Short order cook vs pizza cook

The differences between short order cooks and pizza 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 short order cook and a pizza cook. Additionally, a short order cook has an average salary of $30,734, which is higher than the $27,278 average annual salary of a pizza cook.

The top three skills for a short order cook include food handling, customer service and food preparation equipment. The most important skills for a pizza cook are food handling, kitchen equipment, and cleanliness.

Short order cook vs pizza cook overview

	Short Order Cook	Pizza Cook
Yearly salary	$30,734	$27,278
Hourly rate	$14.78	$13.11
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	176,187	197,416
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 43%	High School Diploma, 49%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Short order cook vs pizza cook salary

Short order cooks and pizza cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Short Order Cook	Pizza Cook
Average salary	$30,734	$27,278
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $38,000	Between $20,000 And $36,000
Highest paying City	Anaheim, CA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Washington	Washington
Best paying company	Columbia University in the City of New York	Bertucci's
Best paying industry	Health Care	Retail

Differences between short order cook and pizza cook education

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

	Short Order Cook	Pizza Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 43%	High School Diploma, 49%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Short order cook vs pizza cook demographics

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

	Short Order Cook	Pizza Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%	Male, 73.5% Female, 26.5%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 7.2% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 8.7% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between short order cook and pizza cook duties and responsibilities

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.

Pizza cook example responsibilities.

Develop ability to manage multiple stations simultaneously while maintaining high levels of culinary excellence.
Maintain cooking equipment such as ovens and deep fryers.
Operate large-volume cooking equipment such as grills & deep fryers.
Make pizzas, calzones, etc., serve pizza to customers, cashier, use POS system.
Leverage teamwork to fully utilize kitchen staff to generate remarkable food and service to ensure customer satisfaction.
Maintain dry food storage areas: inventory, FIFO rotation, par supply levels, ordering.

Short order cook vs pizza cook skills

Common short order cook skills

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

Common pizza cook skills

Food Handling, 24%
Kitchen Equipment, 22%
Cleanliness, 16%
Dishes, 16%
Customer Satisfaction, 10%
Culinary, 3%

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Short Order Cook vs Pizza Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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