Snack bar cook vs lead cook

The differences between snack bar cooks and lead 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 snack bar cook and a lead cook. Additionally, a lead cook has an average salary of $35,964, which is higher than the $31,636 average annual salary of a snack bar cook.

The top three skills for a snack bar cook include kitchen equipment, cleanliness and culinary. The most important skills for a lead cook are customer service, food handling, and culinary.

Snack bar cook vs lead cook overview

	Snack Bar Cook	Lead Cook
Yearly salary	$31,636	$35,964
Hourly rate	$15.21	$17.29
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	157,590	160,223
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 46%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	4	4

Snack bar cook vs lead cook salary

Snack bar cooks and lead cooks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Snack Bar Cook	Lead Cook
Average salary	$31,636	$35,964
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $38,000	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 snack bar cook and lead cook education

There are a few differences between a snack bar cook and a lead cook in terms of educational background:

	Snack Bar Cook	Lead Cook
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 46%	Associate Degree, 35%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Culinary Arts
Most common college	-	-

Snack bar cook vs lead cook demographics

Here are the differences between snack bar cooks' and lead cooks' demographics:

	Snack Bar Cook	Lead Cook
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 62.7% Female, 37.3%	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 8.4% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	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	6%	6%

Differences between snack bar cook and lead cook duties and responsibilities

Snack bar cook example responsibilities.

Operate mixers and manage ingredients to meet product quality and uniformity standards.
Answer phones and run cash register.
Grill variety of foods, fryers, pizza, pretzels, and prepping for meals.
Adjust thermostat control to regulate temperature of ovens, broilers, grills, roasters and steam kettles.
Review orders and presentation for minimal mistakes and cleanliness.
Leverage teamwork to fully utilize kitchen staff to generate remarkable food and service to ensure customer satisfaction.

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.

Snack bar cook vs lead cook skills

Common snack bar cook skills

Kitchen Equipment, 18%
Cleanliness, 17%
Culinary, 14%
Food Handling, 12%
Quality Standards, 6%
Safety Standards, 6%

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
Snack Bar Cook
Snack Bar Cook vs Lead Cook

Updated January 8, 2025

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