How To Become A Culinary Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a culinary manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Mark Meng Ph.D.

Behind every happy restaurant guest is a culinary manager who made sure that that guest had the best possible dining experience. These managers are primarily focused on ensuring customer satisfaction, and they do this by overseeing the daily operations of restaurants and other types of food establishments.

The typical responsibilities of a culinary manager include ordering inventory, managing employees, monitoring food preparation, and ensuring compliance with rules and policies. In order to perform these duties well, culinary managers need to be knowledgeable about restaurant operations, kitchen equipment, food safety, and food preparation. And since they ensure customer satisfaction, culinary managers need to have impeccable customer service skills.

At least a high school diploma is required for this position, but a bachelor's or associate's degree in culinary arts, food service management, or hospitality is usually preferred. In addition, certain states also require culinary managers to have food handler cards (unless they won't be preparing food at all). Restaurant experience is also a common requirement for many restaurants, and some may even offer training programs for aspiring culinary managers.

A culinary manager can earn roughly $45,014 a year or an average $21.64 an hour. Their salary largely depends on the type of restaurant they are working for, as well as the minimum wage in their area.

What general advice would you give to a culinary manager?

Mark Meng Ph.D.

Mark Z. Meng, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Indiana University Kokomo

Analytical skill comes at the top. The hospitality world has becoming increasingly
dependent on data. Crisis and emergency management demonstrated their importance
in the past three years across all areas of the hospitality industry.

ScoreCulinary ManagerUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,100

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.1

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 8.78%

Black or African American 11.93%

Hispanic or Latino 16.28%

Unknown 4.96%

White 57.49%

Gender

female 25.62%

male 74.38%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a culinary manager

Explore culinary manager education requirements

Most common culinary manager degrees

Bachelor's

48.1 %

Associate

28.3 %

High School Diploma

14.3 %

Start to develop specific culinary manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Culinary	24.19%
Food Safety	9.33%
Kitchen Operations	6.97%
Food Preparation	6.26%
Kitchen Equipment	5.60%

Complete relevant culinary manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New culinary managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a culinary manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real culinary manager resumes.

Gain additional culinary manager certifications

Culinary manager certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific culinary manager certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for culinary managers include ServSafe Alcohol and Food Safety Manager Certification.

More About Certifications

Research culinary manager duties and responsibilities

Manage front-end operations to ensure friendly and efficient customer service and manage culinary to ensure product quality and waste management.
Oversee total operation of BOH including production, receiving, cleanliness, and presentation of food from truck to plate.
Monitor operational efficiency and profitability of culinary operations.
Supervise the cleanliness, presentation, and operation of food production of the buffet tables.

Prepare your culinary manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your culinary manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a culinary manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable culinary manager resume templates

Build a professional culinary manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your culinary manager resume.