Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 124,500 people employed as cooks, short order in the United States. The median annual salary is $26,600. Entry level employees earn approximately $18,550 per year and senior employees earn approximately $37,210 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Clean food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables.
• Perform food preparation tasks, such as making sandwiches, carving meats, making soups or salads, baking breads or desserts, and brewing coffee or tea.
• Perform general cleaning activities in kitchen and dining areas.
• Restock kitchen supplies, rotate food, and stamp the time and date on food in coolers.
• Grill, cook, and fry foods such as french fries, eggs, and pancakes.
• Plan work on orders so that items served together are finished at the same time.
• Take orders from customers and cook foods requiring short preparation times, according to customer requirements.
• Grill and garnish hamburgers or other meats, such as steaks and chops.
• Complete orders from steam tables, placing food on plates and serving customers at tables or counters.
• Order supplies and stock them on shelves.
• Accept payments, and make change or write charge slips as necessary.

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