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.
Grill cook responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real grill cook resumes:
- 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.
- Perform the following sauteing, grilling and roasting.
- Prepare steaks and chops on grilling stoves and ovens.
- Assist in payroll, scheduling, money drops and other duties assign to relief managers.
- Ensure first-in-first-out (FIFO) system are in place, with all items and ingredients labele and store properly.
- Sweep and mop underneath gas grill, deep fryers, steam and prep tables, freezers and walk in freezer floors.
- Adapt to changing volume levels of service while maintaining professional approach to all culinary responsibilities.
- Verify patient information, new medications and allergies educate patients by providing medication and diet information.
- Prepare meat institutionalize with incorporating flavor searing; maintain high standards of sanitation and cleanliness throughout kitchen areas.
- Fill in on line as grill, fry cook or expediter as needed.
Grill cook skills and personality traits
We calculated that 16% of Grill Cooks are proficient in Sanitation Standards, Kitchen Equipment, and Safety Standards. They’re also known for soft skills such as Dexterity, Sense of taste and smell, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Grill Cooks that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Sanitation Standards, 16%
Maintained kitchen areas in accordance with cleanliness and sanitation standards.
- Kitchen Equipment, 14%
Use safety precautions and procedures applicable to grilling and kitchen equipment
- Safety Standards, 13%
Frequent face-to-face customer interaction* Proper presentation of food items* Cook to order and preparation of food items* Following health and safety standards
- Food Handling, 9%
Practiced safe food handling and maintained general safety/kitchen sanitation guidelines.
- Math, 7%
Distributed and received the proper amounts of money Customer service skills Skills Used Customer service Math
- Dexterity, 5%
Achieved completion to cook, prep and dish meticulous meals to an immense amount of customers with proficient dexterity quality.
"sanitation standards," "kitchen equipment," and "safety standards" are among the most common skills that grill cooks use at work. You can find even more grill cook responsibilities below, including:
Dexterity. One of the key soft skills for a grill cook to have is dexterity. You can see how this relates to what grill cooks do because "cooks should have excellent hand–eye coordination." Additionally, a grill cook resume shows how grill cooks use dexterity: "performed frequent washing and sanitizing of: food areas, food preparation tools, and hands. "
Sense of taste and smell. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling grill cook duties is sense of taste and smell. The role rewards competence in this skill because "cooks must have a keen sense of taste and smell to prepare meals that customers enjoy." According to a grill cook resume, here's how grill cooks can utilize sense of taste and smell in their job responsibilities: "assisted customers by taking their food and drink orders and answering any questions they had. "
Physical stamina. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of grill cooks is physical stamina. This skill is critical to many everyday grill cook duties, as "cooks spend a lot of time standing in one place, cooking food over hot stoves, and cleaning work areas." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "maintained stamina, capitalized on ability to multi-task and demonstrated a professional attitude * provided excellent customer service. "
The three companies that hire the most grill cooks are:
- Compass Group USA806 grill cooks jobs
- CAVA277 grill cooks jobs
- Sodexo Management, Inc.272 grill cooks jobs
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Compare different grill cooks
Grill cook vs. Cook/dishwasher
Cooks/dishwashers must develop kitchen skills to excel in this line of job. Each cook or dishwasher must learn to develop skills in food preparation, sanitation, and customer service. Cooks or dishwashers can be assigned to different areas, either in the kitchen area, food preparation, or in washing dishes. The scope of their responsibilities may include the cooking surface area, specific food items, or menu items. Also, they are expected to maintain the cleanliness of the kitchen, assist in preparing food, and may do any other duties demanded by the chef.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between grill cooks and cook/dishwasher. For instance, grill cook responsibilities require skills such as "sanitation standards," "food handling," "math," and "good interpersonal." Whereas a cook/dishwasher is skilled in "wash dishes," "prep food," "mop floors," and "bus tables." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Cook/dishwashers really shine in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $27,723. Comparatively, grill cooks tend to make the most money in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $30,806.cook/dishwashers tend to reach similar levels of education than grill cooks. In fact, cook/dishwashers are 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Grill cook vs. Cook/trainer
Cooks/servers are employees who take on the dual role of being a cook and a server in the restaurant. They are usually trained cooks who are in charge of preparing meals for the guests. They prepare ingredients, cook them according to the recipe, and serve them to guests. They are responsible for ensuring that the food is prepared and served to guests within the promised time. They are in charge of managing the pantry, ensuring that the stock is fresh, and checking whether the stock is low. They are expected to have culinary skills, precision, and time management skills.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that grill cook responsibilities requires skills like "sanitation standards," "math," "good interpersonal," and "dexterity." But a cook/trainer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "food safety," "haccp," "food storage," and "food orders."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Cook/trainers tend to reach similar levels of education than grill cooks. In fact, they're 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Grill cook vs. Cook/server
A line cook/prep cook is responsible for assisting with food preparations, ensuring that all ingredients are readily available and stored safely. Line cook/prep cook tasks also include reviewing and updating menus to keep the customers' patronization. Their duties also include researching the current food industry trends, managing customers' inquiries, resolving serving complaints, monitoring food supplies and inventories, and complying with sanitary regulations. A line cook/prep cook must have excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform various tasks under strict time demands and a fast-paced environment.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, grill cooks are more likely to have skills like "sanitation standards," "food handling," "math," and "good interpersonal." But a cook/server is more likely to have skills like "allergies," "mathematics," "quality food," and "cash drawers."
Cook/servers earn the highest salary when working in the retail industry, where they receive an average salary of $29,014. Comparatively, grill cooks have the highest earning potential in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $30,806.Most cook/servers achieve a similar degree level compared to grill cooks. For example, they're 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Grill cook vs. Line cook, prep cook
Types of grill cook
Updated January 8, 2025
