,200
15% Change From 2024
Explore Cooks, Fast Food video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
- Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
- Prepare relishes and hors d'oeuvres.
- Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
- Estimate expected food consumption, requisition or purchase supplies, or procure food from storage.
- Observe and test foods to determine if they have been cooked sufficiently, using methods such as tasting, smelling, or piercing them with utensils.
- Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
- Consult with supervisory staff to plan menus, taking into consideration factors such as costs and special event needs.
- 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.
- Ensure food is stored and cooked at correct temperature by regulating temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters.
- Plan and price menu items.
- Turn or stir foods to ensure even cooking.
- Wash, peel, cut, and seed fruits and vegetables to prepare them for consumption.
- Estimate expected food consumption, requisition or purchase supplies, or procure food from storage.
- Weigh, measure, and mix ingredients according to recipes or personal judgment, using various kitchen utensils and equipment.
- Coordinate and supervise work of kitchen staff.
- Bake breads, rolls, cakes, and pastries.
- Inspect and clean food preparation areas, such as equipment, work surfaces, and serving areas, to ensure safe and sanitary food-handling practices.
- Carve and trim meats such as beef, veal, ham, pork, and lamb for hot or cold service, or for sandwiches.
- Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
- Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock.
- Substitute for or assist other cooks during emergencies or rush periods.
- Butcher and dress animals, fowl, or shellfish, or cut and bone meat prior to cooking.
- Keep records and accounts.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")