Grill cook vs short order cook

The differences between grill cooks and short order cooks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a grill cook and a short order cook. Additionally, a grill cook has an average salary of $31,895, which is higher than the $30,734 average annual salary of a short order cook.

The top three skills for a grill cook include sanitation standards, kitchen equipment and safety standards. The most important skills for a short order cook are food handling, customer service, and food preparation equipment.

Grill cook vs short order cook overview

	Grill Cook	Short Order Cook
Yearly salary	$31,895	$30,734
Hourly rate	$15.33	$14.78
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	184,603	176,187
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 48%	High School Diploma, 43%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

What does a grill cook do?

A grill cook's primary role is to take charge of grilling food in restaurants or a similar establishment. Aside from grilling different kinds of food, they are also responsible for the plating, ensuring that it looks presentable and mouth-watering. Moreover, grill cooks have other duties such as preparing supplies and ingredients, maintaining the cleanliness of the work area, and training new members of the workforce. It is also essential to coordinate with other restaurant staff at all times as the operations can be fast-paced and will require accuracy and speed.

What does a short order cook do?

A short-order cook takes responsibility for preparing foods in cafes and restaurants. Usually, they fry eggs, cook fries, and prepare sandwiches. Short order cooks work alongside line chefs in the foodservice market. Their manner of preparing food is quick, easy, and simple. They plan and handle work orders ensuring that all orders are complete and served on time. Strong communication, customer service, a good sense of taste, and the ability to work efficiently are necessary requirements for the job.

Grill cook vs short order cook salary

Grill cooks and short order cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Grill Cook	Short Order Cook
Average salary	$31,895	$30,734
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $39,000	Between $24,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Anaheim, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	Washington
Best paying company	St. Petersburg Yacht Club	Columbia University in the City of New York
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Health Care

Differences between grill cook and short order cook education

There are a few differences between a grill cook and a short order cook in terms of educational background:

	Grill Cook	Short Order Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 48%	High School Diploma, 43%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Grill cook vs short order cook demographics

Here are the differences between grill cooks' and short order cooks' demographics:

	Grill Cook	Short Order Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 76.9% Female, 23.1%	Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 8.5% White, 58.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 8.1% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between grill cook and short order cook duties and responsibilities

Grill cook example responsibilities.

Manage portions of grill food items and garnish them, regulate temperature of broilers, grills and roasters.
Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Utilize for relief management, new hire training, inventory control and profitable aspects of people and service.
Maintain station clean food preparation areas; operate large volume cooking equipment such as grills, deep fryers, or griddles.
High-Pace business catering to the consumer needs using hospitality and culinary expertise to provide proper customer satisfaction.
Cook foods by baking, roasting, broiling, frying, saut? ing, steaming and grilling.

Short order cook example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Ensure that ovens and stoves remain at appropriate temperatures.
Clean kitchen including wiping down grills, slicers and deep-frying equipment.
Develop teamwork skills with cooks, dishwashers and wait staff, through efficient clean up and preparation of food.
Prepare guest food orders as they are either transmit via the POS system or orally convey at the counter.
Cook foods on the grill station, oven, barbecue grill, deep fryers, and other industrial cooking apparatus.

Grill cook vs short order cook skills

Common grill cook skills

Sanitation Standards, 16%
Kitchen Equipment, 14%
Safety Standards, 13%
Food Handling, 9%
Math, 7%
Dexterity, 5%

Common short order cook skills

Food Handling, 20%
Customer Service, 14%
Food Preparation Equipment, 11%
Kitchen Equipment, 9%
Food Service, 7%
Safety Standards, 7%

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Grill Cook
Grill Cook vs Short Order Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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