Cook/bartender vs lead cook

The differences between cook/bartenders and lead cooks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a lead cook has an average salary of $35,964, which is higher than the $30,956 average annual salary of a cook/bartender.

The top three skills for a cook/bartender include drink orders, customer service and bartending. The most important skills for a lead cook are customer service, food handling, and culinary.

Cook/bartender vs lead cook overview

	Cook/Bartender	Lead Cook
Yearly salary	$30,956	$35,964
Hourly rate	$14.88	$17.29
Growth rate	10%	16%
Number of jobs	112,807	160,223
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	37	38
Years of experience	-	4

Cook/bartender vs lead cook salary

Cook/bartenders and lead cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Cook/Bartender	Lead Cook
Average salary	$30,956	$35,964
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $39,000	Between $27,000 And $46,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Freeport-McMoRan
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between cook/bartender and lead cook education

There are a few differences between a cook/bartender and a lead cook in terms of educational background:

	Cook/Bartender	Lead Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	Associate Degree, 35%
Most common major	Business	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Cook/bartender vs lead cook demographics

Here are the differences between cook/bartenders' and lead cooks' demographics:

	Cook/Bartender	Lead Cook
Average age	37	38
Gender ratio	Male, 51.1% Female, 48.9%	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 5.9% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 9.4% White, 57.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	10%	6%

Differences between cook/bartender and lead cook duties and responsibilities

Cook/bartender example responsibilities.

Manage business operation initiatives, including payroll, invoicing, inventory, and human resource relate matters.
Process orders on a computerize POS system.
Cook until kitchen close and then bartend rest of evening.
Prepare, craft, and serve artisan food for guests, pour taps, operate POS.
Cook and serve food to customer's, keep a clean and orderly work area, also some bartending.
Participate and win awards in regional and divisional bartending competitions.

Lead cook example responsibilities.

Manage food expo; facilitate food temp logs; creation of menu specials; management and supervision of production staff
Manage inventory and purchasing of groceries.
Operate standard cooking equipment including slicers, food choppers, fryers, refrigerators, ovens and stoves.
Operate ovens, stoves, grills, microwaves, turbo chefs, and fryers.
Use and clean commercial ovens, meat slicers, steamers, combination ovens and steam kettles.
Operate ovens, stoves, grills, microwaves, kettles, and tilt skillet.

Cook/bartender vs lead cook skills

Common cook/bartender skills

Drink Orders, 22%
Customer Service, 19%
Bartending, 12%
Bartend, 5%
Food Orders, 4%
Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 4%

Common lead cook skills

Customer Service, 14%
Food Handling, 14%
Culinary, 11%
Food Service, 11%
Kitchen Equipment, 7%
Math, 5%

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Cook/Bartender
Cook/Bartender vs Lead Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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