What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called back line cook, banquet cook, breakfast cook and broiler cook.
$37,390
Median pay a year
1,409,890
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
A Restaurant Cook resume, filled in
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Cooking foods
Checking food and supply quality
Cutting foods
Assessing equipment functioning
Inspecting facilities
Measuring ingredients
Determining menu item prices
Estimating supplies
Planning menu options
Mixing ingredients
Cleaning equipment
Serving food and beverages
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Restaurant Cook
Summary
Cook preparing, seasoning, and cooking dishes like soups, meats, and desserts in a restaurant. Responsible for food safety, cleanliness, and ensuring freshness of ingredients while serving meals to patrons
Experience
Restaurant Cook
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Regulated temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, and roasters to ensure food was stored and cooked safely
Inspected and cleaned food preparation areas, including equipment and work surfaces, for safe food handling
Portioned, arranged, and garnished food, then served it to waiters or patrons in the restaurant
Checked freshness of food and ingredients, kept track of old and new items, and rotated stock
Seasoned and cooked food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience in the kitchen
Baked, roasted, broiled, and steamed meats, fish, vegetables, and other foods for meals
Washed, peeled, cut, and seeded fruits and vegetables to prepare them for consumption
Skills
Hands-On Work
Cooking foods, Cutting foods, Mixing ingredients
Checking & Planning
Checking food and supply quality, Inspecting facilities, Measuring ingredients, Determining menu item prices, Estimating supplies, Planning menu options
Core Skills
Assessing equipment functioning
Education
High School Diploma Your school, Year
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
Nothing to write from scratch
What to put on a Restaurant Cook resume
Real duties for this job, already written the way a resume reads. Inside Rung you choose the ones that were yours.
What did you do each day?
Choose what fits, or say your own.
Checked food temperaturesCleaned food prep areasServed food to waitersChecked food freshnessCooked food by recipesPrepared fruits and vegetables
becomes
On your resume
Checked food temperatures to ensure safety and quality standards were met
Served food to waiters, maintaining a smooth flow of service during peak hours
These are written the way a resume line reads. Rung asks which ones are actually yours, keeps your own words, and never claims work you did not do.
Then it asks for one more thing
The line that could show more, and the fact that lands it.
Make it stronger
A few lines could show more. Each one is asked, and answered by choosing.
Add how often you checked food temperatures.
The line
Checked food temperatures every hour during shifts to ensure safety and quality standards were met
Add how often you checked food temperatures.
Pick one that fits
Every hour during shiftsSeveral times each serviceAt least once per dish
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Show what improved once the service flow was maintained.
The line
Served food to waiters, maintaining a smooth flow of service during peak hours
Show what improved once the service flow was maintained.
Pick one that fits
Reduced wait times for customersImproved customer satisfaction ratingsKept kitchen running efficiently
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
What a Restaurant Cook does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
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 it pays
How much does a Restaurant Cook make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$34,010
Median
$37,390
75th percentile
$44,620
About 1,409,890 people do this work in the United States.
What it pays in each state
State
25th percentile
Median
75th percentile
AK
$36,820
$40,140
$44,110
AL
$28,930
$32,180
$36,220
AR
$28,470
$30,180
$35,410
AZ
$36,200
$38,670
$44,870
CA
$38,590
$44,880
$47,330
CO
$36,930
$41,600
$45,740
CT
$37,060
$39,480
$45,950
DC
$39,960
$46,130
$47,890
DE
$35,410
$37,840
$44,960
FL
$35,050
$37,020
$42,850
GA
$29,190
$35,940
$37,840
HI
$37,260
$45,420
$55,550
IA
$30,360
$35,670
$38,180
ID
$29,850
$36,440
$42,450
IL
$35,360
$37,580
$45,010
IN
$28,650
$35,170
$37,590
KS
$29,690
$35,130
$37,440
KY
$28,850
$34,640
$37,200
LA
$25,860
$29,050
$35,960
MA
$38,370
$45,600
$49,040
MD
$36,520
$37,820
$43,980
ME
$39,800
$45,290
$47,720
MI
$34,770
$36,980
$42,850
MN
$36,020
$38,590
$45,360
MO
$30,790
$36,940
$42,720
MS
$26,000
$29,560
$33,940
MT
$35,100
$38,060
$43,910
NC
$29,690
$35,400
$38,170
ND
$30,410
$36,470
$38,110
NE
$33,800
$37,030
$42,510
NH
$37,190
$40,200
$46,850
NJ
$35,880
$38,460
$45,600
NM
$30,220
$35,020
$37,320
NV
$36,530
$38,610
$47,170
NY
$37,100
$43,680
$46,530
OH
$29,520
$35,540
$37,920
OK
$28,670
$31,720
$37,470
OR
$38,030
$43,100
$47,730
PA
$29,890
$36,580
$39,710
PR
$22,590
$24,650
$27,790
RI
$34,610
$36,510
$45,650
SC
$30,470
$35,740
$38,560
SD
$33,040
$36,220
$38,910
TN
$30,610
$36,420
$40,740
TX
$28,540
$34,760
$37,030
UT
$31,200
$36,490
$41,950
VA
$33,270
$36,750
$42,990
VT
$37,470
$45,390
$47,340
WA
$42,770
$46,800
$49,540
WI
$31,240
$36,550
$40,280
WV
$26,790
$29,590
$35,170
WY
$29,440
$36,830
$43,060
Other names
Other names for this job
back line cook, banquet cook, breakfast cook, broiler cook, cook, foreign food specialty cook, fry cook, grill cook, hotel and restaurant cook, larder cook, line cook, prep cook.
More names for this work
preparation cook, production cook, railroad cook, specialty cook, specialty foods cook, station cook, vegetable cook, cooks restaurant, back of house team member, boh team member, chef de partie, pizza maker, prep person, preparation person, sandwich artist, saucier.
What you can already claim
Starting a Restaurant Cook resume with no experience
Below are the tasks a Restaurant Cook job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
This page is about the occupation Cooks, Restaurant. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.