Restaurant Cook

Prepares, seasons, and cooks dishes such as soups, meats, vegetables, and desserts in a restaurant setting, working under the direction of head cooks or chefs to ensure food quality and timely service.

About This Role

A Restaurant Cook turns raw ingredients into finished plates by managing timing, temperature, and consistency in a fast-moving kitchen. They arrive early to check stock, sharpen knives, and prepare mise-en-place, then move through the service rush making sure each dish matches the recipe, portion size, and plating standards. During lunch or dinner, they flip proteins on grills, stir sauces, replenish garnishes, and adjust seasonings based on taste and how the kitchen is running, all while coordinating with other station cooks and the expeditor to keep tickets moving.

A Day in the Life

• 9:00 AM Kitchen prep and mise-en-place
  Arrive, put on chef’s whites, check inventory, and begin chopping, peeling, and portioning ingredients so they are ready for the day’s service.
• 10:30 AM Station setup and safety check
  Organize their station with seasonings, tools, and pans, and verify that thermometers, sanitizers, and fire safety equipment are present and functional.
• 11:00 AM Pre-lunch prep cooking
  Start cooking items like soups, roasts, or sauces that need long simmering, and assemble components that will be quickly assembled during the rush.
• 11:45 AM Lunch rush active cooking
  Take tickets from the expeditor, cook dishes in sequence, plate orders, and coordinate with the grill, fry, and sauté stations to keep timing consistent.
• 1:30 PM Lunch break and cleanup
  Eat a quick meal, then clean and re-stock their station, scrape and wash pans, and refill utensils and sauces for the remainder of the day.
• 2:30 PM Dinner prep and inventory check
  Review inventory levels, start additional prep work for dinner, and communicate with the manager or chef about any items that need to be ordered or removed from the menu.
• 4:30 PM Dinner rush active cooking
  Work intense dinner service, pacing dishes so mains and sides arrive together, adjusting recipes slightly to maintain quality while keeping up with ticket volume.
• 8:00 PM Closing and deep cleaning
  Break down equipment, clean and sanitize work surfaces, store leftovers safely, and confirm that the station is ready for the next day’s shift.

Tools & Technologies

• Web & Social Media: Facebook
• Spreadsheets: Microsoft Excel
• Office Suites: Microsoft Office
• Email: Microsoft Outlook
• Word Processing: Microsoft Word
• Point of Sale: Point of sale POS restaurant software

Pay

Median salary: $37,000 per year.

Salary distribution for Restaurant Cook:

• 10th percentile: $28,000
• 25th percentile: $31,000
• Median: $37,000
• 75th percentile: $44,000
• 90th percentile: $47,000

Most professionals earn between $31,000 and $44,000.

Pay by State

• Massachusetts: $46,000 ($35,000 - $58,000)
• District of Columbia: $45,000 ($37,000 - $54,000)
• Washington: $45,000 ($36,000 - $56,000)
• Maine: $45,000 ($37,000 - $50,000)
• Hawaii: $45,000 ($29,000 - $67,000)
• Vermont: $45,000 ($33,000 - $56,000)
• California: $44,000 ($36,000 - $55,000)
• New York: $40,000 ($34,000 - $57,000)
• Colorado: $39,000 ($32,000 - $49,000)
• New Hampshire: $39,000 ($31,000 - $48,000)
• Rhode Island: $39,000 ($31,000 - $49,000)
• Alaska: $39,000 ($32,000 - $46,000)
• Minnesota: $38,000 ($30,000 - $47,000)
• New Jersey: $38,000 ($31,000 - $49,000)
• Oregon: $38,000 ($32,000 - $48,000)
• Connecticut: $38,000 ($33,000 - $48,000)
• Arizona: $38,000 ($34,000 - $47,000)
• Maryland: $37,000 ($31,000 - $47,000)
• Nevada: $37,000 ($30,000 - $52,000)
• Wisconsin: $37,000 ($28,000 - $47,000)
• Montana: $37,000 ($27,000 - $51,000)
• Delaware: $37,000 ($30,000 - $47,000)
• Nebraska: $37,000 ($27,000 - $44,000)
• Wyoming: $37,000 ($27,000 - $51,000)
• Illinois: $37,000 ($30,000 - $46,000)
• Virginia: $37,000 ($28,000 - $46,000)
• Michigan: $37,000 ($29,000 - $45,000)
• Utah: $37,000 ($28,000 - $47,000)
• Florida: $36,000 ($29,000 - $45,000)
• North Dakota: $36,000 ($28,000 - $46,000)
• Tennessee: $36,000 ($24,000 - $45,000)
• Iowa: $36,000 ($24,000 - $47,000)
• South Carolina: $36,000 ($25,000 - $44,000)
• Pennsylvania: $35,000 ($22,000 - $44,000)
• Missouri: $35,000 ($27,000 - $45,000)
• North Carolina: $35,000 ($27,000 - $45,000)
• South Dakota: $35,000 ($30,000 - $44,000)
• Georgia: $35,000 ($22,000 - $43,000)
• Indiana: $35,000 ($26,000 - $43,000)
• Idaho: $35,000 ($21,000 - $45,000)
• Ohio: $35,000 ($24,000 - $43,000)
• Kansas: $34,000 ($23,000 - $43,000)
• New Mexico: $34,000 ($28,000 - $42,000)
• Texas: $34,000 ($23,000 - $43,000)
• Kentucky: $31,000 ($23,000 - $42,000)
• Oklahoma: $31,000 ($23,000 - $49,000)
• Alabama: $30,000 ($22,000 - $38,000)